On January 14, a 10 year old child attending school in Scotland's South Ayrshire pulled a knife on the playground. Police were called to the scene, the knife was confiscated, and no one was injured. Now education professionals worry that this incident could just be the start, and part of a "surge of violent behavior" linked to the popular battle royale game Fortnite.
Some teachers and education professionals have expressed worry that violent scenes from Fortnite are being reenacted at schools. Prior to this particular incident with the knife, the school in question (which the Scottish press is unable to identify due to "legal reasons") had supposedly warned parents that Fortnite was inspiring an increase in violence. The staff also expressed concerns to parents that Fortnite and "computer game culture" in general were related to an increase in "bad language" used among the students.
The debate about a possible link between violent video games and real world violence has been an ongoing one. Over the years, various studies have come out supporting a link, and others have denied the link. Some, like video game journalist Adam Sessler, have put forth the theory that real world aggression linked to gaming comes not from the content in a video game, but video games' competitive nature.
For Fortnite specifically, this is far from the first controversy surrounding the battle royale game. The game's impact on children has long been a concern, with Fortnite addiction seeing some children actually sent to rehabilitation clinics. As for adults, Fortnite has been cited in over 200 divorce cases in the UK since it skyrocketed in popularity last year.
Fortnite's popularity and the negative impact it seems to have on certain individuals has seen multiple calls to ban the game outright. Petitions online have called for Fortnite's banning, and others have called for Epic Games to limit how much someone can play Fortnite in any given day. However, it's worth pointing out that anything that drastic would likely be considered a severe violation of Epic Games' first amendment rights, and since video games are a protected art form, anything like that is unlikely to happen.
Moving forward, the debate about a possible link between violent video games and real world violence will continue. And while Fortnite remains one of the most popular video games with children around the world, it will likely be the game that shoulders most of the blame.
Fortnite is out now in early access for Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Daily Record