With its colourful graphics and fast-paced battle royale gameplay, the online video game Fortress Clash has become a global phenomenon among primary-school children. However, classrooms and school yards are increasingly becoming battlegrounds of their own as teachers report a surge in copycat behaviour. Educators complain that pupils are regularly imitating the game's aggressive combat moves and using hostile victory dances, known as 'emotes', to mock classmates during break times. One primary school headteacher noted: "We have seen a substantial rise in physical roughhousing during break times. Children are performing mock take-downs and boasting in a highly confrontational manner that they have copied directly from the game. It is disrupting their focus in lessons."
Educational psychologist Dr Alan Vance commented that children are highly susceptible to observational learning from interactive media. He stated: "At this developmental stage, children struggle to differentiate between virtual play-fighting and real-world social boundaries. If they see highly-stylised aggression rewarded with virtual prestige, they are highly likely to model these behaviours with their peers."
Based on a contemporary news report on media influence and school-age behaviour.
Assess the effectiveness of using a school-wide reward-based system (such as a token economy) to manage the disruptive imitation behaviours identified in Source A.
