Fortnite is Free, But Kids Are Getting Bullied Into Spending Money (polygon.com) 243
An anonymous reader shares a report: In a private school where tuition is high, students can bicker about clothes, shoe brands, cellphones, or video games. At Paul Towler's middle school, where he teaches English to seventh and eighth graders, some kids "have enough money to be comfortable and others' parents are owners of giant nationwide restaurant chains," he says. Towler is used to seeing such disparities play out in the real world through objects that you can physically hold. But after battle royale sensation Fortnite exploded, the fights between students took an unexpected turn. Fortnite's virtual clothes became a status symbol, and some of Towler's pupils started policing what their classmates wore in-game.
The confrontations could get ugly. One student in Towler's class "begged his parents for [money] to buy a skin because no one would play with him" because he wore basic virtual clothes. While the bullying wasn't always Fortnite-specific, Towler recalls that it seemed "vicious for [the student] to have another avenue for the meaner kids to attack him." Things got better for that kid, but when your social scene begins and ends with Fortnite, having nobody to play with is like a mark of death.
The confrontations could get ugly. One student in Towler's class "begged his parents for [money] to buy a skin because no one would play with him" because he wore basic virtual clothes. While the bullying wasn't always Fortnite-specific, Towler recalls that it seemed "vicious for [the student] to have another avenue for the meaner kids to attack him." Things got better for that kid, but when your social scene begins and ends with Fortnite, having nobody to play with is like a mark of death.
Simple solution (Score:2, Insightful)
They could Not Play It.
Re:Simple solution (Score:4, Informative)
Sure, but if that's how you connect with your friends, then you're now effectively ostracized.
Re:Simple solution (Score:4, Insightful)
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That's the world we live in. Video games are what children play socially.
You seem to think that kids still grow up like you did, gramps
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Re:Simple solution (Score:5, Insightful)
No one said it was terrible except you. But terrible or great, it's just not what kids DO anymore. Hell, are kids even allowed to go outside without supervision anymore? And where are there facilities for them to quickly set up a 15 minute game of soccer?
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Hell, are kids even allowed to go outside without supervision anymore?
Yes, they are.
...well, maybe in the US they're screwed.
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"It isn't uncommon for people to allow their kids to spend $1000 a month on Fortnite so they can keep up with their peers."
Yes it is. Maybe there are some people who have the money AND do this, but I'm 100% positive that this is NOT common.
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The likelihood of being robbed or kidnapped or otherwise suffering criminal attack has dropped significantly over the decades, from what I've heard. (Cars are another thing.) But the sense of danger is greater, and unjustified by objective measures.
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I'm form vegas, and it used to hit the 115-120 when I was a kid. We still played outside.
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And they did let you play with them even though you didn't wear Adidas and Nike?
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Yeah all that sunlight and playing sports outside with the other kids on the block was really terrible.
Oh grandpa, that's not what the cool kids do these days!
(I loved saying that, as I'm almost certainly one of the older people here on slashdot. Not the oldest, but I'm way up there in terms of demographics.)
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I am into my Middle Age Adult life, That was never part of my experience as a Kid.
Stranger Danger from the early 1980's effectively put an end to that life style. Because Parents were scared that there will be some guy going to offer them Candy and take them off the street. (Where the actual statistics have the problems within the house)
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If you're being pressured into spending money on cosmetics in a game, and you're poor already - good time to learn - you're going to stay poor.
This.
Use your money to actually move up the social ladder, not piss it away trying to play keep-up-with-the-rich-kids
(which is a game you can never win).
In Fortnite terms that means beating the rich kids at the game while wearing ordinary clothes.
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That is a lesson that a kid will not pick up on. Especially if the kid is getting owned by a guy with the special closes on.
Life isn't like an RPG game, there is no natural balance in the system. They have the Smart, Good Looking, Wealthy, Athletic and with a Good Personality kid, while there is also the Dumb, Homely Poor, Wimpy with a Bad attitude.
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That is a lesson that a kid will not pick up on.
Shame that there aren't any adults in the kid's life to help explain it to them. They must all be busy playing fortnite or something.
You don't have kids (Score:5, Insightful)
Peer pressure is very, very much a thing. Kids do water cooler talk too, and Fortnite is so huge it's like a cultural touchstone for this gen of kids. It's their Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc. It's way past "The New Hotness" and it's become part of a shared experience. If you're not playing it you're kinda weird. I don't mean playing it non-stop, but in the same way normal folk saw Star Wars in the day. Pop culture is a large part of how people break ice, kids included.
And you can bet your ass Fortnite's devs (and the Psychologists they've got on payroll) know all this and they're exploiting it.
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If that's the only way you connect with your friends you have other problems.
Nope, that's not it.
The problem is when you feel you can only connect with your friends if you're wearing fancy virtual clothes.
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Welcome to the reality of being a teenager!
Then again, welcome to the world of today. Who do you hang out with? The people who have Apple toys? Or the ones that shun them? What's your clique "into"?
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So are you the guy that gives the homeless a few bucks, or do you hand them a meal, or are you guy that will not give them anything, but will talk to them.
Re:Simple solution (Score:4, Insightful)
You really don't understand humans at all, do you?
This is how it's done these days. It was the same dynamic when you were that age, but you can't recognize that.
Kids have ALWAYS been very much into a something that gives them a group identity, ever since there were kids. In my day it was a certain kind of bike, these days it's Fortnite gear.
From my post above:
When I was a wee lad (~50 million years ago) if you didn't have a "Stingray" bike at a certain age, you were at the bottom the pack in terms of coolness or whatever. You were OBVIOUSLY a loser and you sucked!
Do you really think it's any different today? The only difference is what's considered the "coolness" marker, and these days it's online gear in a game they all play.
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You really don't understand humans at all, do you?
This is how it's done these days. It was the same dynamic when you were that age, but you can't recognize that.
Kids have ALWAYS been very much into a something that gives them a group identity, ever since there were kids. In my day it was a certain kind of bike, these days it's Fortnite gear.
From my post above: When I was a wee lad (~50 million years ago) if you didn't have a "Stingray" bike at a certain age, you were at the bottom the pack in terms of coolness or whatever. You were OBVIOUSLY a loser and you sucked!
Do you really think it's any different today? The only difference is what's considered the "coolness" marker, and these days it's online gear in a game they all play.
I lived in a segregated society. 80% of my high school received free or reduced fare lunch. 10% of the kids came from super wealthy families. The "cool" thing was to wear "slippas" (flip-flops) held together by paper clips. Other kids snubbed you if you appeared too rich. Our most prized possessions were hand-me-down surf boards and boogie boards. You were nothing until you rode a 10 footer all the way to the beach (the most popular kids would ride 15-20 foot waves). You were excluded until you learned to t
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If that's the only way you connect with your friends you have other problems.
In my era it was about having a Trapper Keeper®. If you didn't have one that looked cool then you couldn't hang out with the popular kids. Hanging out included being able to ride the bus in peace every morning.
Kids make friends while doing things their peers do. And these days kids aren't allowed to ride their bikes around town all day, the video arcades are gone, and there swimming hole has been closed for years. Going online is one of the few places kids can still go unsupervised to interact with thei
That Damn Schoolbus (Score:2)
You had just awoken many bad memories about bringing back the school bus.
I grew up on a Farm. If you were a Farm kid, then you automatically smelled bad, and if the Bus was full then you wouldn't be able to find a place to sit down. So you had to find the first open seat and sit there. If the kid sat at the edge, you just barged your way in to get a seat.
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If that's the only way you connect with your friends you have other problems
I think that's a confusion of "only" method and "meaningful" method. Obviously the kids are connecting with each other outside of the game, that's how they're getting bullied. Connecting with people usually happens with some initial common element that is meaningful, that doesn't mean it's the only element, just the most meaningful one. I could get into a conversation with pretty much everyone on this planet about the weather or pollen, but that doesn't mean that the connection between me and the other p
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The solution is to play the game wearing basic virtual clothes
Yep. Surely there's enough people with basic clothes to gang up on the rich kids.
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But those are all the looser who you don't want to hang out with.
While all the outcasts have the numbers to overpower the popular. They will rarely unify themselves together, because being associated with an other outcast just makes it worse.
I for one am very happy that I am now an adult.
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Great advice. Really.
Now imagine all these people who are ignoring you and basically treating you like you have the plague or something are sitting in your office and you HAVE TO go to work with them. Every single day. And you can't even quit or get fired.
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Your problem is using adult logic to describe the behavior of vicious, cruel little shits. (which almost universally describes middles school kids)
But it's part of growing up; it's being exposed to that kind of stuff that tempers and defines your ability to deal with social situations.
Re:Simple solution (Score:5, Interesting)
This is real life bullying except instead of milk money its for online fake money.
Everyone focuses on "fortnite BAD" and ignores the bullying that has been going on forever.
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Sure. You sure remember how it was to be the kid with no friends because you had the wrong clothes or shoes, right?
Same deal today. Just that Reebok and Benetton got replaced by virtual overpriced crap.
Re: Simple solution (Score:2)
Actually, I do not remember any such thing as a kid. I guess that only happens to the children in rich neighborhoods. In poor neighborhoods, no on is giving you shit or ostracizing you because you wear hand-me-downs.
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Sure. You sure remember how it was to be the kid with no friends because you had the wrong clothes or shoes, right?
Same deal today. Just that Reebok and Benetton got replaced by virtual overpriced crap.
In my day, many many moons ago, it was Keds and Levis' jean jackets.
Johnny Quest wore them and we all know how cool Johnny Quest was:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
After all, "Keds let you run faster and jump farther!" (PF Flyers, specifically):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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I was after Jonny Quest hawking PF's but slightly before Benetton became a big thing, which was during the early Reebok craze, though that was mostly a girl thing. Specifically the pink or white reebok freestyle. worn with pegged jordache jeans..and of course the "mall hair" tiffany style perm wich started showing up in about 1983-84 locally and was in full swing by 87.
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They could just not have friends, too.
Even an old fart like me recognizes that this is part of the new social interaction model.
When I was a wee lad (~50 million years ago) if you didn't have a "Stingray" bike at a certain age, you were at the bottom the pack in terms of coolness or whatever. You were OBVIOUSLY a loser and you sucked!
For girls it was a specific kind of penny loafer shoe. If you didn't have them you were ostracized and picked on. You would be an object of derision and ridicule.
And whatever t
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I am not sure how that solves the problem.
Back in the old days of the late 1980's and early 1990's in my school, Shoes were a big thing.
You needed Nike Air Jordan Sneakers to be in
Reebok Pump Sneakers will avoid ridicule
Adidas sneakers allowed you in some crowds.
Everything else you were a looser pond scum.
If I were to not wear sneakers during that time, it would mean I would had been lower then scum, because I wouldn't be in the game at all.
So while the kids who do not have the paid content will get bullied
FortniteFacebook (Score:4, Interesting)
Last year the most used Social network was Fortnite chat not Facebook. Given the dominance of Fortnite its not easy to ignore it. My kids are using substantial part of their pocket money to buy Fortnite cosmetics. Finally I just bought them save the world and now they can grind for vbucks in STW and use those to buy cosmetics for Battle Royale.
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Finally I just bought them save the world and now they can grind for vbucks in STW and use those to buy cosmetics for Battle Royale.
NO! Don't do that! You've just made every OG player of STW grimace
Let me explain:
Many of us long-term STW players believe that the BRats (what some of us call players like your kids) are ruining STW because they play Save the World only for the vbucks (the premium currency which is used for advancement in STW but cosmetics in BR) and are ignorant kids who don't understand the mechanics and engage in bad behavior. And who are misled by youtubers who ALSO don't understand the mechanics of STW either.
They do
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Well one of them enters High school this year but the game rating system is broken anyway. I mean I spent my high school years playing Doom which was probably rated Mature at the time.
End of the day what worries me about Fortnite is that they are chatting with strangers including adults on Fortnite. And yes I know thats why its rated as Teen but when everyone in their grade is hanging out in the evening on Fortnite Chat bit difficult to cut them off (especially since they are straight A students and basket
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End of the day what worries me about Fortnite is that they are chatting with strangers including adults on Fortnite.
While I know you have to be careful with adults and kids interacting online...the worst things I've heard in FortNIte chat have been from kids...not adults.
I've seen and heard young kids say the most hateful, evil and bigoted things in Fortnite chat. Most of the adult players of STW are older (over 30) PVE centric RPG guys, they don't use trash talk because they don't play PVP games.
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Finally I just bought them save the world and now they can grind for vbucks in STW and use those to buy cosmetics for Battle Royale.
NO! Don't do that! You've just made every OG player of STW grimace
Let me explain:
Many of us long-term STW players believe that the BRats (what some of us call players like your kids) are ruining STW because they play Save the World only for the vbucks (the premium currency which is used for advancement in STW but cosmetics in BR) and are ignorant kids who don't understand the mechanics and engage in bad behavior. And who are misled by youtubers who ALSO don't understand the mechanics of STW either.
They don't understand that without spending vbucks in STW their progress will be slowed because they won't get higher quality survivors to fill the Survivor Squads that boost their FORT stats. And because their FORT stats are low, they do piddly damage with traps and weapons....that is if they even use traps. And because it takes them half a assault rifle magazine to kill a basic husk, they think they need super high level weapons in the starter zone. (Even in the starter zone against basic husks, it should be one shot, one kill). So they engage in disruptive behavior and don't learn to play the game properly.
TLDR KIds shouldn't play FortNite, it's T-rated anway, if they aint in high school they shouldn't play.
I played STW for a while until it seemed like the majority of people playing didn't actually want to play the game. All they ever did was beg everyone near them to trade weapons and endlessly blabber or breathe heavily through their mic.
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I played STW for a while until it seemed like the majority of people playing didn't actually want to play the game. All they ever did was beg everyone near them to trade weapons and endlessly blabber or breathe heavily through their mic.
That is EXACTLy what I am referring to. You know how it was:
"Trade? Trade press 123. Trade press 69. Gold scar? Trayde my bayse for god-rolled black scar? U scam!"
for those who don't know, there are no weapons called "black scar" or "gold scar" in Save the world. Their proper names in STW are "Nocturno", which is an ultimate edition exclusive, and Siegebreaker. And those kids didn't want to use them..they were just so Battle royale/CoD (which of course, they shouldn't be playing) addled that they t
It has come to this (Score:3)
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This is a great teachable moment, where you can help the kid to understand that they won't be able to have everything in life.
They also need to learn you need to prioritize which status symbols to focus on; and that ignoring all status symbols because they are "stupid" is a very poor lesson. This Fortnite situation is little different than sending a kid to an affluent school wearing Walmart clothes. Or showing up to a job interview as an investment banker with jeans and a t-shirt.
There are schools where kids with bargain clothing would fit in just fine, just like there are plenty of jobs where you can show up with jeans. But you n
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Or showing up to a job interview as an investment banker with jeans and a t-shirt.
But you don't have to show up in an Armani suit. You can find perfectly good suits at a 2nd hand clothing store.
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There are no second hand markets for, or the ability to trade, Fortnight skins.
Also, if you are interviewing to be an investment banker, you cannot show up in a 2nd hand suit. It indicates you haven't been good enough at making money to afford a good suit, which means you were bad at your last job.
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Wouldn't you want an investment banker that shows they're good at managing money instead of blowing it on overpriced things that offer no additional utility?
You on the autistic spectrum>
Perhaps you don't understand that with things like this that involve "social intelligence/people skills", appearance matters.
maybe it shouldn't, but it does.
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And if you show up in an orange suit, it means you /really/ sucked at your last job.
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Awesome lesson.
Of course, it would be better if it didn't come from parents that had to buy that new car by refinancing their house with a seventh mortgage, you know, the house with the 3 bathrooms and 7 bedrooms for a family of 4...
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That missing the point though.
School is a major part of most children's lives. It's where they spent half the day or more, where they make most of their friends. They have to see the same people every day, they have to interact with them socially, because the only alternative is isolation. The effects of isolation on people, especially children, is well known to be pretty severe.
You may have heard of Stockholm Syndrome, where people in situations where they are being abused come to sympathise with and care
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That missing the point though.
School is a major part of most children's lives. It's where they spent half the day or more, where they make most of their friends. They have to see the same people every day, they have to interact with them socially, because the only alternative is isolation. The effects of isolation on people, especially children, is well known to be pretty severe.
So here's what you do: teach your kid to have a core group of friends that they can rely on and don't give a shit about whether you have the best fortnite skins, or drive the nicest car, or whatever, and for the rest of the kids, who gives a fuck what they say/think? Because once you get through high school and into college, you most likely won't see any of them every again outside reunions, even quite possibly your core group of friends. It also helps to teach them that, whether or not other people like
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In a story about rich brats spending their parents money, your answer is "tell your children I bought X instead of Y, and X is better" isn't an answer. Because the people teasing them also bought all the big axes and such.
Would have happened with other products (Score:5, Insightful)
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Agreed, I would call it peer pressure, not bullying..unless they other kids were using physical threats or getting seriously abusive verbally or online.
"You've got a default skin, ur a newb, git gud and buy a skin" = peer pressure.
"you welfare negro (Imagine the other n-word) fag with a default skin, you suck and you should be fucked up the ass" = bullying.
"Friends" (Score:3)
If your friends won't play Fortnite with you because of the clothes your character wears in the game then they are not really your friends, they are jerks.
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actually it was the other way around, but the bigger story is the rot is at the vet with a bad case of food poisoning
Microtransactions are the bane of gaming (Score:2)
Its shitty costumes or game breakers.
Which is either boring, or just shit to play against.
Did you know timmy... (Score:2)
Nobody ever got bullied for being dressed with the most expensive skin in the game.
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But somebody with basic clothes can beat them by being a better player.
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You bet there will be someone to bully you for that because "what loser wastes this much money on virtual crap!"
Bullies that want to bully will bully. Finding an excuse has never really been a problem.
Get a life (Score:2)
The death of humanity will be of pettiness.
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> The death of humanity will be of pettiness.
Technically it will be when the Earth explodes due to the stupidity of high energy physics but I digress...
But back to your point: Unbridled Greed is a cancer -- it destroys everything it touches.
The solution is education and to help others to grow up over this childish sense of Pride and Accomplishment with artificial items.
But the masses have never been smart enough to stop falling prey to the war of insecurity: Have vs Have-not.
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lolz high energy physics doesn't have the means to "explode the earth" nor is it likely it every will. much more energetic particles hit the earth than mankind will ever have the energy or means to produce, you need a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy for those so-called zetatron particles, a particle accelerator of any size couldn't
Such a misunderstanding of the situation (Score:2)
"vicious for [the student] to have another avenue for the meaner kids to attack him."
Is totally irrelevant. Any status symbol could be used. He's not even saying that Fortnite is the reason for the bullying. The only thing that changes is the channel through which the bullying is done.
Get a job (Score:2)
There's no other response any parent of any level of means should have for their children on this topic, but, "Get a job."
Part of the plan (Score:5, Insightful)
"Fortnite is Free, But Kids Are Getting Bullied Into Spending Money"
If anyone thinks this wasn't anticipated and/or part of the original plan, then they haven't been paying attention.
I would bet this was built into the model or possibly even done initially by shills to start the greed/envy ball rolling. Or they may have just been counting on human nature to make it happen.
Either way, the people making Fortnite have no problem with it and are happy to have children bully each other in order to increase their revenue.
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I sent an e-mail to epic telling them that there could be a backlash if they didn't get a handle on the situation that was forming and discourage young kids from playing.
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The main selling point of bling is that the riffraff can't afford it, that's how all premium brands work. The only difference is that in Fortnite they're all the stores from Target to Armani and Louis Vuitton. The only way they could stop people with lots of money from buying expensive things and acting like douchebags towards those with less money is to not sell expensive things at all. While I'm sure that appeals to some communist ideal that nobody should own more than a $10 skin, it's not how the real wo
Battle Royale is not REAL FortNite. (Score:2)
I want to bring up the fact that when these kids talk about FortNite, they're referring to FortNite's Battle Royale mode, not the REAL FortNite: Save the World, which is a PVE shooter/defense hybrid.
Which these BRats are ruining because they play Save the World only for the vbucks (the premium currency which is used for advancement in STW but cosmetics in BR) and are ignorant kids who don't understand the mechanics and engage in bad behavior. And who are misled by youtubers who ALSO don't understand the me
So kids being kids? (Score:3)
Shitty kids will come up with *anything* as an excuse in order to bully and ostracize others. It doesn't matter what it is, they will find a way, no matter how pointless and superficial. This has been happening since long before Fortnite existed. (ie: forever)
Fortnite is just a convenient tool. Once the fad dies off, something else will take it's place. All Fortnite is doing is acting as the headline target, just like innumerable fads have done previously.
Oh fuck off (Score:2)
Pressure != bullying.
We are social animals, thus herd behavior and social pressures are a thing for humans.
Growing up, one of the things you learn is how to deal with those pressures. It's not an academic thing, you learn from being exposed to them and growing coping mechanisms.
If we're going to call every slight whiff of social pressure "bullying" then all we're really doing is watering-down the stigma of ACTUAL bullying.
I Make My Own Clothing. That is my status! (Score:2)
If I want status in my community, I make my my own clothing! I have not spent a dime to keep up with 'fads' since 1990. My 'fads' are driven by my dream, my imagination, and my heart.
Here is a small example of my creations!
https://allyn.com/clothing/clo... [allyn.com]
And here is a video about my creations!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Mark
Re:If your kid is bullied over virtual clothing (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, because the parents of the bullied kid are at fault for the asshole behavior of other kids.
Right.
Re:If your kid is bullied over virtual clothing (Score:4, Insightful)
Then you need better parenting skills.
I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying they are bad parents because they are poor or bad parents because they raised kids who want friends?
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He's saying they are bad parents because their kid is bullied. A prime example of victim blaming.
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You're bad parents when you raise kids who think that they're defined by their virtual clothes.
(instead of knowing how to look a rich kid in the eye and tell them to go fuck themselves)
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Bingo. Somebody gets it.
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They're bad parents when their kids can't cope with some harsh words on Fortnite. I was so poor growing up that I couldn't have new sweatpants for P.E., the drawstring broke and my pants would only stay up if I held them. And I actually got physically assaulted because of it, not just told that I was poor. Snowflakes, indeed.
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"I was so poor growing up that I couldn't have new sweatpants for P.E., the drawstring broke and my pants would only stay up if I held them. And I actually got physically assaulted because of it, not just told that I was poor. Snowflakes, indeed."
So you got bullied? So now we blame your parents for bad parenting right?
Wasn't that the leap you made? These kids got bullied, therefore they have bad parents.
What's the difference you are drawing between these kids and you exactly?
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Worth a shot, and it might work in the big city.
But assault charges and a lawsuit against a 15 year old in hicksville? Odds are good the kid's related to the chief of police...or is otherwise well connected. (Part of why they're power tripping assholes... they come from a family of them.)
Maybe the police pick him up (again); give him a stern talking too... his dad might even whup him... or maybe buy him some beer and trash talk your kid together. Really could go either way. And then he's at school the next
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Then you need better parenting skills.
I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying they are bad parents because they are poor or bad parents because they raised kids who want friends?
This (pretty much).
I'm sick of the "blame parents for everything" thing. It's no more sensible than "blame video games for everything".
The /. zeitgeist can be pretty schizophrenic.
Example: our kids don't get bullied over virtual clothing because we simply don't let them have smart phones. (They have enough to learn and deal with in growing up without an unmonitored virtual doorway to the whole freaking world in their pocket.) But I'm guessing the "blame the parents" crowd here strangely won't be approvin
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Then you need better parenting skills.
Parenting is an aid to this sort of issue, but it only goes so far. The influence that a parent has, or the child's want/ability to absorb said influence, changes and 'the art of parenting' is the parent's ability to adjust with the changes. The first bit of parental influence to go has to do with the kid's social scene.
If your kid feels like they're left out of social aspects at school, it's a good idea to get them to help you with something around the house, and you talk to them as a friend while y'all
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You make it sound like parenting your child in this situation is easy. It may be easy to identify clearly bad parenting, such as giving in to all of your child's financial desires, but many parenting challenges have more nuance than this. A child's social development is very important; arguably just as important as the book knowledge they gain in primary school. Is a parent who puts their kid in a school where they cannot financially support their kid's ability to fit in with other kids doing their child a
Re:Parenting (Score:5, Insightful)
Everyone who says "bad parenting" either isn't one or lives in a really weird bubble.
The compromise we made over Fortnite in-game purchases with our 14 year old was that he was limited to $20 per month of his own money, and he had to buy the Playstation cards at the local Walgreens on his own (like get off his ass and walk/bike there).
He earns this money doing chores and yard work for the neighbors, and we require half to be put into savings and the other half is his to spend as he sees fit. I've counseled him several times on the fleeting nature of these purchases -- he gets nothing for them, and it takes away from his ability to buy other stuff. There was loud rumbling about "needing" new headphones, and I reminded him how easy they would be to buy if he totaled up his Fortnite spending.
The benefit of him spending some money on this is that it's kind of a pressure release valve -- "never spend money on them" just isn't realistically sustainable, and might result in some really bad choices (sneaking, stealing, etc) to obtain them. Plus his entire life will be spent with may more wants than means to satisfy them, so gaining some experience with bad money choices now probably pays dividends in the future.
We also limit Fornite to weekends only, and only if his GPA stays at B level which I think helps, too, although it doesn't end the relentless, intricate arguments surrounding reasons why he should get to play it during the week.
The parenting failure I see with Fortnite isn't any one parent(s) specific failure, but the collective failure of parents in a given school or community to coordinate a set of common standards. It may not be possible.
The other failure I think is more insidious, and that's the apparent total lack of willingness to regulate games aimed at kids which are essentially using the gimmicks of gambling to get them hooked. I honestly think that games should be forced to validate user ages and enable parental controls and be forbidden under penalty of law for offering gambling-like features to kids. I know this will be an unpopular opinion, since many Slashdot readers are pretty young and still chafing from recent (or current) regulation by parents, schools, etc, but honestly we've let the electronics industry control our kids.
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like awesome parenting to me.
I'm an adult gamer but I'm also an avid hiker and travel a lot (and I'm certainly not going to waste time on another continent playing games while on vacation). I strongly believe this at least partially ties back to my parents limiting my game time as a child so I had to develop other interests. ...And teaching him money skills too? I have friends who make half again what I do and are always in debt so good for you on that score too.
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Thumbs up to you with your excellent parenting.
The other failure I think is more insidious, and that's the apparent total lack of willingness to regulate games aimed at kids which are essentially using the gimmicks of gambling to get them hooked.
Fortnite is T-rated, I firmly believe that anyone under the age of 14 shouldn't be playing. Especially since the really young kids have little experience with the RPG mechanics that Save the World uses, let alone the fact that BR games like Fortnite BR were inspired by an R-Rated movie.
I honestly think that games should be forced to validate user ages and enable parental controls and be forbidden under penalty of law for offering gambling-like features to kids.
I absolutely agree. Though they changed how loot llamas in STW work, they're random, but unlike in the past, you can see what you'll get BEFORE you spend v-bucks. So you can
Re: Parenting (Score:2)
My kids played fortnite for a couple of days, got bored, gave up and didn't suffer any social problems, so this isn't universal.
I totally agree that missing out on one game is hardly the end of the world. This kid sounds like a victim trying too hard to fit in with people who are never going to treat him as a friend or respect him. He needs to be encouraged to find real friends.
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Everyone who says something like this actually is just advertising that they're either not parents or that they live in some weird cult-like environment, not in the real world.
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Being first at the STD clinic still makes you a loser...
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Actually, since I've done a recent marathon of installing "Gaming Linux Distributions" for a comparison, I can say without exaggeration: Doesn't work. They all suck. The goal was to find a distribution that a "Windows refugee" would be able to pick up and use, where he can easily install games with as little additional work as possible as it was under Windows, preferably while getting a similar experience. The "rule of the game", so to speak, was that a savvy user would be present at install time of the OS,
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The goal was to find a distribution that a "Windows refugee" would be able to pick up and use, where he can easily install games with as little additional work as possible as it was under Windows, preferably while getting a similar experience.
For Steam with proton, that's "mostly" the case.
Either the Distribution is unable to deal with anything but an English keyboard and any support for additional keyboard layouts is WAY more complicated than necessary (Hello SteamOS)
just choose the right keyboard and locale at install time, it should "just work". If you need additional layouts, just make sure ibus is your default input method and you can switch between them on the fly. Well, that's how it works in Fedora.
and/or they come with an interface that a former Windows user can't wrap his mind around.
Most of them aren't that different, especially ones like XFCE
And all of them manage to make installing games outside of environments like Steam a veritable PITA.
Have you tried playonlinux rather than using WINE directly in a terminal? That's supposed to make it easier...because trying to install games doing it in a t
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You don't get it. Put yourself back in middle school. There have been and always will be middle school (and high school) asshole bullies.
Fortnite is T-Rated, middle schoolers should NOT even be playing. For christsakes, all these BR games are inspired by an R-rated movie! Yeah Fortnite BR doesn't have blood or bloody eliminations but it's still "kill everyone and be the last one standing"
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The element of chance is removed so I wouldn't call it gambling in the same sense as others