Centre of partnership

Abertay Uni leading project to promote children’s safety

T HOUSA N DS of k ids across the cit y th row themselves into gaming during their spare time, inadvertently working on their creativity, teamwork and social skills.

But the virtual world in which they spend so much time is always evolving and throws up questions around safety and security for youngsters.

Games such as Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox connect hundreds of strangers and open up conversations between them.

While most players have positive experiences, the question of how to keep kids safe from predators is one which still requires attention.

In a bid to open up discussion around the subject and work towards possible solutions, Dr Darshana Jayemanne, a lecturer at Abertay University’s School of Design and Informatics, has created a new partnership to safeguard kids.

Dr Jayemanne brought together gaming academics, students, developers and representatives from the NSPCC and the National Crime Agency (NCA) for a conference at the university.

He said: “Improving young people’s safety and privacy while playing digital games is something we have been researching at Abertay for several years and it’s fantastic to now be taking this forward with such a wide range of partners.

“There are a number of complex issues around child safety in gaming and it is important that we work together.”

Andy Burrows, NSPCC

“From our research, we

said:

being sexually groomed while playing games online.

“The opportunity to work with other experts and those in the gaming industry on these issues is extremely positive.

“To protect children from coming to harm on these platforms, it is vital that safety measures are built into the games when they are designed – something we hope can be achieved by working together.”

Meanwhile, Karen Hutchison, senior officer with the NCA Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command, said: “We’re very proud to be part of this games sector partnership dedicated to combating child sex abuse and exploitation.”

Max Bauer, head of customer service at Space Ape Games, said: “Safeguarding our communities is one of our top priorities. After all, they are what makes our games alive.

“We, and other gaming studios, invest a lot of time and energy into this topic and it’s only fair to share our knowledge with the next generation of developers.”

Abertay University is ranked number one in Europe for video games design degrees and leads the £11.5 million Dundee-based InGAME partnership, which is part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s creative industries clusters programme and counts Beano Studios among its partners.

InGAME director Sean Taylor of said: “We are delighted to be supporting this important project which has the potential to have a positive impact across the UK games industry.”

Mike Stirling, head of Beano Studios, said: “We designed Beano.com and the games there to be totally safe for kids.

“It’s an