"Fortnite and TikTok at the school stage"

TikTok and Fortnite, social networks and video games, if you have already heard about them, it is because they surely have children from 13 years old and up, but we must ask ourselves what happens when children under that age are already having approaches with these applications? Are they really ready to use them? As parents, are we aware of the content of these social networks and possible consequences derived from their use?

Dear ISQ community, this time we want to focus this text, specifically to guide you as parents, as the first co-responsible for the safety and integrity of your children on the Internet; a topic that, although it is not the first time that we address this space, this time, we will do it again but focusing not on adolescents as we have already done, but on children under the age of 13. If you have done your job of finding out about social media, at least these two, you may be wondering, why do we want to talk about this in minors of that age? Yes, it is assumed that the recommended age for these applications is a minimum of 13 years, that is, before that period, no child should have access. You are absolutely right, however there are still families that perhaps have not noticed it and it is our job to bring them clearer and more precise information, so that they can gauge the possible consequences and make the best decisions in this regard.

First things first, what is Fortnite and TikTok and what are they about?

Fortnite is an action game, where the objective is survival, while the plot unfolds, you can make constructions (Minecraft type) and it is also a social network, because you can interact with other players, so far everything seems very harmless, because We can rescue that your mind works the development of strategies to achieve a goal, visuospatial skills when working in constructions, team play, etc., (functions that by the way can perfectly stimulate with other types of activities in real life) however sometimes we lose sight that the content includes the combat of “zombies” by means of weapons and violent actions in the midst of appropriation, accommodation and assimilation of learning.

You should know that there are two ways to play Fortnite, the solo version called "Save the World" and the "Battle Royale" form, which we will focus on today, as it is the most popular among users, by giving them the option to multiplayer, that is, it can become a social version, here is the first clue as to why they like this way of playing so much, since adolescents and prepubescent children, as they are in a stage of development in which friends take special relevance and peers, this game responds to a need for belonging because it can be left to play with your peers and friends, but you should also know, dear parents, that your children may be interacting with "strangers", many times they are not their age, but adults who take advantage of this tool for other purposes, because we must emphasize that this game has the function of an online chat, that is, live, live and without moderators, which exposes Younger players to listen to explicit, offensive, violent language and even adult content from anonymous people. Do you see where this can go?

Although this risk is the most potentially dangerous for your child, it is not the only one, since within the game there are risks of being the victim of heavy “jokes” (have you heard the term “rat children”? I invite you to investigate what it is about ) tricks, scams or scams into which a child can easily fall, as his level of maturity does not allow him to measure the following situations:

Some web pages offer a kind of points redeemable within the game, (V-Bucks), by clicking on their "ads", this only makes the inexperienced player (our children) provide personal information that can even get to do charges to a credit card or bank account or worse, directing them to links to suspicious sites or content, it goes without saying that the famous points will never reach you and you will have only fallen into a scam that endangers your psychological integrity and even physical.

And although if we look at its graphics superficially, the cartoon style can give us the impression that it is harmless, it is precisely this that becomes a "bait" for children, so it is definitely NOT recommended neither this nor other games that have This type of chat for children under 13 and even at that age, there will be filters and controls that as parents we will be responsible for investigating, applying and monitoring if we make the decision that our children can use them.

"And what about TikTok?"

It is said that this social network is Instagram for the little ones, because unlike Instagram, where the minimum age is 16 years, the developer of TikTok, indicates that it is appropriate from the age of 13. At TikTok they will focus on recording and editing music videos with fun visuals. So far nothing to be scared about, right?

Well let's think and go a little more in depth, because like other social networks, this implies that a child, has his own profile, will have the option of following others, and himself have his own "followers", additionally with this tool he It opens up the possibility of making comments and that this can be completely open to all audiences. Let's also think that we are giving a child a device with the ability to record, which at its incipient maturity considers "fun". So far, it is losing how harmless it might seem to us at the beginning, we do not have to go into exposing uncomfortable, inappropriate and exponentially dangerous situations of specific cases related to children under 13 (even older than that) and the use of TikTok, to reflect If our elementary students are prepared to access it and although we have spoken more than for the prohibition, for the reflection, it is also worth remembering that the limits are designed based on the safety and integrity of our children and youth, then, the definitive answer from our position based on the guarantees of physical and emotional security is: "NO", an elementary child should not have access to TikTok or mobile device, not only for the reasons of integrity previously exposed, but if from the outset may not seem enough, we must also think that the younger they begin to enter this virtual world, there is a greater and real cost at the cognitive and socio-emotional level, because in the elementary stage they are still growing and structural and functional conformation of their brain, which is modified by missing valuable moments in the real world, interacting with precious people such as their own parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, doing mentally enriching face-to-face activities for their growth and maturity in every way.

In conclusion, these same reasons of evolutionary immaturity, are why children are not in a position to measure the consequences and impact of their online actions, in addition to the possible advantages that could be obtained by using these social networks, at school age, that is to say, the one that includes primary school, they can satisfy with real activities and that do not have the potential dangers that they will find on the Internet and we have already explained above, therefore It is up to us adults, first their parents, with all the love involved in making the decision for them on this issue, establishing the appropriate measures to ensure their safety and that our children grow up in every sense of the word. For all the above, the call is to cancel TikTok accounts and save the Fortnite game until they are the age recommended by the providers.And secondly to us as educators, set the institutional policies that regulate the use of mobile devices within the school environment, reiterating the position that within ISQ, children should not carry or make use of them.

We support and support you families in this process in which you are not alone, which is why if you require further support to reinforce your parental skills, you can count on us to guide you in this regard, contact your section director and / or psychologist Stay tuned for this space where we share with you training content that contributes to your role as parents. Let's team up for our childhood.

Psic. Alejandra Morales Arroyo

Program ISQ Safe