My second grader asked if I knew what fortnight was. I told him it was about 30 days or 1 month. This thread clarified a lot.

My 10 year old does not play and hasn’t really pushed for it yet.

Anonymous wrote:Ummm... you guys know that there is a lot of death and murder in Minecraft as well.

Yes. Cartoon blocks that are not realistic. And honestly, after the first week my son moved on from killing and was into building things. You kill monsters and animals for food. I do watch the games before deciding if my kid cam play any fortnight offends me and Minecraft does not. I am not saying that everyone should feel this way. But to me, a game whose sole purpose is killing everyone, with decently realiztic looking people and guns is not something I want my kid to play. Or at least play a lot. He cannot get the game at home, but I will not stop him from playing at a friends house.

I let my 8 year old play. He plays with his father. It’s is a great bonding experience for them.

Oddly enough the countries where video games are played the most — Japan and South Korea — have the lowest rates real life gun violence.

Chart of gun violence per country:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-u-s-gun-deaths-compare-to-other-countries/l

Chart of video game playing per country:
https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/top-100-countries-by-game-revenues/

Interesting article about that phenomenon:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4275262/amp/Countries-play-violent-video-games-safer.html

There are no data correlating school shootings with video games. That’s a canard.

I’m a mom and I play Fortnite with my 13 YO DC because I wanted to know what’s it like. DC often plays with friends. I think it’s okay for my 13 YO but I won’t allow games like GTA or Halo.

Anonymous wrote: People are so crazy, have your kid leave school to protest school shootings, but then let them play games where you are shooting people??????

^ + 1000

21:09 do you really think dressing up like a cowboy is the same as simulated mass shootings? They are not the same at all.

There are studies that have been done. One that I remember from school showed violent cartoons to children then let them into a play room. The children who watched the violent shows were much more aggressive with their play. I think you can safely say that video games would be the same. People are so crazy, have your kid leave school to protest school shootings, but then let them play games where you are shooting people??????

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ummm... you guys know that there is a lot of death and murder in Minecraft as well.

Not in creative mode.

You know that you actually can torture and kill animals in creative mode, right?

Pp - NOT 18:30 (sorry!) - 21:02

18:30 adding - as far as kids and shooting games, this has been going on for decades if not centuries. My mom who grew up in the ‘40’s and 50’s said all the kids used to wear their cowboy/cowgirl outfits to the western matinees and the movie theater had kid-height hangers in the lobby to put their holsters on as (toy) guns were not allowed in the theater!

Minecraft has creatures eating rotten zombie flesh. I’m not worried about canibalism

OP, I think 9 is fine for Fortnite. My strong recommendation is to observe the game while your daughter plays it. My experience is that most Mothers do not do this (and some dismiss without knowledge of the game and I think this is a mistake). I am NOT a techie or gamer but my observations are:

Gender-neutral yes as pp posted - I’m watching my son play right now and he and another friend are playing as female avatars (skins). Yes the women (and men) are wearing skin-tight clothes but this is nothing the kids are not used to seeing in their everyday lives what with Moms wearing yoga pants all over town and to school functions/playground - I even see teachers in yoga pants.

It’s fun - everyday on the playground and anywhere kids are I see someone sporting a fortnite dance moves - it is a fun shared experience for kids this age.

Social - I have observed my son learn to work as a team with other kids - learning how to work with difficult personalities, how to deal with cheaters, learn how to build consensus and lead, and also move on from defeat - I’ve been seriously impressed. Unfortunately many girls are missing out on this experience - due no fault of Fortnite but I suspect society’s view of what is appropriate for girls. These lessons which will be needed in many workplace settings are being honed by boys every day. My hope is that Fortnite helps bridge a needed gap with the girls.

Anonymous wrote:What an incredible waste of time.

Yet you're on DCUM.

Thanks PP for laying it all out.

To be fair though, there's no academic research linking video games to real life violence because such a study is almost impossible to implement; the sample size would have to be extraordinarily large since violence is relatively rare.

That doesn't mean it's not connected just that it hasn't been proven. The American Academy of Pediatrics says "Video games should not use human or other living targets or award points for killing, because this teaches children to associate pleasure and success with their ability to cause pain and suffering to others."

Not trying to debate, only sharing to show both sides.

My 12 yo plays all the time. I want to believe all the positive points from above PP so I can feel less guilty.