Ninja Slams Parents Sending Their 'Fortnite' Addicted Kids To Rehab

Apparently, some parents are sending their kids to special Fortnite rehab clinics because the battle-royale game has overtaken their lives. No, seriously.

The news of Victory Royale addictions made headway earlier this week, when Bloomberg ran a story titled "Fortnite Addiction is Forcing Kids Into Video-Game Rehab."

Long story short, Fortnite's 200 million-plus player count includes many children, and some of these children are seemingly addicted to playing the game and chugging chugjugs. Like Debbie Vitany's 17-year-old son, who reportedly logs in about 12 hours a day.

"We'd made some progress in getting him to cut down his Fortnite hours and get better sleep, but he's slipped back into his old habits," said Vitany "I've never seen a game that has such control over kids' minds."

Apparently, Vitany isn't alone. There are numerous reports of parents, schools, and more talking about the destructive properties of Fortnite, and its ability to erode other aspects of the lives of those who play it. How does it do this? Well, apparently it's because the game is like heroin.

"This game is like heroin," said Lorrine Marer, a British behavioral specialist who works with kids battling game addiction. "Once you are hooked, it's hard to get unhooked."

If comparing a video game to heroin seems a little bit much, well it's probably because it is. As you would expect, the response to this story has varied greatly. Some have echoed the sentiments of personal accounts within, but many slammed it. Of those that slammed it: the game's most popular streamer, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, who thanks to the game became one of the biggest personalities in streaming this year.

Title should be "Terrible parents don't know how to take their kids gaming system away"

— Ninja (@Ninja) November 28, 2018

If sending your children to video-game specific rehab centers doesn't work, you could always try unplugging or taking away the console, setting parental controls with time limits, or tell them to stop playing. When I was 10, I was severely addicted to playing Sega Soccer Slam -- like every 10 year old ever -- and so my parents eventually took the game away and wouldn't give it to me until I did my homework, chores, bathed, and hungout with my friends. They never sent me to a video game rehab center. I suppose if they did, I wouldn't be playing it to this day....