Tell your kids players they meet on net are not friends

LEADING child protection expert Jim Gamble today reveals how parents can keep their children safe while online gaming.

And the key to it is partly grounded in the “don’t accept sweets from strangers” advice youngsters are given as tots.

Jim says: “Unfortunately online gaming creates the perfect environment for predators. That’s because when you engage a child or young person through an online game you do so with an immediate mutual interest in something.

“That mutual interest is in the game itself and the rapport built around that mutual interest as you both play the game together can feel to a child like a friendship.

“So what parents need to be doing is reinforcing with their children that people they meet online are definitely not their friend. No matter how much they think they have in common with them, they are still strangers and they should not be letting them become friends of Facebook and other social media platforms.”

Risks

Jim says parents reading our story should use it as an opportunity to ask their child if they have ever been approached by anyone online asking inappropriate things.

“Ask them what games they play,” he says. “Talk openly to them about privacy and the risks, and reassure them they can always talk to you if something does happen.

“The reason parents were historically good at keeping their child safe was because they had walked down dark streets before. They had identified places that represented a risk and told their child not to go there.

“So if your child is playing games online, play the game yourself. Get an understanding about what your child is being exposed to. Get them to unplug the headphones so you can hear who they are playing with and what is being said. That will provide a level of reassurance for you.”