Prince Harry has… suddenly turned into an old man. The Duke of Sussex recently made an appearance at the West London YMCA, where he spoke to mental health professionals, calling for an end to “irresponsible” video games, specifically ‘Fortnite’, and declaring that social media is “more addictive than drugs and alcohol.”
Regarding ‘Fortnite’, the Prince said:
“The game shouldn’t be allowed. Where is the benefit of having it in your household? It’s created to addict– an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. It’s so irresponsible.
“Parents have got their hands up – they don’t know what to do about it. It’s like waiting for the damage to be done.”
Referring to social media, he said:
“It’s more dangerous because it’s normalized and there are no restrictions to it. We are in a mind-altering time.
“Without that human connection, when you do have a problem you have nowhere to go, the only place you might go is online and you will probably end up getting bullied.”
He also referred to overall internet addiction as a “global epidemic around young people’s mental health.”
While it’s certainly true, we have become a society that revolves around our screens, that is hardly isolated to just kids, although it is true that after ‘Fortnite’ launched, kids began showing up to school exhausted after staying up all night playing it.
Part of the appeal of ‘Fortnite’ is that it’s free to play and allows kids to team up with their friends to fight (and kill) other players. The vibrant, cartoony graphics may distract from the fact that the entire game is a shoot-’em-up where players unlock new weapons with which to kill other players.
Thanks to the game’s (admittedly sick) graphics, it has become a merchandising monster. There have been a few controversies surrounding it, most pertinently the accusation that the llama piñatas, are viewed as a form of gambling. But the majority of legal action taken against ‘Fortnite’ revolve around the dance emojis (for instance “The Carlton”) that certain musicians and actors consider to be “theirs.”
But we’re talking about something that mostly kids are into. ‘Fortnite’ will go the way of ‘Angry Birds’, ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ and poop emojis any day now.
Honestly, if Prince Harry wanted kids to stop playing it, he should have said that he played it. Nothing’s more passé than grownups jumping on board.
Source: Express UK
