— Dr O’Toole urges parents to take sharp look at violent video games
SCHOOL of the Nations Principals, Dr Brian O’Toole is warning parents against the exposure of their children to violent online videos games which oftentimes pass as entertainment.
He made the appeal even as he expressed unease that one youth or a small group of them can hold a sizable percentage of Guyana at ransom in fear and apprehension.
Dr O’Toole, who is in New York and is scheduled for surgery to regain use of his left hand after he was shot 18 days ago at his home, described the situation as a very sad one. He suggested to the Guyana Chronicle that persons have useful information of the shooting but are silent.
“Surely, many persons have information but are fearful to say anything. They too end up being victims, with silence on their consciences. Parents too may have a terrible divided loyalty between the natural desire to protect their child and to do the right thing.”
“When I was shot, the attempted murderer did a bizarre dance – when relating this to some students I am close to, they referred me to the dark video game, Fortnite. The dance on that evening looked as if it had been rehearsed from the very same video,” he told this publication.
Warnings have appeared in leading newspapers in the UK, such as The Telegraph, about the game in question. The game has been found to be addictive and creates aggression and extreme violence in its participants, the newspaper reported.
The report went on to say that schools in the UK are warning parents that Fortnite is making children “aggressive and violent” and fuelling bullying.
A number of primary schools in Gloucestershire have sent out letters to parents and one has held events talking about the effects the game is having on pupils as young as age six, the report said.
ALL CONSUMING
The report noted that Widden Primary School, in Gloucester, last year held daily sessions for a week, informing parents that the game was becoming “all consuming” for young children and they are at risk of becoming “addicted”.
“Younger children find it difficult to distinguish between the game and real life. They are exposed to the aggression and violence.”
“We have had a number children for whom their behaviour has deteriorated as a result of what seems to be playing Fortnite. It leads to aggressive behaviour and language which they have heard online,” The Telegraph reported Debbie Innes, deputy head at the school as saying.
Fortnite is a ‘battle royale’ styled game in which up to 100 people compete at a single time in online matches to the death.
Hannah Beale, a Year Four teacher at Foxmoor Primary, Stroud, who had also sent letters to parents, said children were now being bullied about their Fortnite characters.
According to Dr O’Toole, a British-trained psychologist, the key issue here is that in such games, children and youth tend to lose track of reality, a problem parents must nip in the bud.
“As parents we can simply check to see if our children are part of this dangerous cyber world. As a school, we can do our best to educate children about the terrible power of this nether world, but only parents can police their children’s phones, computers and other devices.
“The challenge is for us all but the urgency is very, very clear. We are creating a cyber world that youths have never had to face in the past,” he said, pointing out that a lesson learnt in the shooting and threats is that parents need to take a sharper look at violent video games which pass as entertainment.
