Online games.
Inappropriate questions
Graphic, cinema quality sound – a
long way from the first games on
offer – and far more addictive.
Ground rules in the home are
needed.
Review friends lists regularly.
Teach
your
children
what
unacceptable questions are, and
how they can be asked.
If you are concerned, speak to your
school. They can arrange an esafety evening to cover online
games and associated risks.
As games evolve they will get
faster, cleverer and far more
attractive than they are now.
Games console owners have found
that it is far too easy to run up
massive bills without being aware of
it. One family found they had
incurred over £3000.00 in ONE
MONTH because their PIN number
was known not only to their children,
but to the children’s friends.
Together, we
Sussex, E-Safe.
can
make
E-
ASL It means (Age, Sex,
Location) and is used either to
determine a users age, gender
and where they live OR as an
invitation for sex, where Age is
self explanatory, Sex is a
proposition, and location invites
the user to say where.
Online
Gaming
What school do you go to?
(Play safe)
Where do you live?
When were you born?
Do
you
have
boyfriend/girlfriend?
a
Are your parents home?
Remember, children with autism
need enhanced supervision when
using online technology.
Other “codes” you might like to
know are:PIR (Parent in room)
POS (Parent over shoulder)
AFK (Away from keyboard – can
also mean stop talking now.)
There are others, and new ones
come along all the time!
In a nutshell….
Online games have become far more
interesting than they used to be. They are
now multi-player, and many allow users from
all over the worlds to interact. However, just
as anywhere on the internet, users may or
may not be who they say they are. We know
that paedophiles are aware that children like
playing online games. We also know that
identity thieves target young people through
online games. So, in order to enjoy the
game, but keep out those people who are up
to no good we need some ground rules.
Step one…
Take a look at the games you and your
family play. Don’t just assume that this
means looking through the disks – some
games are based purely on websites. You
need to find out who plays what.
Step two…
Once you have done that, you need to take
a good look at the type of games. Is there a
mix, or are they all shoot-em-up, violent
games. Have a look at any ratings the
games offer. Many have symbols that say
whether the game is frightening, or uses bad
language or is violent.
Step three….
Next, you need to understand how long you
and your family play these games for. It is
quite possible to become addicted to an
online game. They are designed to make
you want to play them, and want to play
them more. You need to set reasonable
boundaries for the amount of time each day
that you and your family use online games
for. Unfortunately, addiction is a very real
risk. People can and have become seriously
ill through addiction to online games,
including a person who died after playing a
game for 14 hours non-stop. Addiction can
also give rise to behavioural changes
including foul language and real physical
violence.
Step four….
You need to understand whether the game
has any hidden costs. Many games stations
require a credit card before they will run,
although this is usually protected by a PIN.
However children quickly learn parental
PINs – especially if parents use the same
pin for multiple accounts. It is possible to run
up unexpected bills using online games, so
you need to be sure what the charges are,
where they are incurred and that you remain
in control.
Step five….
If you or your family are used to engaging
with multi-player online games, then you
need to take a good look at the “friends” list
(whatever it is called in the particular game).
The golden rule is “Unless you know them
in the real world, you have absolutely no
way of knowing who they really are.”
Even webcams can lie (people play tape
loops into them) and hearing is not believing.
(There is plenty of free software out there
that would make a man sound like a child.
How often should I review this?
The short answer here is “often”. New
games, both web-based and disc come out
all the time. Boring as it is, you really should
pay attention to the Privacy Notice,
because this tells you what use the game
owners will make of the information you
supply. There will usually be a Terms of
Use, and/or an End User License
Agreement. These give the game owner
legal redress if you violate the terms of use,
or the conditions under which the game is
sold. Most contain warnings about copying,
decompiling, hacking, etc – and the
penalties can be severe.
The short version is that you need to
understand what you are getting into with it.
Children and online games.
Since the dawn of time, children have
pushed boundaries and broken rules.
Everyone who is an adult today did, and
there is no reason to think children today are
any different. The world in which they are
growing up, however, is. So, here are a few
facts.
It is possible to become addicted to
online games in the same way one
can become addicted to drink,
cigarettes or drugs.
There
really
are
“withdrawal
symptoms” for those who are
addicted.
Bad language in the game often
works its way into real life.