Many school-age kids these days now have their own smartphones and tablets. These devices have become more affordable that is why many parents are giving their children these gadgets. However, without proper guidance and support, kids can get easily addicted to mobile video games. And children as young as 6 or 7 years old do not fully understand what appropriate gaming is.
Online Safety for Kids
When kids start to play cake making games, it is difficult to make them stop. These games are fun and exciting to play. Even though the early use of modern technology has shown improvement in the development of language skills, creativity, and social development in children, this also has negative results if not done correctly. So to ensure the online safety of your school-age kids, here are some tips for you.
- Discuss Boundaries. School-age kids can understand when you tell them what’s right from wrong. That is why you need to constantly remind your children about boundaries online, about what they can and can’t do especially when interacting with other players. You should also discuss how much time they can spend playing games, the games that they can download, as well as the information that they can share with others.
- Be In Control. Even though your child can now choose the games that they want to play on their own, it is still best that you are in control. So make sure that you install parental controls not only on their devices but also on your home broadband.
- Explore Together. The best way for you to have peace of mind that your child is accessing games appropriate for their age and maturity is to ask them to tell you what games they play and what sites they visit. At this age, they would appreciate it if you give them privacy. But if they will let you, ask them to show you the games they usually play.
- Unapproved Purchases. For sure you have also heard horror stories from parents where they ended up paying a hefty amount on unproved online purchases with cook cake game that their young kids have made. To avoid having to deal with this headache, make sure that your child’s device is on Airplane Mode when they play to avoid making these online transactions without your knowledge.
Talk About Cyberbullying
Some gaming apps allow players to communicate with others like their friends or even strangers from all across the globe, and to express their creativity or share their feelings. And sometimes, this becomes an avenue where cyberbullying occurs. And unfortunately, many parents that allow their kids to play games online are not aware that this happens. They are not in the know of the risks involved.
And since many of these players are anonymous, they cannot be held accountable for their behaviour online as well as the harassment that they cause to other players. So make sure that you check in periodically with your kids about who are they playing with online. Also, teach your kids about safe online behaviour like avoiding clicking on links and talking to strangers. Bullying happens even over the internet. And no parent would want their child to be a victim of cyberbullying.