Cyberbullying
For many kids, the ability to escape into an online world offers relief from real life—that's how my 12-year old son interprets the gaming world. He is fond of playing Roblox, Valorant, Fortnite, CS Go and he wants to create videos and upload it to Youtube. He is getting hate messages and I am aware of that so I advised him to just refuse to conform. He even deleted the messages.
On the game itself, some players take advantage of their anonymity to "grief" other players by deliberately making the game less enjoyable. This could include "kill stealing," which is when griefers conquer or capture needed quest targets before other players can get to them; or "chaining" groups of high-level challenges to block the progress of low-level players, causing them to die.
Cyberbullies target players directly with hurtful and harmful messages, or by spamming global chat channels with derogatory comments about their victims. In these cases, kids, especially parents understand the options, might "block" chat and messages from other users, and in some cases, report the bully's words or actions as a violation of the game's terms of service. It's always a good idea to write down or take a screenshot of any offensive conversation and report it to game administrators.
Chatroom safety within gaming
Some games let children play and chat with anyone in the world — whether in a chatroom or through live voice calling, depending on the game and its chat functions. This means they might come across offensive language (hurtful or socially unacceptable language) .
Gamers will usually communicate within the game to coordinate game tactics or winning strategy. Unfortunately, wherever there’s online chatting, there’s the potential for abuse, how dangerous video games and chatrooms have become, turning into “hunting grounds” for online predators.
Malware
The gaming world sometimes behaves in less than ideal ways – buying cheats and shortcuts, for example – and very often, those are exactly the entry points for hackers.
Many times, games themselves can contain malware. This happens either because the game itself is just a lure in order to distribute the malicious code, or because hackers inject their script into an otherwise legitimate game.
Most of the time, games get infected when they are either pirated (downloaded free) or distributed through unsafe means. If you want to stay safe, it’s best to buy legitimate copies for your games and to do it, preferably, through gaming platforms such as Steam, HumbleBundle or GoG. This way, the platform’s filters add more security layers to the content you download.
Privacy Problems
Not everyone online is who they say they are. Kids never create usernames that are derivatives of their real names, or that might reveal any other personally identifiable information like location or age. By piecing together data from games and other sources, hackers may be able to access other existing accounts such as social media or establish new accounts—even entire digital identities—in your child's name. As in any online forum, never give away any personal information and be sure to vary usernames and passwords are across different games, platforms and accounts.
Hidden Fees
Many of the games are available for free, but in-game purchases generate a steady flow of money anyway.
When gamers buy extra features, expansion packs or game statuses, these are known as 'in-game purchases'. The game itself may be free-to-play, but gamers can progress much faster and easier if they acquire virtual currency, weapons, vehicles or avatars.
The solution is simple. Never give out your card number for any freemium games. If your child is playing more traditional subscription-based games, or games that run through services like Apple or Google Play, activate the purchase password feature these providers offer in their account settings menu. It's a good idea to regularly check your credit card bills to make sure you're not being charged for purchases you didn't approve. If you allow your children to use your smartphone or tablet, you should consider switching off "in-app updates," to prevent your children from racking up huge bills for in-app purchases without even realizing it.
Many more children watch others playing video games rather than actually playing themselves. So much so that Let’s play videos – narrated videos of other people’s gameplay, often including jokes and humour – are the most watched live stream videos on video sharing platforms.
Like and Subscribe my son ZBRYT online game videos at Youtube
What Parents Can Do
We, parents, should teach our kids about social media privacy and how to lock down online profiles and accounts. But for many families, the “video game talk” never occurs but I suggest getting involved. I don’t play his games, I only play the classic ones or the famous Sims, Home Designs, etc. Talking to your kids about the video games they’re playing is an important part of digital safety. Sit with them, watch what they play, and learn how the games work, even if you have no idea what’s going on. Know the people whom they’re playing with, what are the things they learn. We, on our generations only play the Brick games, or Super Mario but let’s accept that one of the top activities enjoyed by 5-16-year-olds online nowadays, with many of them gaming via mobile devices and going online using their games console.
When it comes to using technology and the internet it all comes down to quality and not quantity, means to have a healthy balance between online and offline experiences. It is important to support young people in setting time limits and managing how long they spend online.
My 12-year old son can only play 2-hours and maximum of 4-hours a day and have him do good things and behave during the day like painting, playing the guitar, playing his Nerf guns, etc., for him to get his bonus to play another online game sesh with friends the next day.
Navigating the journey as a digital parent can be difficult. It’s up to you momsh how you discipline your kids! It's a job that takes time and patience. But, it helps to learn effective and healthy discipline strategies in the long run.