Fortnite user warns parents that children are being subjected to hardcore bullying and vile threats from other gamers.

Daniel Cole from Brisbane posted a warning online urging parents not to use the hugely popular game as ‘a parenting device’.

The 33-year-old from Taringa said he and his housemate had been playing the game on and off since its release and he was concerned at what he had heard said to children by other people playing the game, reports Courier Mail.

“We seldom use microphones when in multiplayer games of it, but we often find that children probably as young as seven and up to their teens tend to do this often,” he said.

“And they get bullied hard. Vitriolic and very toxic bullying – not playful teasing.”

He said parents need to monitor their children’s playtime with the game to avoid them becoming a target when they use the microphone.

“This is just coming from a concerned community member who constantly deals with hearing kids getting harassed on this game, told things like ‘go kill yourself’, ‘I’ll get a pedo to rape you kid’, ‘f*** off you annoying squeaky little f*****t c***’,” Mr Cole said.

He said he had also heard gamers tell children to ‘go die in a fire’, ‘I’ll rape your mother…’ and ‘I hang people like you kid – I’ll come around and find where you live and do it’.

“People should be alarmed. It’s abhorrent behaviour, but can go uncontrolled and often absorbed by impressionable minds.”

“Many children don’t have their parents at hand to turn off their microphones if things get out of hand, and children are most susceptible to curiosity and will be less inclined to turn off unless they have learned to do so.”

Mr Cole said he just wanted to bring online bullying to the surface, and for parents to pay more attention to their children online.

“It’s not my intent or my business to dictate how someone conducts their parenting. I only intended to open dialogue amongst parents to new ideas and risks. How they choose to handle their parenting is purely in their hands.”

Mr Cole suggested parents could reduce the risks by monitoring their children’s online presence, and encourage children to either play without microphones, or enter private group voice chat parties with people they know rather than strangers.

“Many parents would already be aware of stranger danger, so must apply this to video game communities with their children,” he said.

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