Play Online Games

Online gaming has become a common trend in this era. Some games like online casino games or visit other gaming websites to get a thrilling and entertaining experience. But when it comes to kids, parents are a little worried about the types of games they play online. Usually, kids love to play games that involve interaction with other online players from other geographic locations. They even play such games with their real-life friends.

Risks involved in such type of games

While there are many positive aspects of such online gaming, parents need to be aware of some financial, emotional, and physical dangers that these games can cause. So let’s put limelight on some of the common risks involved in online gaming:

Exposure to bad words and inappropriate content

Even if the game is age-appropriate, still your child can encounter some bad language, provocatively dressed characters or sex-related pictures or even worse. For example, in one famous game made for elementary-aged children, a hacker sexually assaulted a girl by playing with the security settings. This incident may be shocking for you, but it’s better to be secure to avoid such mishap.

Cyberbullying

One can’t control online bullying. As per a study done, 60% of gamers were bullied sometimes while playing online games, while 47% said they were threatened. As no one knows the online gamers personally, many players often say things they can’t dare to say face-to-face. Such interactions usually contain the usage of offensive words or slang.

Unwanted friendship with strangers with bad intention

It may be exciting for your child to communicate verbally and involve in instant messages and chat with strangers to build a virtual team and play games collectively. But some strangers try to fetch some personal information of your kids from them, like their name, school name and address, by winning their trust. Such data can be misused for scamming, or even they can try to meet your child personally. Such things can also lead to cyberstalking.

Financial Loss

Many gamers may convince your child to spend money either virtually or in reality. For example, once a child downloads a particular game, he may want to spend additional money to play more. If your child knows your credit card details, you may lose considerable bucks in such a scenario.

Malware infection

Your child may search for free virtual money or cheat code which may end up with the entry of malware, virus or worms into your system. For instance, searching ‘free V-bucks’ on YouTube will show many videos which may take your child to another website with the promise of free currency. However, these sites often download unsafe files in your system or redirect them to other malicious sites.

How to protect your child from all such things?

Read the codes and conduct of the games.

Being a parent, you should go through the rules and regulations of any particular game before permitting your child to play it. Know the type of behaviour allowed in the game and how the publisher handles the offensive behaviour. This will assure you that your child will remain in a safe environment and let the child know about the actions they should report to the moderators and their parents.

Play with your child

Joining your child in the game will let you know about the players playing with him, what type of languages they use and who is trying to talk with them.

Protect your device

You should install a robust security system in your device before allowing your kid to play any online game on the device. Update the security software with time to remain assured that it won’t allow any malware or virus to enter your device.

Guide children about cyber safety

Sit down with your child and let him know about the safety measures while playing online. Tell them about the good and bad persons on the internet. Let them know the general rules while playing online, like play only with known persons, and never share personal information, photos, name or school address with strangers.

Online gaming is a good source for your children to remain entertained and upgrade their playing skills. However, follow the above guidelines for your child’s safety.