A New York teacher has been fired after playing Fortnite with his pupils to motivate them in their studies
Can a video game help pupils improve their school performance? According to Brett Belsky - a physical education teacher at Middle School 890 - yes, even if the initiative cost him his job.
Belsky made a pact with two students aged 11 and 12 who didn't particularly shine in their grades. If they improved their report card grades, the teacher would agree to play Fortnite: Battle Royale with them. The two boys pledged, and in response, Belsky kept his promise.
It appears, however, that one of the two teens lied to the teacher, pretending to have permission from his father, who - upon discovering the truth - reported Belsky to the New York City Department of Education. Belsky thus lost his job, but continues his battle to defend it.
"As any great educator would do, Mr. Belsky sought the best way to motivate and connect with his students - indeed, the teacher's lawyers respond to the complaint - in the spring of the 2017-'18 school year, Mr. Belsky heard his students talking about an internationally famous video game called Fortnite, discovering that some pupils were not focusing on school activities because of the game. So he posted his username on the school's bulletin board and asked, and got, consent from the pupils' parents to entice them to give more in his subject by promising to challenge them to Fortnite and give them an autographed field hockey puck as a reward."