Online Games for Kids – How Safe is my Child?

The average parent thinks online games are just another form of mindless entertainment for kids. The well-informed ones know that online kids’ games also give their child the opportunity to develop and exercise important life skills such as problem solving and critical thinking, practice social skills and use their imagination while playing.

But while the benefits of virtual kids’ games are undisputable, the risks cannot be downplayed either. To be fair, most gaming websites do a commendable job of protecting their young players’ safety and privacy. But parental involvement is important for ensuring that kids have a safe online games-playing experience. Here’s how you can do just that:

Online Games Safety - Tips for Kids

• Make sure you use a strong password for all gaming accounts. A strong password has a minimum of 8 characters (the longer the better), with a mix of numbers, letters and symbols.

• If another player is harassing or bullying you or making you uncomfortable in any way, remember, you can always report or block him from the game. At the very least, tell a trusted adult rather than put up with offensive behavior. Make sure you have a record of what the player says, but do not respond to it under any circumstances.

• Do not divulge any personal information to other players. This includes your real name, age, gender and location.

• Keep your user name as vague as possible and use an avatar instead of a real picture.

• Avoid using voice chat when you play kids online games, unless they have a feature that allows players to disguise their voices. The same goes for webcams.

• Never accept any kind of downloads from other players – this includes programs that claim to improve your performance in the games but actually contain malware.

• Do not use online games to find a date – the attractive stranger you play with everyday might not be who he says he is.

• Virtual games can be pretty addictive, so it is important to set a time limit for yourself.

Online Games Safety – Tips for Parents

• Install a complete security suite in your child’s computer before he starts playing – anti-spyware software, a firewall and anti-virus software are mandatory if he is going to play online games.

• Do not allow your child to use pirated copies of online games – not only is this illegal, unlicensed copies are more likely to contain malware.

• Make sure you check the rating of each game for its age-appropriateness. Most online kids’ games also have rating summaries that describe the game’s contents in detail along with relevant examples. Your child is unlikely to have a bad gaming experience if you’ve done your research well.

• Your child’s computer should be placed in a common area where you can keep an eye on his online activities.

• Enable built-in parental controls on the web browser that allow you to control the websites your child visits.

Prohibiting online games for kids is never going to work and you might as well accept it. Your child will play online games at his friends’ houses or at school. What you can do, however, is ensure he is aware of the risks and practices good judgment while playing games online.