A California teacher said she noticed some concerning behavior in a child at her school. After she had to “get the ten-year-old to stop crying about V-bucks,” she learned of something even more alarming.
TikTok user Katedooley975, a middle school teacher in California, shared on TikTok of one of her more recent class disruptions. She’s seen a lot, but it’s not often she’s had to get a child to “stop crying over V-bucks.” And this is before she could even get started with her class. V-bucks are the virtual currency in Fortnite, used to purchase virtual items like skins.
After taking the child aside, Katie says her student was upset because their parents wouldn’t buy him V-bucks. Katie tried to explain he might get V-bucks in time when his parents come around or they give him money for chores. Thankfully, this was a “positive interaction,” Katie says, and the student was soothed.
However, the student returned with some alarming news: he was able to get some V-bucks recently, but it wasn’t from his parents. According to Katie, the student told her he had convinced another shopper to pay for the V-bucks. He says when he got into line, with V-bucks in hand, he said, “Whoops, I don’t have enough money.” Someone in line intervened and paid for the V-bucks.
Katie concluded what happened by stating, “Capitalism works. Consumerism works. Guilt trips, pathos, emotional appeals work.” She said he used “being cute in line at a grocery store” to get what he wanted and that’s not okay. And even worse—the student admitted his “dad doesn’t know.”
Parents online share insight on the kind of behavior Katie was seeing
Katie’s experience drove a lot of parents to open up about how they handle videogames, especially when it comes to microtransactions. What they really highlight is how the manipulation has extended to their children’s behavior, too. As one TikTok user put it, “This is addiction behavior.”
One commenter brought up a good point, one the teacher didn’t originally pick up on. “Oh he wanted you to get him some v bucks 😭😭😭.” Katie responded, saying, “Omg you’re so right!!!! 😩.”
Another commenter, a parent, told a story of them deleting their child’s Roblox account they were caught “lying and stealing for Roblox money.” They then shared they “went screen free this summer” and it’s like they have their “little boy back.”
It’s stories like these that highlight the problems with free-to-play models propped up by microtransactions, like Fortnite. If it isn’t stealing or lying for virtual currency, it’s bullying others for using the default skin because a player couldn’t afford them. Many viewers believed the story showed how heavily some children can become attached to virtual purchases.
