Children and young people play games on consoles, computers, smartphones, tablets and social networking sites.

Advice for parents:

• Protect accounts with strong Passwords
• Always check a game’s PEGI rating to ensure it is age-appropriate for your child
• Games played “against the computer” are generally safe
• Show an interest in your child’s gaming habits; ask them questions about the latest games and what they and their friends like about them
• Talk to your child about their favourite games, who they play with, get them to show you and try and play one or two yourself.
• Encourage your child to use an avatar of themselves instead of using an up-to-date photograph
• Prevention is key: Talk through issues that your child may encounter while gaming online
• Explain privacy to your child and encourage them to keep their real information and identity private
• As a general rule if you wouldn’t do it offline, then don’t do it online
• Enable parental controls specific to their gaming console and game
• Agree realistic rules and conditions for gaming with your child, i.e. when, where, duration, which games they can play and enforce them.

REMEMBER! If you aren’t sure how to enable parental controls or privacy settings seek advice.

Childnet: Gaming