If you're the parent of a child or teen, and Fortnite materials your kid wants to join the lemmings, then what should you do? You must have the courage to say: this isn't a fantastic thing. Kids will need to learn facial social abilities. They will need to get a fantastic night's sleep. A child obsessed with Fortnite is not as inclined to do any of these things.
I'm not suggesting that you simply ban video games. Nonetheless, it's the parent's job to place reasonable limits. In updating my book Boys Adrift: the five factors driving the growing outbreak of unmotivated boys and underachieving young guys, I reviewed dozens of studies of video games: who's playing with them, what are the consequences, and what are sensible limitations. Additionally, I talked with a few of the investigators doing the study. Listed below are evidence-based guidelines for the son or daughter playing video games:no longer than 40 minutes a night on school nights. No longer than an hour every day on weekends. Your minutes don't roll over: if you go three months without playing, that does NOT mean that you're permitted to spend seven hours on a Saturday playing video games. That is binge gambling, and it's harmful. That means no Fortnite, no Call of Duty, no Grand Theft Auto. NBA Live is nice. Wii Bowling is fine. Candy Crush is nice. No matches before all of the Buy fortnite items homework is done and all the chores are finished.
The actual challenge for parents comes from enforcing those guidelines. Some parents won't even try. Parents say me, "I just want him to be pleased (link is external). Playing with Fortnite makes him happy. So why shouldn't I let him play?"
But "I only need him to be happy" is a minimal bar. You can do better. Your son can perform better. They have to learn something of the reach of human potential outside what they find in a cartoon movie game like Fortnite. Quite simply: it's your job, as the parent, to teach desire: to create a longing for something better, more lasting, than video games or Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner on Instagram (connection is external).
