Safe Gaming: A Parent’s Guide to Online and Mobile Gaming Safety

There’s a gamer born every minute.

Though this is a proverbial phrase with a twist, it’s not that far from the truth. More than 90 percent of today’s kids play some sort of video game.

This generation of young ones is at least twice as invested in gaming as the generations of yesteryear. The age of the typical gamer is also decreasing by a lot. Now, mobile game developers even cater to toddlers.

so how can you ensure your kids’ safety and well-being as they play online? Let this be your guide to safe gaming for the littles.

Beware of Social Gaming

Video games of the ’80s and ’90s pale in comparison to the popular games of today. Back then, parents were outraged by the violence in video games; now the topic of concern is social gaming.

The social component of gaming platforms is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s great to connect with like-minded gamers from anywhere in the world. On the other hand, where there are strangers, there’s an opportunity for danger to kids. Unsavory characters lurk in plain site online, ready to bully, extort, or groom unsuspecting children into giving up their real home address or worse. Though this seems alarmist, it’s true.

Roblox, a popular gaming app that seems appropriate for kids at first glance, has a lot of simulated content targeted to antagonize or traumatize its youngest users. Since Roblox is a social gaming platform made up of user-generated content, its developers don’t have much control of what is posted or simulated.

Find the Right Platform

Before letting kids venture into the world of online gaming, make sure that the platform is relatively safe, with few to no social components.

A bit of research goes a long way in this case. Here’s what to look at when considering a gaming platform for a child:

• Can the chat feature be turned off
• Do in-app purchases exist, and can they be turned off
• Is the gaming content regulated by developers or users
• Does the platform have a peaceful gaming mode or similar settings for younger gamers

Apple Arcade is a kid-friendly gaming platform. It’s in-app purchases are secure and able to be fully controlled by a parent or supervisor, and it runs on content made solely by developers. Also, the social gaming can be limited or erased entirely.

Safe Gaming Equals Parental Restrictions

No matter the platform, it’s always smart to monitor your kids’ gameplay through parental control. Make yourself the administrator of their accounts, and then set up appropriate parameters including age range.

Make time each day to review your child’s activity on the gaming platform, and use tools like screentime to regulate how long they can use it in one sitting.

Before creating a child’s account on any platform, read through privacy policies and other documentation to understand exactly how the site might deal with a kid. For instance, this link leads you to GameMine’s privacy policy, which gives good insight into what’s expected of you as a user, and what the platform is responsible for.

Are Your Kids Safe Online?

Now that you know how to protect your little gamers, do you think they’re currently safe on their platforms?

If not, it’s time to take the above steps. For more tips on everything to do with tech, visit our blog regularly. We offer new content every week.