My kid plays a lot of online games - how do I keep them safe?

Video games are very popular in the digital age, with kids often picking up controllers at primary school age. Games vary in how they look, how they play, and what you can do in them, and with an eye to how popular they are among young children, it’s important to keep digital safety in mind. Just like with social media or AI tools, there are ways to help your child navigate gaming platforms and stay safe.

That’s what we’re talking about in this article. We know kids are playing games a lot today, and we don’t want to get in the way of their fun or your parenting. We also don’t want to discourage gaming, with eSafety noting it’s a hobby that can help your child with their coordination, problem-solving, multi-tasking and teamwork.

We want to encourage ways in which you can keep your child safe online and when playing games. Let’s get into it.

Keeping your child safe in online games

There’s no one size fits all solution to digital safety in online games for kids. Games vary in content and what privacy options are available, and we know that some solutions aren’t going to be right for every household.

The advice we’re providing here is general, and is based upon guidance from eSafety. We’re encouraging parents and caregivers to actively engage with what games their kids want to play, what settings can you protect your child with, how to tell if your child is having a negative experience with gaming, and how to help your child if you suspect something is not right. Kids who game with their parents are safer online.

How to actively engage with your child who enjoys gaming

One of the most effective things you can do to stay across what your child is doing in the gaming world is be actively engaged. This allows you to learn about the worlds in which your child is playing, and get a handle on how they can interact with others online.

• Watch what they’re doing and ask questions, like what they enjoy, what’s difficult, or how to play better.
• Find games you can actively play together or that your child can teach you, such as games with split-screen play, or games that will work across multiple devices in your home
• If you see them interacting with other people they don’t know online, talk to your child about how to stay safe. Encourage them to only speak to people they know and to not share personal information.

What games is your child playing?

There are plenty of safe and amazing games out there for your child to play, and it’s worth digging around to find games ideal for children, particularly if you can play them with your child and bond over the experience.

For our purposes in this article, we’re talking about multiplayer or online games, where players can interact with other people on the internet. These can be battle games, building games, obstacle course games, adventure games, teamwork-based games, racing games, and other popular games kids like to play.

Multiplayer and online games can be lots of fun, allowing your child to play with friends from school or social groups. However, many online games allow your child to come into contact with people they may not know. This may seem harmless, or that your child is making friends doing something they like, but it’s important to remain safe among strangers, especially on the internet.

Setting clear rules and turning on parental controls

It’s important to set rules with your child and enable settings in the games that protect them during online play, just like enabling privacy settings on social media.

ESafety recommends talking to your child about what online features are OK to use or not. It’s worth exploring the settings of the games your child is playing to see what safety features you can enable:

• See if you can enable private party settings, such as only letting friends you know joining your group, or only being able to text or voice chat with added friends
• Research what gamemodes or worlds are available in the games your child is playing, and encourage them to only play select game modes (such as games where users can’t create content that may not be age appropriate).
• It’s a good idea to start games with age-appropriate safety settings enabled, such as chat disabled, and gradually adjust them as play goes on.

Additionally, keep in mind how you’ll want to ensure safety is maintained.

• Will you be in the room when your child is playing games?
• Will you need to use parental controls, available in some games, to keep your child safe?
• What games or game modes are you not comfortable with your child playing?

Get help when it’s needed

It’s important to be aware of online harms and if your child encounters them. If something goes wrong and your child encounters harm in an online game, eSafety recommends a few steps to take:

• Check the game, and if any behaviour experienced by your child is against the guidelines. You can then report the behaviour to the platform. This helps your child to understand that what happened was not their fault, and that the platform has rules to protect them. Look out for rules regarding prohibited conduct and evidence requirements.
• Find actions they can take quickly. Encourage your child to mute, report or block players. If they’re able to turn chat off in the game, tell them to do so. Make sure they know how and when to do this before online gameplay.
• Reassure them that it’s not their fault. Let them know that no problem is too small to talk about, and try to find solutions with them together. Abuse is never the child’s fault, even if they’ve made a mistake.