By Luke Bardinas

Imagine the Hunger Games. Now imagine the Hunger Games as a video game. Fortnite is a free battle royale video game released on September 26, 2017. It also has a second game mode where you save the world from a zombie invasion. Some could argue that  Fortnite is hurting kids because they would rather play Fortnite than go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather or spend time in person with others. Other people may argue the exact opposite, that Fortnite could help kids be more social and can help them with planning and collaboration with other people.

Fortnite can consume too much time, kids do not want to do anything else, and kids might rather play Fortnite than talk with their family or with friends. Kids might end up getting obsessed with the game and might even sell precious things that belonged to their family or their own valuables to buy in-game currency. They might sell things that aren’t even worth much but could have lots of sentimental value to others.

Fortnite can cause a lot of rage which can lead to kids breaking stuff, screaming, and even hurting themselves or others. While the recommended age is thirteen for kids to play, many play at a younger age. Experts say that the recommended time you should spend no more than one to two hours a day playing video games. Many people lose sleep and miss out on things because they just keep on playing.

On the other hand, Fortnite can have many benefits such as better teamwork skills, better hand eye coordination, and cooperation skills. It can also help you make new friends if you play with a friend. Their friend might join and you and he or she could become new friends. Another reason Fortnite could be good is it could encourage people to be more social and try new things like dancing or singing with others in the video game.

Noah, a seventh grader at BBES said, “The game is fun and I like to play it often.” Noah also commented, “Yeah, it can also help your hand eye coordination.” Whereas Claire, another seventh grader replied, “Fortnite wastes too much time which you could be using to do homework or other activities.”

While Fortnite might have a lot of negative effects, it can also have a lot of good effects. In my opinion, it’s fine to play Fortnite for enjoyment as long as you limit your screen time, and be very careful about your in-game purchases.

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