Online Gaming 101: Risks, Safety Tips & Parent Guidance

We develop victim identification tools to help find child victims faster and remove them from harm. We scale child protection through an iterative development process, innovating technology to respond to new and emerging threats like grooming, sextortion, and AI-generated CSAM. Because abusers take advantage of new technology to exploit children, we need to gain a deeper understanding of what children experience and perceive today. At Thorn, we put technology to work each day to enhance child safety.

This guide to talking to kids about online safety includes tips for teaching kids device safety and choosing a safe first phone for kids. Use device settings as well as in-game controls to help manage your child’s safety. Whether your child is gaming at home or elsewhere, it’s important to talk with them about the risks of online gaming and encourage smart, age-appropriate choices. To mitigate these risks, parents should set clear usage boundaries, monitor content carefully, and ensure that their child takes regular breaks to avoid physical and psychological strain. Whether this is your first time talking to your child or you’ve broached a topic before, here are some areas to learn more about and guide conversations. 🎯 This guide is designed for parents and supportive adults who want to empower their children to be access the internet safely from any device.

• Importantly, make sure you include the types of games they can play and with whom they can play when setting boundaries.
• Games where users communicate with each other generally have tools to block and report users.
• Remember, technology tools are not a substitute for parental supervision as determined kids can usually find a work-around.
• Limit your child’s access to games which are rated well above their age.
• Just because a game is available on an official platform doesn’t mean that it’s safe to download.
• That leads to mood problems, for example, like ADHD problems, emotional problems, depression, anxiety, and cutting behaviors.
• Open conversations that let children talk about their interests can help in many ways.

Parents should encourage routines that include schoolwork, physical activity, family time, and offline hobbies, ensuring that gaming is just one of many activities. The immersive and often highly rewarding nature of video games can also lead to full-blown addiction, where the virtual world takes precedence over real-life responsibilities and relationships. Many of these games, while seemingly age-appropriate on the surface, contain avatars, dialogue, or user-generated content that promote unrealistic and often adult-themed depictions of sexuality. Installing parental control software, limiting game time, and having open conversations about online dangers are all important steps. 84% of teens say they have or have access to a game console at home.90% say they play video games of any kind (whether on a computer, game console or cellphone). More than 8 in 10 teens say they have a game console at home or have access to one, and 90% say they play video games on a computer, game console or cellphone, according to the Pew Research Center.
As entertaining as interactive gaming can be, parents should be aware that their children can speak using their own voice with strangers online. Your game might default to sharing your behavior and location data with the manufacturer, for example. Hurtful comments online can have a real impact on your mental health — if you feel like hurting yourself, you should reach out to someone you trust immediately.

Helpful guides to jump start your dialogues about online safety

• Thorn shares new research, emerging trends, and insights to help you understand what kids are experiencing online.
• Before downloading any new gaming app on your device, make sure it’s legitimate.
• This includes managing their personal privacy, thinking critically about what they see and getting help when they need it.
• Preventing online gaming addiction in children starts with creating a healthy balance in their daily lives.
• When and how to have conversations about consent and the risks of sharing nudes.
• Involving the child in the process of setting new routines can give them a sense of control and responsibility.

Malware can steal your personal data, take over your gaming accounts, or even lock you out of your devices. Some gamers play for entertainment, while others play to make new friends online and compete against others. Many websites, like Common Sense Media, also offer game reviews by parents for parents.

Join the sharpest minds in child safety

Have you ever seen anything online that you knew was for adults and not for kids? Talking openly with your kids not only increases their knowledge about the topic but their willingness to tell you when issues come up. Kids today face a very different set of challenges. Thorn, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting children from sexual exploitation in the digital age, developed this guide with child safety experts.

Preparing Kids for Digital Life

Additionally, online multiplayer games often lack sufficient moderation, allowing inappropriate language, behaviors, and even predatory interactions to occur. There is growing concern about the presence of sex and hypersexualized content in online games played by children. I was experiencing a lot of turmoil as a fifth, sixth grader, transitioning into middle school …I found a lot of solace in online gaming… I finally met a friend, his name was Adam, I was 12 years old. Online games allow for a high degree of interactivity, where players can directly impact the game world and outcomes through their actions.
It’s critical that parents closely monitor their children’s online activities, set strict rules, and educate them on online safety to help mitigate these risks. Online gaming devices are just like a computer and a lot of parents don’t realize that. Further, online gaming incorporates the free use of video and audio chat, as well as voice-masking technology which increases new channels of access by a sexual predator to a child. However, several concerns have emerged of which parents should be aware of as games become more realistic and playing partners can include anonymous strangers engaging in unmoderated chats. MFA includes biometrics (think face ID scans or fingerprint access), security keys, or apps that send you unique, one-time codes when you want to log on to an account.

Consider their other responsibilities such as chores and schoolwork when deciding on play time. This means that if your child browses the console store, they can only access appropriate daniel casino games. Games where users communicate with each other generally have tools to block and report users. Make sure your child knows that a friend will never pressure them to share information or content that makes them uncomfortable. Ask about the friends they play with — are they friends from school or did they meet in the game?

THE TEN “Rules ‘N Tools®” FOR CHILD ONLINE SAFETY

This can include their own behaviour and how they treat others, but also how others treat them. As a part of ongoing conversations around gaming, make sure you discuss behaviour. If it’s single player, you can play on your own account or take turns playing together. Taking an active interest in your child’s gaming can help keep them safe.
First, it’s important to realize that there are a variety of online gaming options. If gaming starts to get in the way of other activities, it’s time to revisit the boundaries you set. Whether it’s agreeing on play times or the types of games they can play, set boundaries to encourage healthy gaming.