Bankstown West Public School

Respect, Believe, Succeed

Telephone02 9790 6158

Emailbankstownw-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Is Fortnite safe for your child to play?

You have probably heard a lot of talk about the game Fortnite in recent weeks and the debate around whether or not it is safe for children under 13 to play.

While digital gaming on its own is not bad or dangerous, there are many games with adult themes, inappropriate language, excessive violence and most dangerous of all, open chat forums that expose your children to unknown adults around the world.

Fortnite is a wildly popular game that many of our kids are playing. It is available on all platforms and easily accessible to kids. The aim of the game is to kill all other players on a fictional island and be the last character standing. It is important for parents to know that while the violence is cartoonish, the themes are quite adult and the weaponry very realistic.

The biggest concern for children with this game is that they play with 100 other players. These players have an average age of 18-34 and are able to speak with your child. While you may be able to switch off the audio chat in your settings (most children do not) the chat screen can not be disabled. This has become a safety issue with many experts warning that it is putting children at risk from online paedophiles.

There have also been several cases of children under the age of 13 having developed an addiction to Fortnite and having to undergo rehabilitation therapy programs.

We encourage all parents to be vigilant and discuss and closely monitor any online gaming use with their children. All games with chat functions will need to be very closely monitored by parents. Our recommendation is that no student under the age of 13 should be playing Fortnite. ​