Good Gaming Fun: Safe Online Games for Kids

Online gaming can be a fun activity for kids. At a young age, they can train themselves on proper hand-eye coordination, not to mention appropriate online behavior. Most online games are built in with chat software that allows fellow players to interact with each other while playing their game.

This chat aspect of online gaming, despite increasing the interactivity of online games, has also lead to sad consequences for gamers. Children are often the target of online predators who can use online gaming rooms to lure gullible children out of their homes, or to ask children personal, confidential information about their home or parents. Online gaming has also subjected less aggressive players to harassment by older, stronger players, who often monopolize games in order to win.

If your child is engaged in online gaming, then you may want to set a few rules for him or her to follow. Keep the Internet under strict lock and key: that is, if your children want to use the Internet for whatever purpose, they need to ask your permission first, and tell you details of their activities before and after they surf. You also need to encourage them to be polite online, and to report to you anyone who harasses them.

Most importantly, you need to exhort your children to keep private information private. That is, they should not give away their telephone number, address, and pictures of them or your family to strangers online. If anyone asks them constantly for such information, tell your children to report these persons to you. You, in turn, need to report these persons to the proper authorities.

With the rise in cyber predators, major gaming companies have formed and consulted with groups of concerned gamers. For instance, the Teen Angels, at http://www.teenagnels.org, are teenagers who are trained by Internet privacy, security, and safety experts, such as those at the FBI, to design programs that are safe for people to use. Their target markets are kids, who are vulnerable to online predators; teens, who can usually be lured by promises of money or free things; and senior citizen, who often find themselves the victims of online fraud.