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General: Digital Parent: Tips to Keep Kids Safe Online
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Any parent whose child has started to show an interest in online gaming immediately starts to hyperventilate. But there are things parents can do to ensure that Junior is having the time of his life online SAFELY. See what tips we have for parents and then let us know how you keep your minions safe when gaming online.
I am all for my child playing online games. Of course that comes with a BIG caveat: As my daughter nears the double digits age bracket, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat worrying about internet predators and I start to wrack my brain thinking about how best to keep her safe online in these electronically formative years of her life. It’s not enough that I have to worry about the scum that I can actually see. Now I have to worry about the virtual ghosts who flit about in the places my daughter likes to explore as her burgeoning knowledge of the Internet grows. It’s tough to fight an enemy that is wraithlike like this but it’s not impossible. As lucky as kids are to be growing up in the digital age, we parents are equally lucky that so much has been done on our behalf to keep our precious children safer than ever before.
Read more of Suzie Ford's Digital Parent: Tips to Keep Kids Safe Online.
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Comments
MMOs should not be played before high school graduation. The time sink is too much. There are far more important things for kids to do.
MMOs produce little fruit in terms of real life social skills, physical health, and/or anything that is useful in the real world.
I'm sure limiting playtimes would help, but it's just better to avoid the thing completely...until you're old enough to buy your own computer, game, and monthly fee.
Jesus..
All this list is missing is:
Make sure your child is only allowed to touch a computer when under your supervision, while a police officer and medic is in the room also!
Seriously...
I won't be letting my kids online until they can pay for it theirselves! Kidding of course.
I'll definitely educate them as much as possible and wait until I feel they're old enough. The internet is just not a sheltered place. So if I let them on there I'll have to be able to put my trust in their ability to make decisions. So if they are making lots of stupid ones, I definitely won't let them on there lol.
I think most high schoolers can do all three by age 15. I did.
Well there you go.
I just have a different opinion. I probably won't let my child get a job during High School - unless it's some type of summer-job thing (that's their choice). Education is much more important. Being a 15-16 year old stock boy at CVS or Walgreens isn't going to prepare one for a job that requires real education.
I'd rather buy them high-end drum kits, pianos, guitars, or anything that is more rewarding than a video game.
"As lucky as kids are to be growing up in the digital age"
What is so lucky about that?
I rather be running around in the dirt as a kid then sitting behind a PC all day.
Now that IS a better investment.
I need an article how to avoid kids in my online games actually.
First paragraph could look like this:
"I am all for children playing online games. Of course that comes with a BIG caveat: As my reflexes in gaming and my patience with people wane and wither due to getting older, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat worrying about kids ganking and verbally abusing me and I start to wrack my brain thinking about how best to protect myself from kids online in these electronically entertaining years of my life".
My brand new bloggity blog.
LOL! Fair enough yet the hard reality is that kids ARE growing up in the digital age and need to be given tools on how to deal with it. It's part of the fabric of their lives as much as I'd wish it wasn't. My daughter is offline way more than online but when she IS playing a game, I want to know what it is, who she's playing with and all that stuff. I do the same thing for her when she's making new friends and wanting to go to their houses to play etc. It's called, IMO, responsible parenting. Whether I agree or not with the things in her life that interest her, I dang well better be sure I understand them. It's the age-old parental conundrum.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
^^^^This.^^^^
So many times this.
Parents NOT being involved in their kids lives is the entire reason I don't play on Xbox or PS3 anymore with my headset. Little kids should be beat alive for talking the way they think they can because they think they are "anonymous". Am I the only one who teaches my kid to act like a little lady EVEN when I'm not around?
They learn it from the adults that talk exactly the same way online.
Yeah I fully understand, I'd be pretty much the same about it. Personally I'd be worried sick myself constantly if I would have kids. I already have that with those of other people. "Oh watch out, your little Tim is coming dangerously close to that edge!" "Nah, that's fine, he knows..."
It's a combination of being slightly control-freakish and being blessed with a large imagination. I'd be a terribly annoying dad I think.
My brand new bloggity blog.
I don't know, I don't think it's fair to push your kids to be something they're into. I think how I'd approach this depends on the kind of person my kid is. I didn't have a video game system until I was 8 and most of my friends did before they could ever read. Even then, I almost never left the house; I stayed inside and read books or filled sketch books with comic book characters. I was never shy, I just never liked people, and the parentals forcing me to 'go out and make friends' would have just made it worse.
One method of raising a child is not going to work for all of them. If it were so universal, they'd come with a tried and true rule book. If my kid grew up to be like I was, he'd get a game system probably as soon as he asked for it. If my kid was outgoing and loved the outdoors, then those are the kinds of activities I'd push him toward. I'd rather foster the kid that's there, as he is, than try and push him into something he doesn't enjoy just because it's more socially accepted. He/she, of course.
I think this article is plenty relevant. If my kid ended up a gamer, these are the kinds of steps I'd take. My parents never cared I played games, so long as I got my homework and chores done first, maintained my grades and was in bed at a reasonable time. THOSE are the kinds of things that teach your kids to be responsible when investing time in a hobby, not throwing them out of the house and locking the door until they come back muddied and sweating.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
It most certainly will...it will teach them work ethics, working with a team, working on your own, dealing with bosses and co-workers, and the responsibility of being at your job on time and ready for work....all before they NEED that job to pay their bills.
As for the article....I let my children play online games ONLY when I am on with them. As they get older, they will have less and less restrictions based on their behavior and maturity levels. But, they will always have to agree and understand that I will snoop on them from time to time and they will lose privileges if caught trying to undermind said snooping. I look at it as just playing an active role in their lives whether it be video games, school, TV, work or any other endeavor. Make sure they know what to expect, how to deal with the unexpected, and live up to my expectations.
You want me to pay to play a game I already paid for???
Be afraid.....The dragons are HERE!
Absolutely agree 100%
Sadly this is America where I live (not sure about you) and all we care about here in this great country is making fukn money. Kids...pfft who cares if I can make a few bucks off them is the attitude by any of the Wall Street Scumbag types. (Publisher CEO's anyone?????)
There are think tanks out there looking at ways to hook kids on the cash shops etc within games - think coins and content etc etc and targeted at KIDS hello.... pay attention.
Yeah.... BELIEVE NO ONE.. TRUST NO ONE.. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING ONLINE.
IE: Do not be a pos parent. And if your kids spend all there free time with the video babysitter so you can be on your own video game 24/7 you might just be a pos parent anyway and not need this article.
Education is important. I disagree with the being a 15-16 year old stock boy not preparing one part. This will be me speaking from personal experience so keep that in mind. I grew up on a farm so I had to work everyday as a child. When I was 16 I got a job bagging groceries at the local supermarket. These gave me something called a work ethic that has served me well through the years. Now I have the pleasure of having to fire employees because they don't really know how to work. Most of them went all the way through school getting their BS, and some their MS without ever actually having held a job. Once they enter the work force they have all this knowledge they need, but without ever having worked they can basically be summed up as borderline useless. They have no prioritization skills. Something that would have been learned as a teen juggling school, work, and social life. They come to work hung over acting like their social life is the number one priority like they were still in some fraternity. I could keep going on, but the point is that I have far less issues out of my employees that did do the job plus school bit simultaneously as teens. I would honestly prefer someone with an AS, and unrelated work experience to someone with a BS with no work experience.
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