Ways to Protect Children in the Online Gaming World

With the growing popularity of online gaming on gaming consoles, cell phones, iPads, and computers, how can parents protect their children from online predators? Children are fascinated by the online games and who wouldn’t be with all the dynamic interactive images and real life looking graphics.  It is similar to being in a candy or toy store for children. So how can parents compete with these never-ending engaging entertainment devices which are becoming more and more addicting for children?

To start with, keep the online gaming consoles or computer in the family room so parents can keep an eye on what games children are playing. Also, this will make it easier to pay attention to your child's conversations with friends when they are playing online games together.  In addition, having the online gaming consoles in a family room will encourage your children to play with their friends that come over to your house instead of wanting to chat with online gamers. 

Educate yourself with the games your children like to play. Check out the parental controls on the games and adjust the settings to your comfort level. Parents can turn off the voice and chat capabilities. And if parents don’t want their children to go online with the gaming console, you can remove this feature on some game consoles. If your child likes to download games on their cell phone, these gaming applications can be blocked with parental monitoring software such as My Mobile Watchdog.

Parents need to take a look at the online games because many of them allow parents to view a list of players their children have interacted with during an online session. Also, some online games allow parents to create a list of friends that their children can communicate with and block any strangers.

A good rule for parents to remember is to encourage open conversations between your children and not to get upset with them if a stranger is trying to chat with them online. Parents need to refrain from permanently banning the online games because this is what most children fear if they tell their parents that a stranger has been chatting with them. Instead, parents need to calmly and openly discuss the inappropriate online chatting that your child has encountered and the danger that it imposes on them and the family.