Written by Rebant Patodi, a grade 8 student

About a week ago I ran into an argument with my parents regarding the game Fortnite.  Fortnite is an online video game created by Epic games. It has 35 crore players with 62% in the age range of 10-18, spending anywhere 7 – 12 hours per week. 

To settle this argument I listed down the pros and cons of this game as below

Pros:

1. You can interact with your friends on a virtual platform.
2. It’s a good mode of entertainment.
3. It helps in team work as you have to cooperate with others as everyone has different opinions.
4. It’s a strategic game as you need to think and rethink every move and plan ahead.

Cons:

1. It can make people addicts as it has a powerful impact on one’s brain which leads to thinking more of the game and play it day and day out.
2. If you play a lot it can spoil your eyes and also give you headaches.
3. It can be costly as you need a gaming console, a gaming laptop, or a proper gaming setup. The game tempts you to by v bucks (Fortnite money) which are brought by real money.
4. Since it is a violent game people’s attitude becomes aggressive and they often get furious.  
5. Once you get the hang of this game, you want to play it day in and day out. This leads to not interacting with others and interaction on a virtual platform, which is shallow.

If you’re addicted to Fortnite or any video game you will have withdrawal symptoms when your game is taken away. These symptoms are irritability, anxiety, boredom, cravings and sadness.

You can prevent this video game addiction by setting time limits for play and stick to them.  Keep phones and other gadgets out of the bedroom so you won’t play into the night. Do other activities every day, including exercise and of course listen to your parents as they have your best interest in mind.                                                                     

As per research playing 60 minutes of video games daily is fine.  I would like to end by saying “Too much of anything is good for nothing”.