How to Set Up Fortnite Parental Controls for Children?

The digital revolution has occurred in our world in the past two decades. The revolution has brought about everything we do online. We can communicate online, shop online, study online, build relationships online, and play games online.

The Digital revolution has brought many positive changes to our world, and it has also brought up a few negative aspects.

Today's digital world is vast and provides innumerable pleasure, which has led to the digital mediums being severely addictive to anyone vulnerable. This mainly includes small children and teenagers.

With the world's shift towards more digital platforms, there has also been a growth in online video games. When we were kids, we used to go out to play, and we used to play in playgrounds, and the available video games had to be played with friends in person.

But all of this has changed with online video games or online gaming. There are numerous online games available for children to play.

These days, the popular online games include Minecraft, Terraria, Fortnite Battle Royale, Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Pokemon Sun and Moon, Lego Kids, Animal Crossing, Fall Guys, Mario Brothers, and many more.

As with the addiction to gaming platforms, video game addiction is also new problem parents are facing. It is estimated that about 90 million people are addicted to gaming. Children are especially addicted to their favorite games like Fortnite. Among these games, Fortnite has been the most popular game for children.

So what is a solution to this problem? What is Fortnite? Is Fortnite addiction real? How bad is it? How do I identify it? And how can I control my child from playing Fortnite?

We are here to help. We will help you guide through all of these questions!.

Fortnite is a survival online video game that Epic Games Inc designed. It is a multiplayer game of the battle royale genre.

In this game, the players are required to compete in a battle royale format. A battle royale format refers to games where players are supposed to survive, explore and collect the utilities to survive. It is a blend of exploration and survival aspects of games.

The primary gameplay of Fortnite Battle Royale follows a battle royale format. The gameplay starts with an individual player or a squad. The squad involves either team of two or four. These team members can either be friends or other online players.

The game starts with about 100 players in each round. These players are on a Flying Bus over land. They are given a map on the side of their screen. They have to glide down to the region they want to desire to play in. The map is full of landmarks.

The players are dropped without any resources on the map. They are not given any weapons or other supplies. The supplies are different in every game. They can collect these resources from different locations. They can even construct different protective buildings to protect themselves from the enemy or enemy teams.

The main goal of this game is to stay alive until the end. You can do this by either killing off other players with weapons collected by exploring or avoiding contact with them. The players' game is over if they exhaust their health. In team plays, they can revive team members for a certain period.

The region of the map also narrows down as the game progresses. The players are made to travel from the location they dropped to the center of a blue circle. If the player remains outside of the circle, their health depletes, and they lose the loss. This continues until only one player or team survives.

This game provides both exhilaration and skill for players. They get better by practicing the game more. They eventually learn their way through the locations on the map. Over time, they learn the skill of survival by collecting resources faster and aiming their weapons better to finish their enemies.

Along with playing the game, Fortnite has communication features too. Players can search the random name of players and send friend requests and connect. They can chat in Fortnite and even video chat.

Fortnite Battle Royale has a T-rated for violence. This means that only teenagers above the age of 13 are allowed to play the game. Since this game incorporates violence like killing other players, parents should oversee the games of the children.

Parents often complain that Fortnite keeps their children busy from doing other activities like learning, doing chores, or completing their homework. Teachers have complained that children only talk about Fornite and even play the game in class. Parents are concerned that the time the children play Fortnite affects their physical health.

Parenting and child development expert Dr. Deborah Gilboa says that the game may only be harmful when a balance is not set. She says that it can only be harmful if parents allow their children to play the game all day long either they can set weekly playtime.

She says that the game allows the children to learn a lot of new skills. They learn the skill to communicate correctly. When playing in teams, they learn to collaborate with their peers. They are not limited to asking friends in their circle. They learn the frustrations of losing. She says the children also learn about patience and problem-solving from the game.

However, she also says that there are harmful effects of the game. She says that children under 14 years should be supervised when playing the game. Their parents should guide them to set a healthy balance to prevent Fortnite addiction.

She says the parents should also supervise them because the children might learn inappropriate language during the gameplay. She says that children below the age of 14 may not cope with the frustrations of losing by themselves.

Children also should be supervised while playing Fortnite because they may become friends with strangers. The intentions of the stranger have to be determined by the parent.

Fortnite Battle Royale is a game where players feel rewarded after winning the game. They get a feeling of achievement. You are immersed in the world created by the game. The game is highly engaging and intentionally keeps you so. Most video games do this to keep the players hooked to earn money off of them.

Video game addiction is a severe issue for children of the newer generation. The World Health Organization has officially classified gaming addiction as an actual disease. It is mainly seen in children and teenagers. It is classified under International Classified Disease (ICD-11).

Fortnite addiction is a severe issue. It may take over the life of the player. They become obsessed with the gameplay. Experts say that gaming addiction hits the same part of the brain as an addiction to smoking. It releases dopamine into the brain, which makes the game also hard to part from.

Many countries have faced this problem and have even started treating gaming/Fortnite addiction as any other form of addiction. The players who are highly addicted to the game are sent to rehabilitation centers.

But all of those are extreme cases of Fortnite addiction. So how can you see the symptoms of gaming addiction in children?

Symptoms of gaming addiction

You can see that gaming addiction in children is a serious issue. It has officially been classified as a disease by WHO. So what is a healthy behavior of gaming, and what is gaming addiction?

Our list down below will help you identify those symptoms. When your child is addicted to gaming, they will exhibit specific physical and mental symptoms. You need to take care of your kids mental health. The mental symptoms of gaming addiction are as follows:

Gaming addiction does not only leave behind mental symptoms. Your child may also exhibit some physical symptoms when they are addicted to gaming. Some of these physical symptoms of gaming addiction are as follows:

Gaming addiction has severe effects on a person's mental health. When it comes to children, gaming addiction can leave several long-term and short-term health issues. This may cause the initiation of other health issues too. Some of these effects of gaming addiction on your kids are as follows:

How can Fortnite Parental Controls help?

Due to the increasing child addiction to epic games, parents are more worried about their children's studies and health problems. Fortnite is one of the popular games where kids play with their friends or strangers. So, this is another topic of parents worrying about their children playing and talking with strangers.

Considering this, Fortnite provides parental control to avoid their children talking with strangers while playing Fortnite games. Parents can set a range of parental controls in Fortnite to manage what their children can do and see in the game.

With Fortnite parental controls, you can disable both voice chat and text chat. Also, you can choose to filter mature language and disable other squad members from seeing your child's in-game name.

Furthermore, The Fortnite parental control feature allows you to monitor your child's playtime daily or weekly, so you know how much time they spend playing.

Account settings for Fortnite Parental Controls

Fortnite Parental Controls help as it provides different control options. Go over the account settings, and you will find different options like below:

Can See Mature Language - ON or OFF

ON: Text chats can display mature language.

OFF: Text chat will replace mature language with heart symbols.

Can Accept Friend Requests - ON or OFF

ON: The player will receive all friend requests.

OFF: The player cannot receive friend requests. The system will automatically reject incoming friend requests.

Non-Squad Members Can See Your Name - ON or OFF

ON: Your display name will be visible to players not in your squad.

OFF: Use "Anonymous" as your display name for players who are not on your squad."

Can See Non-Squad Member Names - ON or OFF

ON: Players who do not belong to a squad will be shown.

OFF: Display the name of the player who is not in your squad as "Player."

Voice Chat - ON or OFF

ON: Your teammates can hear or talk to you via the microphone.

OFF: You can't hear your teammates or speak with them.

Houseparty Video Chat in Fortnite - ON or OFF

NOTE: If Voice Chat is disabled via parental controls, this setting cannot be enabled

ON: Players who have connected their Houseparty and Epic accounts can set the Houseparty video chat to appear on the same screen they are playing Fortnite. Playing Fortnite allows Houseparty friends and friends-of-friends to hear and see one another.

OFF: Players cannot set their Houseparty video chat to appear on the screen they are playing Fortnite on (this will not affect the ability to use Houseparty outside of Fortnite).

Weekly Playtime Reports - ON or OFF

Note: To learn about your platform's playtime restrictions, click "More Settings" in-game.

ON: Weekly playtime reports will be sent to the email address associated with your account.

OFF: Playtime reports will not be sent.

Text Chat - ON or OFF

ON: You can text chat with your teammates.

OFF: You can't send or receive text messages.

You can save your selections by clicking the SAVE button. To change any of these account settings or disable parental controls in the future, you must enter your PIN. When a PIN is changed, the email associated with the account will be notified.

How to set up Fortnite Parental Controls for Children?

Research says that a healthy amount of gaming of Fortnite Battle Royale or other video games should only be for 1 hour a day. It says that children between the age of 7 to 12 should spend about 9 hours a week on video games. It says any more time than this can be harmful to children. (Health Day News)

Games like Fortnite Battle Royale are made to be addictive, especially to children. So being a parent, you have to prevent children from Fortnite addiction? However, there is a range of parental controls for Fortnite, one of which is within Fortnite.

If you opt for parental controls within Fortnite, your child's device is needed for everything to be set up. You can set up parental controls for Fortnite on one platform to work on other platforms, such as both PC and Nintendo Switch, if your child plays on more than one platform.

Step 1: Launch Fortnite on your platform of choice.

Step 2: Open the menu in the upper-right of the screen in the lobby.

Step 3: Select "Parental Controls."

Step 4: Confirm the email address linked to the account. If no email address is found linked to the account, you'll be navigated to a web browser where you can link the account.

Step 5: Set a unique six-digit PIN.

Note: The six-digit PIN you set must be different from the other PINs you use. You will need this PIN in the future to change parental controls, so make sure to set a PIN that is different easy to remember.

Step 6: Finally, set the parental controls enabled.

This way, you can control your child's playtime and manage time for the Fortnite game.

How to reset the PIN to change parental controls?

Below are the steps required to rest the PIN to change parental controls :

Step 1: Go to http://epicgames.com/account and log in.

Step 2: Scroll down to PARENTAL CONTROLS and tap on MANAGE STORE SETTINGS.

Step 3: Type current PIN in the pop-up window and CONTINUE.

Step 4: Click Change PIN in the pop-up window.

Step 5: Enter a new PIN and confirm it.

Step 6: Click CONTINUE.

How to reset your PIN if you forget it?

Follow the below steps to reset your PIN when you forget it:

Step 1: Click on Forgot Your PIN.

Step 2: Click CONFIRM. Which will send an email to the email address associated with the account.

Conclusion

Parents in growing numbers are finding their kids to be addicted to video games like Fortnite Battle Royale. Gaming addiction is a severe mental health issue for children. Parents can use the help of a mental health professional to diagnose the symptoms as their effects are grave.

So parents can set boundaries, build a routine to limit screen time, and develop a reward system to prevent and stop game addiction in children. Go for parental controls settings to make Fortnite safe for kids.

You can even use many parental control apps to check a child's phone screen time, either its iPhone or Android, or even windows. Make screen time rules for your children to avoid their full-time engagement with gadgets.