Internet Matters App and Gaming Guides
If your child is using social networking sites to chat to friends and family or share their latest selfie, take a look at our list of social media guides to get you up to speed on the most popular platforms and help them set the right privacy settings.
Each of the sections above offers suggestions of specific aspects of online gaming for parents to be aware of. In addition, there are some excellent steps you can take as a parent to guide your child to safe and healthy online gaming.
- Get involved by finding out what type of games your child enjoys and making sure they’re appropriate for their age.
- Play games together with your child and keep the technology in shared family spaces rather than bedrooms.
- Talk to them about who they are playing with and what information they are sharing.
- Talk about what information is and isn’t appropriate to share, particularly personal details that could identify them or their location.
- Talk about the financial costs of games and agree how children will spend their money online.
- Discuss what they would do if they were bullied online, and what the appropriate steps to take are.
- Ensure you have setup accounts yourself on regularly checked email addresses and with appropriate settings for your child’s age.
- Agree how long is appropriate to play in one session and how many sessions in a day. Then setup these restrictions in parental settings with your child.
