I played Fortnite for a month so you don’t have to

"But if you’re weighing up letting your kid play, you might find it time well spent."

We held off allowing our son to play  Fortnite until just recently, when he was eleven and a half and arguably among the last of his peers to board the Battle Bus.

I’m no technophobe, I’ve worked in technology for much of my career and have played similar games myself as an adult.

On Fortnite though, my wife and I were in rare agreement: delay as long as possible.

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"Yes, we relented"

In part, that’s because as older parents we’d seen the impact of mobile phones and social media on the kids of friends and family members before ours.

One memory that stands out is visiting long-time friends for dinner several years ago and seeing their then eight- and 10-year-olds lost in a screen for most of the evening.

But you can’t hold back the tide forever.

As winter loomed and the appeal of playing basketball in the lane with his mates waned, we relented, after five years of requests.

It wasn’t a carte blanche yes though and came with a condition; I would sign up too.

After a month playing Fortnite myself, I now totally understand the addictiveness of the game.

Paul McKeon and his son. Image: supplied

At first, wins come easily as you’re playing A.I. opponents.

As you gain experience, level-up and start playing real people the competitive instincts kick in.

After one session in the first week I realised I’d been playing until 11pm.

I’d won the round but my heart was pounding from the tension and my hands were sweaty on the controller.

I barely slept that night as my mind replayed events from the game. 

The experience was almost enough to make me reverse my decision to allow my son to play.

Image: Fortnite

No longer a forbidden fruit 

It was certainly enough to make me acutely aware of the potential harm of repeated exposure to that sort of stimulation on the growing mind of a child.

But at my son’s age the lure of other addictive experiences is probably not far down the track.

My thinking has been it’s better for him to have some exposure now rather than later when the consequences may be more serious than just losing a video game.

I still think too much screen time is bad for kids.

Our son is not allowed to play on weekdays and only on the TV, where we can watch.

We’ve read the stories about kids being bullied in on-line, so he’s only allowed to ‘friend’ or talk to actual friends.

The good news is he has been reasonably good being responsible and managing his time with the game.

The initial novelty has worn off and he’s gone back to playing other games too, or sport, now that Fortnite is no longer a forbidden fruit.

As a bonus I now also better understand what my son and his mates are talking.

We’ve had several conversations about their Fortnite experiences while going to and from other activities.

It’s opened the door to him sharing more about what goes on at school.

And when they’re playing together, either physically at our house or on-line, I can see parallels to team sport in the real world. My son learned early on that you do better in certain variations of the game when working as a team than going alone.

We all know part of raising kids is about learning to manage risks. There’s good and bad in just about everything in life but, when you understand both attractions and the consequences, you’re in a better position to deal with them, I think.

After all, learning from new experiences is part of growing up; even in your fifties!

Originally published as I played Fortnite for a month so you don’t have to