Expert warns against banning children from playing Fortnite video game unless necessary

PARENTS should ban their children from playing the addictive video game Fortnite only as a last resort, according to parenting expert Justin Coulson.

PARENTS should ban their children from playing the addictive video game Fortnite only as a last resort, according to parenting expert Justin Coulson.

“If parents are worried about how much their kids are playing the popular game, they should communicate their concerns, negotiate a set of rules for playing time and empower kids to make their own decisions about when they’ve had enough,” Mr Coulson, author of 10 Things Every Parent Needs to Know, said.

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“The last step would be banning it, but you can’t just go around banning everything kids want to do.”

Fortnite, played by 45 million users internationally, centres on 100 players on an island battling for supremacy.

Parents are reporting some primary school-aged children play the game for up to 18 hours a day on weekends.

Concerns are being raised at how addictive the Fortnite video game is.

Mr Coulson said parents should be alert for signs their child’s gaming habit was becoming problematic.

“There’s a reason why parents hate it and kids love it,” he said.

“If they are not sleeping, or crying and becoming aggressive if you refuse to allow them to play, that’s problematic.

“There is also school refusal and signs it is impacting on their relationships with others and ability to function on a daily basis.

“It’s also concerning if they are dishonest and hide their playing or lie about it to get their fix.”

The game is a “shoot-em-up” but keeps violence, blood and gore to a low level.

Mr Coulson has just released a webinar on Fortnite in which he offers suggestions about how parents can address their children’s ­obsession with the game.

“Fortnite has a social element, a tactical element and is creative like Minecraft,” he said.

“It is designed to enhance competitive use — when you lose, you only just lose, so you want to keep going and win next time — it’s an ­insidious gaming tactic.”

According to Mr Coulson, the game meets three key psychological needs: it en­ables users to feel competent, feeds players’ need for ­relationships and offers a high degree of autonomy.

“There’s a reason why this game is so popular,” he said.

“It’s intelligent and it keeps blood and gore to a low level — a level that parents find acceptable.”

Leroy, 14, and Otis, 9, love playing Fortnite, and shouldn’t be banned from doing so, according to parenting expert Justin Coulson. Picture: Jason Edwards

Restaurant owner Jenni Norden said her sons Leroy, 14, and Otis, 9, were keen Fortnite players.

“Sometimes I worry, as it’s a third-person shooter game, but I think the violence is not as extreme as in some other games the boys have wanted to play,” she said.

Ms Norden said her sons did not play games where the on-screen violence was too realistic.

Mr Coulson’s comments come after the World Health Organisation recognised video game addiction as a mental health disorder defined as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour” that becomes so extensive it “takes precedence over other life interests”.

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