NITEMARE
My 12-year-old son is so addicted to Fortnite he has seizures and is in hospital
A MUM today told how her 12-year-old Fortnite-addicted son was rushed to hospital after having seizures.
Vicky Winstanley told This Morning her son, Nathan, started having trouble staying awake and struggled with memory loss before she found him passed out on his bed.
3
She couldn't wake after he had been gaming late into the night and frantically called for help.
Medics said he was suffering from chronic fatigue after he spent hours playing the immersive game.
Ms Winstanley said she would find him on his Xbox in the early hours of the the morning after the TV was moved into his room during a redecoration.
She said: "I hadn't realised the extent of what's going on.
"After Christmas period, Nathan wasn't very well. He was constantly tired, he was fatigued.
"I was seeing that he couldn't stay awake, he had no short-term memory recall.
"I took him to my local GP, they said oh it must be a virus something going round, it'll clear up, just make sure he rests.
"So as he was resting he was on the Xbox and, of course, that got worse as he was constantly playing and I didn't realise that was the trigger at the time.
'HE WAS JUST GONE'
"So it got to the point where one morning I went to go and wake Nathan up and he was lying on his bed, the controller strewn over his bed, the TV was still on, the game was going but it looked like he'd had some sort of fit or seizure. He'd passed out completely and I couldn't wake him.
"He was just gone, completely unconscious.
"This went on for 15 minutes and I thought I've got to call an ambulance."
She told hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford: "I did have [an addict for a son]. I didn't realised the extent of what it was doing and how it was taking over his life."
Addiction expert Emma Kenny recommended parents only allow their kids to play for four hours, adding: "I don't suggest parents ban their kids from video games, but there definitely needs to be boundaries."
The dangers of children spending hours gaming
Gaming addiction was classified as a medical disorder in June 2018, meaning kids hooked on games such as Fortnite will now be able to access treatment on the NHS.
The World Health Organisation told governments around the world they would be expected to incorporate "gaming disorder" into their health systems, after increasing evidence the addiction caused sufferers and their families severe psychological distress.
A study, published in Proceedings of the National Adacemy of Sciences, found if children play video games for too long they can become more aggressive.
And according to , research showed video games can desensitise people to seeing aggressive behaviour, and even decrease the ability to feel empathy.
Teachers have said they are finding many of its users are younger than its 12-year age limit.
They are demanding curriculum time to teach healthy online use, as part of Personal Social Health and Economic Education.
National Association of Head Teachers chief Nick Brook said: “To help young people navigate challenges of the digital age, we’d like protected curriculum space.
“Recent reports of problems with online gaming only reinforces the need to educate children on safe and healthy use of online resources.”
Last year we told how a nine-year-old girl reportedly wet herself during a ten-hour-long binge on Fortnite — and even hit her dad in the face when he tried to take away her Xbox console.
The shoot-em-up game - aimed at young teens - has gripped millions of children across the country.
More than 250million have downloaded Fortnite worldwide after it was launched in July 2017.
In it, 100 players compete on their own or with a small group of pals to grab weapons, gather resources and build defences before fighting it out to be the last man (or team) standing.
It's bright, it's cartoony and it's fiendishly compelling.
It has since been endorsed by top sport and music celebs — but experts fear it is leading to record levels of online addiction.
One 17-year-old addict revealed how his Fortnite obsession left him in debt, addicted to drugs and on the verge of suicide.
Screen time management - how to do it
To set screen time limits for your child on Xbox One and Windows 10 devices, use the online tool.
Go to and sign in with
your Microsoft account. Then:
- Find your child’s name and select Screen time.
- If you want to use the same schedule for all devices, switch Use one screen time schedule from Off to On. If you’d rather have separate schedules, scroll down and switch on screen time for PC and Xbox One individually.
- Set how much time your child is allowed to spend with their devices each day, and when they can use them. If you want to give them the full amount of time you’ve scheduled, select Max scheduled. (Example: If you’ve allowed screen time from 8 am to 8 pm, they could use their devices that entire time.)
MOST READ IN NEWS
If you think your child is suffering from any of these issues, the NSPCC advises that you talk candidly with him or her about what they are doing online and how to stay safe.
You can consult the charity's for support when starting these conversations.
The charity adds that you should agree your own rules as a family when using sites, apps and games.
3
3
14-year-old video game athlete earns $200,000 by playing Fortnite
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
Topics