We all know playing video games is tonnes of fun, but as a hobby, gaming can also help children develop life skills, build relationships, understand teamwork and foster creativity. However, when it’s your child behind the controller, it can be tricky to know how to set boundaries and keep their gaming activity age appropriate, particularly when you’re not around.
Thankfully, game developers, hardware manufacturers and internet service providers have designed a number of robust features and settings that parents can implement to manage younger players’ gaming experiences. Here’s how to make best use of these tools to keep the littlest gamers in your household safe.
Age appropriate content
You’re likely familiar with the Pan-European Game Information body (PEGI)’s system, which independently assigns video games with an age rating based on their themes, imagery and use of profanity. It goes without saying that this should be your first port of call when assessing a title’s suitability for your child.
Even if your tastes overlap, there are still bound to be games that you haven’t thought twice about, but that your kid and their friends are into, so for a more in-depth look at an individual release’s gameplay and mechanics, EE’s Gamesmart Game Guides – produced in partnership with online child safety organisation Internet Matters – are a great resource. With pages devoted to popular games spanning multiple genres, the guides outline everything from playstyles (e.g. whether you can play co-op or competitively online or locally) and positive gameplay aspects (such as encouraging problem solving), to accessibility options and the presence of in-game transactions.
Parental controls can also be enabled in your games console’s settings, and can be set to apply age-related restrictions to all users or to individual accounts on the device. Once you have your own adult account set up, you can add child profiles and filter each user’s access to games based on their age rating, as well as enabling or disabling online play. Some systems even include ‘child’, ‘pre-teen’ and ‘teenager’ presets, allowing you to quickly and easily prevent access to games with unsuitable content.
In-game spending
Many games and all major consoles have settings that allow you to block or limit in-game purchases, so you can make sure your kids don’t inadvertently run up large bills by adding cosmetic items, game add-ons, or pay-to-play level access to their baskets.
Some child account presets automatically disable transactions, but if you choose to leave store purchases active, it’s good practice to enable a purchase password or PIN (so they require your approval before checking out), to set a monthly spending limit for each child user, and avoid pre-loading funds to the parent or family manager account.
As the account holder, you’ll also receive an email every time a transaction is made via the Nintendo eShop, Microsoft Store, Xbox Store or PlayStation Store, giving you another way to keep track of their spending habits.
Time limits
Managing your child’s screen time can be a challenge, but parental controls can help make the process a little easier. Some game publishers, such as Activision Blizzard and Epic, plus all major consoles and Windows 10 PCs, offer parent accounts the option to limit the time individual users can play on particular days, or during a session.
On the Nintendo Switch, you can set daily limits or a total playtime duration for the device using the Parental Controls app. Once this time has elapsed, the console will not automatically turn off, but you will have the option to shut down the game remotely by selecting “Suspend Software” in the Time Limits window of the app.
If your child plays on PS5, you can tailor the hours they’re able to play each day in the Family Management menu. There are also two options to choose from, depending on how strict you want the playtime cut-off to be: “Notify Only” will display an on-screen warning when their time is up, whereas the “Log Out of PS5” option will automatically boot players from the system when the clock ticks over.
In the Xbox Family Settings app, you can specify days, schedule time ranges and even pick which individual apps and games you wish the time restrictions apply to for each child. It also provides the option to extend your child’s playtime remotely, handy if you want to use a short gaming extension as a reward or an incentive for grades and good behaviour!
Finally, if your children are big online gamers, EE’s Smart Hub routers have broadband controls that let you quickly and easily pause or freeze WiFi to individual devices and pre-saved groups (such as those in a particular room or those belonging to a particular child). This can help carve out set hours for homework, screen-free hobbies, and of course, bedtime, without affecting your personal access.
Online communication and public profiles
As great as the social aspects of gaming can be, managing who your children can communicate and share details with when playing online is crucial. As well as giving them guidance on not sharing personal details, you can set firm chat and friend request parameters for your child across their gaming hardware.
For younger children, online interactions can be disabled completely across their profile via console or PC parental controls settings, and Nintendo automatically restricts communications if you set up a Switch profile using child or pre-teen presets. On PS5 consoles, this restriction can also be extended to user generated content, including screenshots, broadcasts and videos shared by other members of the Playstation Network.
In Xbox parental controls, you can block or allow all text and voice communications, as well as choosing a third setting, where children using the console can interact exclusively with their Xbox Network friends list. Additions to this list require approval from the parent account, so you can make sure that it only contains genuine friends and family members who you are happy for your child to interact with.
Many popular online games also feature chat and friend permissions that can be restricted via in-game parental controls, including Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft and Rocket League.
By agreeing responsible guidelines and setting age-based restrictions, you can share your love of gaming with your child and support them in having balanced and positive experiences for years to come. For more tips and advice, visit eegamesmart.co.uk.
