The Wellbeing Page

Safe Gaming at Home

Most games and devices today let people connect to the internet. Whether your child plays games with others or alone, they may have the option to access online features that let them talk to other people, see ads or buy things with real money. See the recommendations from the eSafety commissioner below.

1. Make rules together for gaming at home

Setting clear rules together for gaming makes it easier to keep your child safe online. 

Here are some things you may want to include about gaming:

• For Primary School aged children, gaming should happen in shared spaces of the home, rather than their bedroom or other private spaces.
• Avoid playing in the hour before sleep or having access to the device during the night when they should be sleeping.
• Use parental controls to make sure games are age-appropriate, prevent or limit in-game spending, and manage communication. For children, communication should be with people you know and trust (such as offline friends, family members or people you both know). Private messaging should be supervised or restricted.
• Family tech agreements can help keep shared rules consistent, especially when children move between households or are supported by different carers. A shared agreement can make things clearer and easier for everyone.

2. Build smart gaming habits together

Help your child build the skills they need to stay safe online. This includes:

• Ensuring your child understands what information should not be shared online, such as their full name, location or places they regularly go, like sport or hanging out with friends.
• Ensure that your child is aware that if someone is asking for lots of personal or private information, it is a warning sign that something might not be safe. Encourage them to come to you or another trusted adult if this happens, or if anything online makes them feel unsure or uncomfortable.  

3. Choose games suitable for your child

Before your child starts a new game, it’s worth taking time to check if it’s right for them. With so many games available, it can feel overwhelming – so knowing the main things to look for can help.

• Is it age appropriate? Use the Australian classifications website to check if the game has any content not suitable for your child’s age (like violence, adult language or sexual themes). You can also use parental controls to help your child avoid downloading games with inappropriate content, as well as making sure any download requests are sent to you for approval first.
• What are the features of the game? Use review websites like Common Sense Media to read about the positive and negative features of a game. Be careful with free games – these often include ads, hidden costs and features that may make it difficult to stop playing.
• What are the benefits for my child? Games offer many opportunities to learn and build new skills, even if they’re not ‘educational’ games. Ask your child about their gaming or watch them play to understand what benefits they get.
• Is it safe to play? If the game has online features, check that you can use safety settings or parental controls to manage them.

• If the game feels hard to put down it is designed to make it difficult to stop. Games may lack clear stopping points, use wait times to encourage the player to keep coming back, or create a sense of pressure to keep playing so they don’t miss out on something. If your child finds it hard to stop, even though they want to or need to, this is a sign they need to talk to you or a trusted adult about the game and how it’s making them feel.

   

You can find more information on the eSafety commissioner website: here