Gaming has evolved into becoming much more than an activity reserved for boys and young men. Over the years mobile gaming for instance have introduced a large number of females to the gaming world. Furthermore, the once rather hidden gaming culture has now evolved into a worldwide phenomenon through eSports.
This rapid evolvement of the industry and gaming as an activity calls for some regulation on the part of parents. The fact that kids can access the online gaming arena within seconds without any other security measure than their own common sense is rather scary. Children by themselves do not have the logical reasoning to keep themselves safe, and therefore parents have a great responsibility to keep their children safe gaming online.
Download an Antivirus Program for Security
The first action you should take as a parent is to download the best antivirus software on your children's devices. As children surf the Internet, or merely just play online within their applications, viruses and other malicious attempts by hackers may encounter them. Much like adults unfortunately, children are not very critical of these, and if an antivirus software is not running, the consequences can be devastating.
Oftentimes for instance children are connected to their online gaming account through their parent's personal information, and most children obviously borrow their parents' payment details for game purchases and subscriptions. This means that your personal information and payment method as a parent might be in great danger as your child surfs the web.
An antivirus program is often a cheap investment to give yourself piece of mind when your child uses your information online. Furthermore, many antivirus programs today come with VPN, a Virtual Private Network, that helps hide the IP address. This makes it harder for hackers to access your info.
Despite this surge in technology however, the best method to avoid issues like viruses online is to use common sense. Unfortunately, children are rather naïve, meaning that you as a parent is responsible for teaching them some common cues for what they may or may not do while online.
Talk to Your Children About Online Safety
Many parents choose to simply disallow online activities from children without parental supervision until the teen years. While this is a respected practice, many still choose to let their children play videogames online. This is probably due to the fact that most parents do not realize the implications that gaming online actually brings about.
When a child plays video games online, the game often brings about several facets, such as communication with others, sharing of personal information, payment details to access certain functions within the game, and much more. All of these are vulnerable to be shared directly by a naïve child who does not know when they are being scammed.
Many are afraid of hackers, but the harsh reality is that the number one reason for identity theft and credit card fraud caused from children playing online results from them sharing the information freely. The younger the child, the lower the probability is that they understand the seriousness in what sharing such information brings about.
Before allowing your kids online, whether it is for gaming or other purposes, one should surely sit down and talk to their kids in order to ensure that they understand the most simple rules for online activities. The top of the list should include not sharing any personal or payment information, but one might include other precautions as well.
Monitor Children Gaming Online Against Negative Effects
While there is little evidence to support violence and other aspects of video games with their occurrences in society, there are many other things to look out for. First and foremost, following age restrictions on video games should be a priority. While your child might not display the violence in the game, such games are still not appropriate for children.
Furthermore, an even more serious topic is the occurrence of bullying within video games. Few parents consider the communicational aspects of online gaming. While the main purpose is gaming through visual representation, more and more video games today include chat functions. This brings about the unfortunate chance of bullying within video games.
The best way to ensure your child is not affected by the negative aspects of video games is simply to monitor them. Find out what games they play and how their gaming experience is. After all, this is one of their main interests, so as a parent, it is only natural to involve yourself with their interest in this activity.
Maintain Healthy Gaming Habits for Children
Online gaming is not what it once used to be. With technological evolutions, one after the other, video games have suddenly become at the very center of many innovations. VR, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and many innovations have been incorporated here. As you allow your kids to game online, it is essential to keep this in mind.
The most efficient way to avoid issues such as viruses, scams, and cyberbullying, is to sit down with your children and set the guidelines for online activities. Children are too naïve to be trusted otherwise, and in order to maintain healthy gaming habits for your children, it is absolutely vital that you as a parent monitor their online gaming and keep your children in check!
