A Parent’s Guide on Gaming Safety and Parental Controls

Gaming is the most popular source of entertainment for both parents and children. According to a recent survey, there are more than 2.9 billion gamers around the world, and around 95% of the kids between 6-16 years old are directly engaging in some sort of gaming.

There are 4 types of gaming devices

Desktop gaming

The gaming platform where we play games through laptop and desktop computer are known as desktop gaming. Here we can play online games via the internet also where we can chat and talk with other players around the globe. This type of gaming can be apps and online games.

For example, call of duty, cricket, Fifa, etc are the gaming software for Desktop. Fortnite, Dota, warcraft, etc are examples of online gaming where you can connect with other gamers.

Portable Gaming

Gaming like PSP, Nintendo Switch is the best example of a portable device. This gaming device is designed with a compact screen and keyboard size where you can keep it in your pocket also.

Mobile Gaming

It’s the most popular gaming device. We can download the application from both android and iOS. Many free and paid apps can be found on mobile. For example, Playerunknown's Battlegrounds is famous for mobile gaming.

Gaming Console

The Console which is specially built for entertainment or gaming purposes is the gaming Console. An example of a gaming console is, Xbox, PlayStation, etc

Gaming is also a great source of learning and overall development of children if we used it decently. Here we discuss some of the benefits of gaming.

Cognitive Skill Development

One of the key advantages of gaming is developing cognitive skills. It helps to enhance the learning skill of children. With the help of gaming, children will be able to solve the problem by themselves. Games provide a profound learning opportunity and can help children acquire many of the skills employers look for today. Gaming helps to develop many skills like decision making, multi-tasking, Enhance memory power, improve attention and concentration, etc.

For instance, games like Minecraft can help to increase your problem-solving and decision-making ability.

Mental Health Benefit

Gaming is the activity of exercising your brain. Many games give us instant satisfaction and mental growth. It’s a great source of relaxation and even helps to reduce the stress of children and adults.

The regular stresses we all have to deal with will help with video games. Games relax and place us in a comfortable environment, where we do not have to care about real life for that brief moment in time. It also provides a sense of achievement which is helpful for our mental well-being

Social Connections

Some kids face difficulties in making friends. Online gaming helps to connect with many peoples which may be helpful to the kid to make new friends. Video games have developed a fun and enticing way to communicate with people and can be a vital tool for the development of social skills. In several games, players will collaborate to form alliances and develop teams.

Gaming Careers

Nowadays, the gaming industry is rapidly increasing all around the globe. With the rising number of gamers, there will also be a career opportunity. A 16-year-old Fortnite player who won the cash prize of 3 million is a recent example of how a gaming career is excelling.

There is also a negative effect of gaming on children or adults. Excessive use of games leads to bad health and makes us lazy. Here is the negative impact of gaming.

Age-inappropriate games

Online gaming contains much harmful content like violence, gambling, racism, and adult content which your children shouldn’t be watching or playing. However, violent video games can be dangerous if young kids are exposed to inappropriate content.

Cyber Bullying

Almost every child has access to the internet everywhere they go. Even in online gaming, most people are being a victim of a cyberbully. Online gaming connects with a different player where they can play in multiplayer mode. Some games allow users to send text or audio messages to each other and there will also be the possibility that players can be harassed and abused online by others.

Gaming Addiction

Most of the children played the game for recreation purposes. Only one-third of the child who played games harms their lives. Children will focus on gaming only which affects their physical health like back pain, decrease in their vision, and many more. Excessive gaming will also lead children to be depressed and their academic performance will also be affected.

Every parent wants to keep their children secure from both the outer and inner world. There are many parental control features in the popular gaming platform to ensure that the children are safe. So, these are the major precautions to make gaming apps & consoles guarded and to make a positive impact on children.

Set time limits

Parents should set the limit bar to play online and gaming consoles and make sure that their children obey the rules made by parents. You can take help from a third-party’s app to set time limits on mobile gaming. You also set a timer on tv while playing PlayStation and Xbox.

Be Involved

As a parent, you should be involved while playing a game with your children. Online protection needs to be cautious and constructive. Set up a continuous conversation with your children about what game they are playing and with whom. Review the game and check whether the game is age-appropriate or not.

Educate

Parents should inform us about the threats and vulnerabilities of gaming in our daily lives. Inform your child not to share personal information online or your profile with anyone. Educate your children not to see or use harmful content and make sure that your child is aware of reporting or blocking other players who engage in online abuse or other inappropriate content or behavior.

There are different types of gaming devices like mobile gaming, desktop gaming, gaming consoles that have come up with extra solutions for parental control settings for children’s safety. The parental controls are widely used on every gaming platform and device. It’s easy and simple to enable the configuration. This helps protectively to stop your children from visualizing the inappropriate content, uploading, or downloading.

Bit Guardian

It’s a user-friendly app where parents can remotely monitor and manage their children’s devices. Parents can track all the installed applications and can block any inappropriate content and app that may be harmful to their children. Parents can also monitor their online activities and browser history. The system will provide a weekly or monthly reporting of their activities.

Mobile gaming is almost played by all age groups because it’s a more convenient and portable device. Mostly, children are addicted to this type of gaming. So, here we will describe the best parental control app to reduce the excessive use of mobile devices.

Features

Schedule phone usage

In this app, parents can set the bedtime and game time mode where children can play the game as per schedule. In Bed-Time mode children can’t play in sleeping time whereas, In Game-Time mode children can play the game but only for a limited time provided by their children. A parent can set the time limit of the screen and app also.

Block app

This application provides a parent with a special feature where they can note down the inappropriate content and the system will automatically block those content from online. Parents can track the installed app on their child’s devices and can block the unsuitable app from their devices. Parents can also block the installing app.

Compatibility

Netsanity

It’s a reliable monitoring app where parents can spy on all the online and offline activities of their children. These apps provide a 14 days free trial. Parents can manage all the activities through the control panel. Parents can also manage their internet accessibility where they can enable and disable remotely.

Features

Game Blocker

It’s one of the best features of this app where parents can block games in one simple click. Parents can block inappropriate or adult content with just one click function.

Parents can also set the time limit on gaming so that children will not be addicted to gaming. If your kid excessively played the game, it allows parents to block those games.

Site Blocker

Parents can track every site they visited and they can manage these sites. If your children are playing 18+ gaming online, You will be notified by the system and then you can block that online gaming site.

Compatibility

It’s only built for gaming purposes where all the aged group peoples from kid to adult played games. In old gaming consoles, there isn’t an in-built parental function compared to the modern gaming console. Here we will guide you to set up parental control on gaming devices.

PlayStation 4’s

These are the steps to set up for parental control on PS4.

Creating account and sub-account

Step 1: Firstly, you need to open the PS4. In settings create your account and log in as a parent.

Step 2: Go to the setting, you will see the parental control section tap it, and you will see sub Account Management.

Step 3: Create a new sub-account for your children where they need to be under 18.

Step 4: Follow the link and log in online, parent and your children’s account need to be linked together.

Step 5: Once you agree its term and condition your account and sub-account is created

PS4 Parental Controls

Step 1: You need to log in from your main account (parent’s account).

Step 2: Go to the setting > Parental Control > Restrict use of PS4 feature section

(Here you can choose many options also to restrict your children from age-appropriate gaming)

Step 3: Enter the default passcode

Step 4: And then enter > Restrict use of PS4 > Game

Step 5: Choose your children’s age level, as per the level children can only access their age gaming.

Here you can restrict access to the PS4 internet browser, block gaming, Block inappropriate gaming DVDs

Xbox

These are the procedures to set up parental control on Xbox with Microsoft.

Creating Account

Step1: Firstly, go to the main menu > push on the left side control pad > select the top option > In the add & manage section you can create your child account.

Step2: You can also create your child’s account from windows and later, you can add it to Xbox.

Step2: Go to setting > Family, choose your child account, and ‘Add to this Xbox’

Step3: And the push left on the control pad, go to settings > all settings > family, enter your password.

Step:4 Then, tap on your child’s account and now you can set parental control on Xbox.

Parental Control on Xbox

Step1: Firstly, you need to go to the Console setting from windows

Step2: Select on the Family section and you can see your child account and select that account.

Step3: And you will see the privacy and online safety for the Xbox section. You can select the option for your child.

Step4: After selecting the option you will see the parental option in the left sidebar.

Step5: At last, you can manage your children's Xbox by access to content, web filtering, and box explicit Tv.

Here you can block age-inappropriate gaming or content and set time limits.

Therefore, Parents should always be aware of the gaming that their child plays. Gaming can have both positive and negative influences on children. So, parents should have a safety measure to protect your child’s from excessive gaming. In modern gaming consoles, there are parental control settings in-built to ensure that children are safe from gaming risks and threats.