A Parent’s Guide to Gaming

Gaming can be real fun and help develop some great skills. They are designed by the best minds to hook in children and become addictive. But for many parents, it seems like a foreign world.

Each game has an age rating (PEGI)

The rating indicates if the game is suitable for your child’s age and they also reflect the main reason why a game is rated.

Think before you chat!

Age ratings do not apply to the chat part of an online game. Most online games allow children to talk and message others directly whilst playing. Age ratings will not restrict the type of conversation or language used.

Strangers play online gaming

There are many people playing online and not everyone is who they say they are. Some people are not nice and play online games as a way to talk to children. They use voice changer headsets so they can trick and sound like a child.

Not everyone is a winner

Some games are good at encouraging young people to buy extra features and in-game rewards. This is simply a trick to get parents to spend real money in return for imaginary prizes in an imaginary world.

What you can do to help keep your child safe online

Do not allow your child to play an inappropriate age related game. These games will expose there minds to content that they are not yet ready for and can influence negatively their behaviour from an early age.
Regularly discuss with your child the importance of letting you know who they are playing with and not to purchase anything online without gaining your permission first.
Regularly talk with your child that they should only play games online with friends and family they know in the physical world and not to accept ‘play request’ from strangers.
Try and play some of the games together.
If your child uses a headset, sometimes ask them to remove it so you can monitor any conversations they may be having online.
Constantly monitor the number of online friends they have.
Ask your child to always speak nicely online and that if anyone is unkind or asks to have a private chat or meet, they should let you know straight away.
Always let your child know that they should always say if they see or hear anything online that makes them feel scared or uncomfortable and to never arrange to meet someone who they have met online.
Let them know that they do not have to feel as though they have done something wrong, nobody is going to get cross and it is not their fault.
If you are concerned with anything you or your child has seen or asked to do, please call Childline or tell your child’s school.

Always encourage your child to:

Tell a parent or trusted adult, like a teacher.

Tell an older brother or sister.

Tell Childline.

They will know how to help.

Our award-winning Safety Net workbook

Safety Net is an award-winning fun and colourful resource packed with 24 pages of engaging content, illustrations, crosswords and wordsearch puzzles proven to help children stay safe when using the Internet, social media, gaming and more.

The friendly format will encourage your child, from an early age, to be open about what they do and see online without fearing they have done something wrong.

Suitable for:

Children 6-14 years.
All parents to read to their young children.

Now available as a standalone resource outside of our school workshop and webinar programmes.

Visit our bookshop

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