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C- July 16, 2020
R- The information shows that children can enjoy Fortnite without being violent
A- Joshua Hoehne
A- The information shows a child playing Fortnite
P- The purpose of the information is to tell the reader Fortnite is not bad and helps with real life skills

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C- July 16, 2020
R- The information comes from a website that tells the reader the benefits of Fortnite
A- Joshua Hoehne
A- The information
supports my claim by showing a picture of a child enjoying Fortnite
P- The information´s purpose is to show that kids can enjoy Fortnite without repercussions

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C- June 19, 2018.
R- The information tells the reader how Fortnite can be very violent and addictive.
A- The Guardian.
A- The information goes against my claim by telling the reader how Fortnite can cause violence and interfere with grades.
P- The information informs the reader how Fortnite can make people do negative things.

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Primary schools across Australia have begun sending letters about the video game Fortnite to parents, warning of its "negative effects" on students.

Several schools in New South Wales and Victoria have issued newsletters about the popular multiplayer game, which is played by an estimated 40 million people worldwide.

Sydney's Bondi Beach public school told parents there had been "a noticeable change in some behaviours in the classroom and in the playground, that are directly linked to Fortnite".

"We are noticing the negative effects of this game, particularly on boys and most concerning, on boys in K-2," it said.

Shellharbour public school in NSW told parents: "The ability to communicate online whilst playing these games is leading to moments of online bullying, the use of inappropriate language and abuse."

Fortnite is a free-to-play online game where up to a hundred players can play at once. Drawing inspiration from the 1999 Japanese novel Battle Royaleand The Hunger Games, players must scavenge supplies, build structures and find weapons to eliminate each other until only one person is left.
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Players can play alone or in teams, and can opt into audio chat with their teammates. It has been classified M by the Australian Classification Board.

Dr Marcus Carter, a lecturer in digital culture and gaming from the University of Sydney, said the concern was at times "excessive".

"The media panic around Fortnite is indicative of tensions that exist between parents, children and any new media. When kids do things that kids didn't do when we were kids - that can make parents concerned and worried."

He encouraged parents to play Fortnite with their children before making their minds up.
Video games such as Fortnite aren't harming children - screen time is the problem | Keza MacDonald
"I say the best thing to do if you are concerned about your children playing Fortnite is to play Fortnite with them. To turn it into something that you share with your child.

"Parents can quite rightly not want their kids playing with adult strangers online [but] digital gaming on its own, is not bad. It's no different to any other form of media."

A letter from Good Shepherd Lutheran primary school in Victoria told parents to educate themselves about Fortnite, and to teach their children to be safe online.

"Each family has their own set of boundaries and opinions about what is appropriate for their children," it said. "I would encourage you to educate yourself about the game before making any decision ... With any luck, this fad will pass with the same speed as Pokemon Go did last year!

"The most important thing to be wary of is that there is an opportunity for your children to connect with strangers in the game, and there is minimal monitoring of who is online and what is being said in the chat."

Owen Wolahan, a parent at the school, said he thought the advice was balanced.

Wolohan said that although he was a frequent gamer he wouldn't let his children play Fortnite until they were older.

"I grew up playing games. I've let my five-year-old play Zelda: Breath of the Wild - although it has sword fights, it's not realistic. Fortnite isn't that graphic, but it does have realistic weapons. It's not something I've fully decided on, but I feel like they need to be a lot older.
Fortnite: a parents' guide to the most popular video game in schools
"I thought the school's letter was pretty fair because it didn't feel like scaremongering to me. It seemed to take concerns seriously while providing accurate information. It seemed to accept that this is something that people do and it left it up to the parents which I think is quite important.

"If kids are letting other responsibilities slide because they're playing Fortnite every night, if they're not getting homework done, that's a problem. But I don't know if it changes their behaviour, I'm sceptical of that. It depends on the child."

Both the NSW and Victorian education departments said they had not issued any official advice to schools about Fortnite.

"This type of communication is not unusual and is an example of a school working with parents and the wider school community for the wellbeing of students," a NSW education department spokesman said.
Topics

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Fortnite: schools warn parents of 'negative effects' of video game on students

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Primary schools across Australia have begun sending letters about the video game Fortnite to parents, warning of its "negative effects" on students. Several schools in New South Wales and Victoria have issued newsletters about the popular multiplayer game, which is played by an estimated 40 million people worldwide.

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C- July 16, 2020.
R- The information relates to my topic by telling the reader how Fortnite can improve real life social skills.
A- Randy Kulman.
A- The information tells the reader how Fortnite can be good for people but it should not be addicting and should be balanced.
P- The purpose of the information is to inform the reader how fortnite can be good for people.

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Do your kids learn as they play Fortnite? Sure, they are becoming better at Fortnite, learning how to build forts, shoot other players, hide from enemies, and master weapons. They might also be learning to accept defeat and keep going. After all, in the many new competitive modes of Fortnite, the chances of winning are small. In the classic Battle Royale version of the game, 100 players enter and only one remains at the end (although it is possible to be a member of a two- or four-person team and survive to the finish). Over the course of the game, players who shift their tactics learn how to use weapons and "chests" that are available to them and adjust to the varying maps and obstacles that appear in each game.

Most action games, such as Fortnite, Red Dead Redemption, Spiderman, and Destiny 2, require flexibility, an executive-functioning skill defined as adapting and adjusting to ever-changing conditions and expectations. Other video games practice flexibility skills, as well, including early Super Mario games or a modern 3D action game where the key to success is often the ability to adapt to the constant changes presented by the game.

One of the engaging aspects of Fortnite is the ever-changing nature of the game. New modes are introduced routinely, and kids like that there are new players, chests, and safe areas of the map-no two matches are ever the same. Because each match is different from those preceding it, players need to develop new and adaptive strategies each time. While they might like to plan beforehand, they need to adjust to current situations, again taxing the skill of flexibility.

Action games have been the subject of much research by psychologists, who describe them as enhancing attention control and processing speed through gameplay. The data suggest that by repeatedly playing action games, players get better at these skills, both in the game and outside of it. Action games such as Fortnite also require players to maintain attention to the game over a sustained period of time in order to make it all the way to the end. In Fortnite, where everyone is an enemy, constant vigilance, attention, and ignoring of distractions are vital. Also, as in most action games, Fortnite contains complex sections where players need to focus on many factors at once-avoiding enemies, timing perilous jumps, and learning new game skills-all of which depend upon deep concentration. Players meet setback after setback if they allow themselves to become distracted.

Another powerful draw of Fortnite is the intensity of the game. Kids are often keyed up while playing, hypersensitive to everything that is happening around them. (This is sometimes seen in displays of anger, at other times in the near silence of intense concentration.) This type of focus requires many components of attention, including task initiation, sustained attention, and task persistence. Fortnite players use task initiation at the crucial moment when they are dropped out of the plane at the beginning of the game, and successful players keep sustained attention on their materials/weapons, enemies, and overall surroundings at all times. They are unlikely to have any chance of winning unless they remain highly focused and persistent.

There is limited support that practicing executive skills such as flexibility or focus in video-game play transfers to real-world skills. The data suggest some limited improvements in tasks that are similar to those in the video game. There is also compelling data that external teaching strategies, particularly those that entail metacognitive and reflective skills, can help in the transfer of game skills to the real world. Conversations, asking "what if" questions, exploring varying scenarios, and searching for associations are game-connected cognitive tasks that could lead to more learning.

But the question remains whether kids learn from playing Fortnite. If we consider Fortnite to be an example of "digital play," then the answer should be yes. Play is one of the main channels for kids to learn, and most research suggests that "playing" video games has similar benefits to traditional play and that kids can learn from it. They might learn cooperative and communication skills, and playing the "Creative Mode" might be an opportunity to improve planning and problem-solving skills. They might also be able to improve specific aspects of attention skills as described in the research on action games. If you talk to them about their thinking strategies, they will have a chance to learn even more. But before parents acquiesce to a summer of learning Fortnite, it's best to view it as a fun activity, with very modest opportunities for learning. If you want your child to learn more from Fortnite, you might need to play it with him and spend time talking and strategizing about gameplay.

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Are Kids Learning From Playing Fortnite?

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Do your kids learn as they play Fortnite? Sure, they are becoming better at Fortnite , learning how to build forts, shoot other players, hide from enemies, and master weapons. They might also be learning to accept defeat and keep going. After all, in the many new competitive modes of Fortnite , the chances of winning are small.

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C- September 3, 2018.
R- The information tells the reader how Fortnite can be addictive and bad.
A- Scholastic.
A- The information goes against my claim and tells the reader how Fortnite can interfere with school and chores.
P- The information tells the reader how Fortnite is dangerous.

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What’s your opinion? Go online to cast your vote in this debate.

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C- August 18, 2020.
R- The information tells the reader that people should stop recognizing Fortnite as just a violent shooter game because it can actually help people develop real like skills.
A- Claire Haiek.
A- The information tells the reader how Fortnite can help the way that people interact with each other.
P- The information informs the reader how Fortnite builds teamwork and good sportsmanship.

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Online games can be the chug jug you need to boost your kids' development.

If you have a child over the age of about eight or maybe even as young as five or six years old, you've probably seriously considered whether or not to introduce them to the world of video games.

For most, we delve into the gaming world with certain goals. I personally am happy for my kids to play video games as long as it doesn't affect other aspects of their lives. Ensuring this doesn't happen, however, can at times prove challenging.

Different parents have different fears when it comes to children and video games, but experts have suggested that they're not as bad as we sometimes believe them to be.

An article published in Education Week titled, 'No, Fortnite Isn't Rotting Kids' Brains. It May Even Be Good for Them' argues that children may even be benefiting from playing the popular video game.

The article's authors, Kurt Dean Squire, Professor of Informatics at the University of California, and Matthew Gaydos, a design researcher at the Teaching Systems Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, list a number of positives to the video game you may not have previously considered.

Violence

Violence is a very real fear for many parents of gaming children since it was once believed that kids would reenact the violence they participate in on screen within their everyday lives.
Fortnite is a battle royale game. Image: EpicGames.
Squire and Gaydos refer to a 2008 study that questions the common belief that exposure to violence in video games causes violent acts in reality.

Moving further into the future, another study has been performed over a longer period of time, which provides strong evidence, "against the frequently debated negative effects of playing violent video games in adults and will therefore help to communicate a more realistic scientific perspective on the effects of violent video gaming."

And while that one was performed on adults, here's another study which focused on children, listing a multitude of benefits such as a socially interactive scenario which allows children to interact across cultural and geographical boundaries, a wide range of ages, languages and socio-economic differences.

"A third place"

Now that we've addressed the long-term belief that violent video games are the devil, let's talk about the other benefits mentioned by Squire and Gaydos.

The pair believes the gaming world provides children with a space to play away from parents and teachers, that allows them to learn social skills such as negotiating conflict, becoming independent and exploring "who they want to be".

While it is a good idea to keep a close eye on your children when they are playing online, they can also benefit from being allowed the freedom to learn for themselves.
Kids can learn valuable skills from Fortnite. Image: iStock.
"Bystander training"

Squire and Gaydos also said this is the best opportunity to teach our kids how to respond when they witness something they feel isn't quite right.

They refer to this as "bystander training" which can come into play when kids notice harassment or behaviour that they consider to be hateful or distrustful.

Video games are great ways to teach our children to learn to cope in these situations. And imagine a world where all kids stick up for the bullied ones - I want to live in that world!

Inclusion and community

Finally, Squire and Gaydor spoke about the importance of strong communities and peer relationships. Even those forged in cyberspace can provide children with a sense of belonging and can help them boost a resilience to issues they may face in the future.

We've spoken before about how Fortnite isn't as bad as some suggest, and yes, there are extreme cases of children becoming addictive, and nobody is suggesting that we let our children do whatever they want online.

The bottom line is that we should look beyond the guns and shooting, and recognise the benefits of such games. Arm yourself with knowledge, and even get involved if you can, but don't write off the benefits of the controlled use of games like Fortnite.

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Expert says playing Fortnite could actually be good for your kids

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Online games can be the chug jug you need to boost your kids' development. If you have a child over the age of about eight or maybe even as young as five or six years old, you've probably seriously considered whether or not to introduce them to the world of video games.

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C- December 2, 2020.
R- The information tells the reader how Fortnite can be good for people.
A- Sawyer.
A- The information supports my claim by telling the reader how Fortnite can help people develop communication skills.
P- The information helps support my claim.

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3 benefits of playing Fortnite | Sawyer Blog

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Fortnite is a cultural sensation—but is it good for children? Here are the 3 biggest benefits of playing Fortnite for kids. | Fortnite is a cultural sensation—but is it good for children? Here are the 3 biggest benefits of playing Fortnite for kids. | Sawyer Blog