Had a discussion this morning about the video game, Fortnite, with the boys. They interestingly raised the topic and had differing views about what causes addiction and how this is maintained.
One of the boys was of the view that restricting access drastically lowers the chances of addiction (in this case, to Fortnite) while the younger one was of the view that “if one really wants access to something then they will”, suggesting that restricting access will therefore not be an adequate deterrent. While this might be true, the question is if such intermittent access will be enough to cause (and maintain) addiction? The question is also if restricting access to Fortnite, say also by timing the amount of access/time children have to play such games should not be encouraged (for parents and guardians)?
Fortnite video game
Had further chat with the boys about the video game Fortnite.
Their views were that the potential risks associated with the game include:
-coming in contact with strangers online. We talked about the issues to be wary of around this and basic things one should do to stay safe online. It was agreed that kids should stay as anonymous as possible and not divulge ANY information that will give away personal information about them, not even their school or which part of the world they live in.
-as previously discussed, addiction. It was agreed that parents and guardians can do a lot to curtail this, by closer monitoring including exerting more control over the amount of time spent playing the game. One of the principles of addiction of course is the development of tolerance by the addicted individual, so that they will increasingly need more of the same item or experience for the same level of impact.
-exposure to violence. Their view is that, even though parents and guardians tend to worry about this a lot, that it is the potential risk one should worry the least about. They did not believe that exposure to video game violence necessarily increases risk of violence in real life.