Keep it secret. Keep it safe.

The online world, while offering many positive experiences, also harbors individuals with harmful intentions, carrying risks. While your player may be online to have fun, and enjoy playing games, not everyone they interact with online has good intentions.

Whether this is new to you or a helpful reminder, the reality is that the online world can be a dangerous place for players of all ages. Things such as phishing scams, online predators, cyberbullying, and the spread of harmful content can do far more damage than ruining their gaming experience.

You want and need for your player to be safe. They need to protect their personal safety. And that starts by safeguarding their personal information. One thing you can do is help your player understand how important it is to not share their real name, address, school details, sports schedule, social activity calendar, and other personal information with strangers and people you or they don’t know.

Encourage your player to be super discerning about friend requests, messages, and invitations, as not everyone may have good intentions. It’s good to give them healthy reminders to keep interactions with strangers strictly game-related since you (and they) don’t want to become a target of identity theft, stalking, or other forms of exploitation. In all of this, they need to protect their mental well-being as well as their overall safety.

Think like Gandalf when he told Frodo: “Keep it secret. Keep it safe”.

Solomon talks about what to do when presented with danger in Proverbs 22:3: A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished. 

Make the connection:

• What are some ways that we can reinforce online safety with our players without being overly forceful?

We are #ForTheGamer and help players play with purpose and win for good.