Not everyone in Fortnite is a 12 year old eating Cheetos
You make your way to your kid’s room and slowly open the door without a sound. You peek in just enough to see your kid sitting in front of the screen, headset on, and controller in hand. He’s laser focused, deep in a game and you hear him yelling something about “sweating on these noobs.” You try to figure out what in the world that could mean, but to him, it’s just part of the game.
Gaming today isn’t like the Mario Kart you grew up with in your basement. Back in the day, it was just you, your sibling, and the occasional controller-throwing incident. Hence the addition of the wrist straps for your Wii controller.
Nope. Now, gaming is online, worldwide, and interactive. Your child isn’t just playing against friends. They’re interacting with strangers, some of whom don’t exactly have the purest intentions.
So how do you guide your kid to enjoy gaming and keep them safe from online predators at the same time? Let’s talk about it.
Your first instinct might be to sound the alarm, shut down all online gaming, unplug the Wi-Fi, post the entire gaming system and all relevant paraphernalia on Marketplace, and retreat to the safety of table top games. That could be a solution if you are intentional about receiving the Overreacting Parent of the Year award. But keep in mind that banning doesn’t teach. Guiding does.
Predators thrive on the two really big things of secrecy and isolation.
So, instead of fear-based rules, approach gaming like you would if you were teaching your kid to ride a bike. You don’t ban bikes because your kid might scrape a knee, break a bone, or even because cars exist. You teach your kid the rules of the road, stick with them through the bruises while they’re learning, and eventually let them ride with confidence.
Now, here’s also where the secrecy and isolation silently creeps in. If your kid feels like they can’t tell you something because they’ll get in trouble, predators already have an edge. They got your kid to stay silent and keep what they’re doing isolated from you. Ouch. That’s not good.
So make it clear and tell your kid, “Hey, if anyone online makes you feel uncomfortable, asks for personal info, or just feels sketchy—tell me. You won’t be in trouble. We’ll figure it out together.”
And like most kids, you’ll probably have to put this on repeat. But please don’t be a one-hit playlist. Use a little creativity to mix up the delivery a bit while keeping the content consistent. And, if you really need a little help, your friends ChatGPT and Claude are on standby 24/7.
Keep in mind that this kind of openness keeps communication flowing. It’s not about prying into every message, wiretapping them like you're the FBI, or putting a Ring camera aimed directly at their screen. While that might make you feel like James Bond or Ethan Hunt, they need space to grow. The big mission here is about ensuring they know you’ve got their back. Period.
To guide them, you can give them a short list they can actually remember. For example:
Now, if you’ve ever tried to help with math homework and felt like you needed an advanced degree from MIT, gaming might feel the same way. But know this theorem: when you step into their world, even just for a moment, you build trust.
Download the game. Play a round. Then ask questions. Even if you’re hilariously bad, your kid will love (and maybe roast) you for trying. More importantly, you’ll start to see what kinds of people they’re interacting with.
The Bible may not mention Fortnite or Roblox, but it does talk a lot about wisdom and protection. Proverbs 4:23 says: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Helping your child guard their heart today includes guarding their online interactions. Just like we teach them to protect their physical bodies, we also need to teach them to protect their digital spaces because predators aren’t just after information, they’re after influence.
And while we’re teaching them to guard their heart, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 deeply encourages us to "Test everything; hold on to what is good. Abstain from every kind of evil."
Our kids need to know how to critically think about what they encounter. They need a filter for decision making. And yeah, they’ve learned how to decide when they need a sniper rifle versus a shotgun in Fortnite, but do they know how to apply a biblical concept to help them stay safe online? Our job is to help our players know what is morally good and right so that they can test it against what they are experiencing. And, if they discover something that is not good, wrong, or evil, have we taught them how to abstain from it?
Guiding our kids in wisdom means teaching them to test everything that they encounter, guard what they let into their hearts and minds, and reject what is wrong.
Ok, so remember that parenting gamers doesn’t mean turning into Big Brother, FBI, CIA, or MI6. It means equipping your kids with wisdom, teaching them how to discern what is good and healthy, building trust so they’ll come to you when something feels wrong, and remembering that their digital world is their real world.
Think of it like this: you don’t have to be a “pro gamer” to be a pro parent in the gaming age. All you need is connection, guidance, and a bit of biblical wisdom to help them guard their hearts and their screens.
Make the connection:
How might we build a healthy channel of communication with our players to keep them safe from online predators?
Connecting gamers • Building communities • Creating champions
Gaming today isn’t like the Mario Kart you grew up with in your basement. Back in the day, it was just you, your sibling, and the occasional controller-throwing incident. Hence the addition of the wrist straps for your Wii controller.
Nope. Now, gaming is online, worldwide, and interactive. Your child isn’t just playing against friends. They’re interacting with strangers, some of whom don’t exactly have the purest intentions.
So how do you guide your kid to enjoy gaming and keep them safe from online predators at the same time? Let’s talk about it.
Your first instinct might be to sound the alarm, shut down all online gaming, unplug the Wi-Fi, post the entire gaming system and all relevant paraphernalia on Marketplace, and retreat to the safety of table top games. That could be a solution if you are intentional about receiving the Overreacting Parent of the Year award. But keep in mind that banning doesn’t teach. Guiding does.
Predators thrive on the two really big things of secrecy and isolation.
So, instead of fear-based rules, approach gaming like you would if you were teaching your kid to ride a bike. You don’t ban bikes because your kid might scrape a knee, break a bone, or even because cars exist. You teach your kid the rules of the road, stick with them through the bruises while they’re learning, and eventually let them ride with confidence.
Now, here’s also where the secrecy and isolation silently creeps in. If your kid feels like they can’t tell you something because they’ll get in trouble, predators already have an edge. They got your kid to stay silent and keep what they’re doing isolated from you. Ouch. That’s not good.
So make it clear and tell your kid, “Hey, if anyone online makes you feel uncomfortable, asks for personal info, or just feels sketchy—tell me. You won’t be in trouble. We’ll figure it out together.”
And like most kids, you’ll probably have to put this on repeat. But please don’t be a one-hit playlist. Use a little creativity to mix up the delivery a bit while keeping the content consistent. And, if you really need a little help, your friends ChatGPT and Claude are on standby 24/7.
Keep in mind that this kind of openness keeps communication flowing. It’s not about prying into every message, wiretapping them like you're the FBI, or putting a Ring camera aimed directly at their screen. While that might make you feel like James Bond or Ethan Hunt, they need space to grow. The big mission here is about ensuring they know you’ve got their back. Period.
To guide them, you can give them a short list they can actually remember. For example:
- Never give out your real name, address, or school.
- Never move conversations to private chats without checking first.
- Never meet someone from a game in real life without a parent.
Now, if you’ve ever tried to help with math homework and felt like you needed an advanced degree from MIT, gaming might feel the same way. But know this theorem: when you step into their world, even just for a moment, you build trust.
Download the game. Play a round. Then ask questions. Even if you’re hilariously bad, your kid will love (and maybe roast) you for trying. More importantly, you’ll start to see what kinds of people they’re interacting with.
The Bible may not mention Fortnite or Roblox, but it does talk a lot about wisdom and protection. Proverbs 4:23 says: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Helping your child guard their heart today includes guarding their online interactions. Just like we teach them to protect their physical bodies, we also need to teach them to protect their digital spaces because predators aren’t just after information, they’re after influence.
And while we’re teaching them to guard their heart, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 deeply encourages us to "Test everything; hold on to what is good. Abstain from every kind of evil."
Our kids need to know how to critically think about what they encounter. They need a filter for decision making. And yeah, they’ve learned how to decide when they need a sniper rifle versus a shotgun in Fortnite, but do they know how to apply a biblical concept to help them stay safe online? Our job is to help our players know what is morally good and right so that they can test it against what they are experiencing. And, if they discover something that is not good, wrong, or evil, have we taught them how to abstain from it?
Guiding our kids in wisdom means teaching them to test everything that they encounter, guard what they let into their hearts and minds, and reject what is wrong.
Ok, so remember that parenting gamers doesn’t mean turning into Big Brother, FBI, CIA, or MI6. It means equipping your kids with wisdom, teaching them how to discern what is good and healthy, building trust so they’ll come to you when something feels wrong, and remembering that their digital world is their real world.
Think of it like this: you don’t have to be a “pro gamer” to be a pro parent in the gaming age. All you need is connection, guidance, and a bit of biblical wisdom to help them guard their hearts and their screens.
Make the connection:
How might we build a healthy channel of communication with our players to keep them safe from online predators?
Connecting gamers • Building communities • Creating champions
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