Parent’s guide to kids’ apps; welcome to 2020 – Part I

BY MAKAYLA B. – 11 YEARS OLD

So now that 2020 has started, you might want to give your kids a fresh start in school (behaviour wise), or a new phone or iPad. But there are some apps you should know about.

In my last article, I wrote about three popular apps kids my age (sometimes younger) use. The first one I’m going to review is Fortnite. In the article about Fortnite it explored the game and told you a little bit about its history.

In Fortnite there is a chat section where people can talk to one another, but it doesn’t block certain things like swearing. There is a game I play called Roblox, and when you are playing there is also a chat section, but it censors things like swearing, inappropriate words, and sayings. Because the Fortnite chat doesn’t censor inappropriate language it could influence your child to say things they saw there.

So now you’re probably wondering, is Fortnite a bad idea for my child? Well… My answer is YES! It’s violent, though it doesn’t show the blood and gore the shooting could still influence violent behaviour.  In my class kids who play Fortnite have different behaviour compared to those who don’t play Fortnite. Some people (or kids) will play Fortnite for fourteen hours or more. There are a few kids in my class who haven’t changed the amount of time they play on devices, but most have.