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Fortnite Distracts Students from School
Teens have always received a bad rep for playing too many video games and not focusing enough on school, but there probably hasn’t been quite a phenomenon with high schoolers in the gaming world as Fortnite has created. Teens are flocking to the game in their latest obsession, and while its not nearly as damaging as the Tide Pod challenge, it is causing a stir in high schools across the country. The video game has become the latest distractions in the classrooms as schools fight again the ever-growing game in order to regain their student attention. “They started a match during lunch, or before school,”Nick Gutierrez, a high school AP computer science teacher told Kotaku, "and need to finish the 10-15 [minute] long matches. I have noticed in my room students siting next to each other trying to play while pretending to do work.” Meanwhile, high schools are doing everything they can to stop the phenomenon from entering the classrooms. Many are installing seeking blockers for the wifi in an attempt to squash the game’s connection, but to little avail as students continue to find ways around the block with VPN apps so easily accessible now. Teachers, however, are not shy to going old school as one teacher took to twitter showing off his confiscation box for anyone playing the game in his classroom. Some teachers have simply resign though and attempted to find a way to use the Epic Game to their advantage. One teacher told waypoint about how she bribed her students into working by promising to allow a discussion about the game should the students complete their tasks without any interruptions. But the game doesn’t stop at school. Many outlets have reported accounts of students failing to do homework, losing sleep and forsaking relationships due to the game. It has even gone as far as students using it as the newest way to asking their prom date to the prom. It has become the only way to speak to many high schoolers as it becomes the center of their attention. While there are much worse crazes and phenomenons to breakout amongst students in recent years, this one seems to worry parents and teachers on a more basic life level. However, with the newest announcement of Ashland University offering a Fortnite scholarship for its esports teams, parents maybe able to harness the addiction into a positive future. One thing parents and teachers can take comfort in is the latest crazes always die out the fastest. It’s only a matter of time before this news is old news.