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Tips for parents: children and online gaming

Online and social gaming is a large industry moving at a fast pace. It includes games you may play on a console and games played over websites and live streaming platforms, such as Twitch.

Tips for safer gaming

Do:

  • learn about the games they enjoy playing and make yourself aware of how they work
  • ask about who they are playing with and the kinds of things they talk about
  • use ‘airplane mode’ for younger children – it stops them making accidental purchases online
  • use PEGI ratings and App store ratings to choose age-appropriate games.

Don't:

  • leave a child alone playing a game for several hours, encourage them to take a break
  • save your payment details to the device your child uses for gaming as it’s easy to make accidental purchases
  • ignore changes in their behaviour, for example, anger, frustration and tiredness can be signs that they are spending too long gaming.

For more tips, see the Internet Matters website (opens in new tab).

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Last updated: 3 June 2021

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