Parenting: The Fortnite Battle
If you have a child ages 7-18, I know you have heard of Fortnite. If you are like me, you have probably had long amazing ear-splitting arguments with your kids about this video game that has the ability to make kids go ape-sh*t bananas. If you have been living under a rock, let's just get you filled in.
Let's start at the beginning. At first, I was a bit naive when my son (age 8) wanted to play. Other kids his age were playing and although I knew it had violence in it, I didn't feel like it was too big of a deal. In case you don't know all about this little gem, players (individually or in teams) try to survive an end of the world apocalypse situation by gathering supplies and picking each other off.
The big draw for my child was that while you play it, you can talk to the other people you are playing with (your team members) if you have a headset. So $50 later, and a trip to Gamestop he was ready to roll. So unlike the Mario brothers of my day and time, the smack talk you can do during this game is not just limited to the kids that are in your living room. You can play with your friends down the street or across the world. Welcome to 2018 right?
My first mistake was not realizing that you could team up with anyone. I mistakenly thought that you could just team up with the users that we gave him permission to be friends with, but in each game (the kids call those parties) you can have up to 4 players. Let's say you have 3 players you know, then a random player can join you. I realized this when I walked into his room, and there were grown-ass men (probably sitting in their mother's basements) using words so disgusting that I doubt sailers utter them shouting instructions at my son. I promptly yanked the headset off my son and told them they were speaking to an 8-YEAR-OLD little boy with their filthy mouths. So after Momma broke up that little party the rule was NO RANDOM PLAYERS.
Then, I realized what a great deal of bullying that can go on with this game. You can block and unblock people. You can kick people out of the parties. Trash talking is highly encouraged. Now, I know that kids can be mean, but for goodness sakes let's not encourage it. Once my son was upset because a boy he played baseball with told him that he would block him if he didn't kick another boy out of a party. Seriously....I am trying to teach my kids to be kind over here!!! I think this game is just another platform to encourage this bullying.
The worst part of it all playing the game honestly seems to change my child's personality. He seems to get so engrossed in the excitement and action of the game, that he loses track of the way he is supposed to act. He would be screaming at the TV like a psychopath then screaming at me when I would tell him it was time to quit playing. At my house, yelling at your Momma is a felony charge. I know we are blessed to live in a country where were is a democracy and due process in all that, but those same rules do not apply inside my house. My house is much like an episode of Judge Judy where she is especially salty, and if you piss off the Judge with a felony like yelling at your Momma, I don't even want to get into what sort of things my children have to start going without (like iPads and Netflix...gasp!)
I hate to be that mom. I know you can't shield your kids from the world and all the ugly in it. Normally that is not my parenting style, but after about 4 or 5 different times that he violated the few rules I had set up for him, I was time for me to put my foot down. I told him he couldn't play for 3 weeks. Honestly, it was tough, and my resolve got weak at times. It didn't help that most of his other friends were continuing to play and telling him about it at school. Momming ain't easy though, so I stuck to my guns. Eventually, he quit whining about it. Especially because everytime he asked, I said NO. It started to get fun because I was trying to come up with how many different ways I could say no. #no #itsano #nope #noway #nothankyou #Idontthinkso #notgonnahappen
The personality change was almost immediate. After 24 hours, my sweet kid was back. I hadn't seen him a lot since he discovered Fornite. At the 3 week mark, he thought he was getting it back. Although I told him it was a 3-week hiatus, I decided that his overall attitude had improved so much that there was no way in HELL we were going back. You see, I AM THE PARENT, and I still get to make decisions as I see fit, even if they are unpopular.
We are 2 years into our Fortnite rehab program and the cravings have subsided for the most part. There might be kids out there that can play it and not go nine kinds of crazy, but my kid just wasn't one of them. So parents out there, I urge you to pay close attention if your kids are still playing. Be. The. Parent.
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