Four Tips for Keeping Kids Safe While Playing Online Games

Kids are playing online games from very early ages. This means they are not always able to have the judgment they need about many things. The internet world is often not a safe place to be. This is sometimes true of sites that offer kids games online. We want to let our kids have freedom to enjoy things, but we also want to keep them safe. There are some tips to follow for ensuring their safety.

With the proliferation of games and their use, it is imperative for a parent to be aware of their children's activities and take measures to keep them safe online. Many predators realize they have easy prey at children's sites, and take advantage of that fact. The anonymity they are able to preserve make it harder to prevent their having access to these vulnerable children.

Tip number one involves the parent being aware of and using in the ability to put parental controls on where their kids are able to go online. This is true of both the allowable sites on the local computer as well as parental controls many game sites have available. This does not prevent the access of predators to children, but does prevent their playing games that are inappropriate or that you as the parent don't want them to play.

Tip number two involves the placement of the computer that children play games on. Never let them have the computer in their room or other isolated area. Place the computer where the family is normally spending leisure time, or where they can be monitored frequently. This lets the parent stay aware of what their children are doing on the computer and with whom they may be interacting and/or chatting.

Tip three is to instruct children about the importance of never revealing personal information. Don't let them use their real name as user names, and instruct them to never give out their real name or their location. They should never share telephone numbers with an unknown person online. Remind them frequently of this precaution, and monitor their time online so they don't forget or get persuaded by someone to share this information.

Tip four is a hard but necessary one. Be sure to instruct your child about the dangers of online friendships. Include the fact that a person posing as a child their age may actually be an older adult and may have unsavory intents. Individualize your instruction to the age of your child. You want to instruct them, but you also don't want to unnecessarily scare them. You just want them to stay safe.