Gaming Safety
How to keep children safe while gaming online, including managing in-game chat, spending, and contact with strangers.
Gaming is the practice of keeping a child protected from risks in online video games, including contact from strangers, bullying, inappropriate content, and pressure to spend money.
What is this?
Online gaming is one of the most popular activities for children and young people. While gaming can be social, creative, and educational, it also introduces risks including contact with strangers, exposure to inappropriate content, in-game spending, and excessive play. Many games include voice and text chat that connects children directly with unknown players.
How it works
Modern online games frequently include live voice chat, text messaging, friend request systems, and multiplayer modes that put children in direct contact with other players — including adults. Some games also feature loot boxes, in-app purchases, and reward mechanics designed to encourage spending. Age ratings are often ignored, and parental controls vary widely between platforms.
Warning signs
In your child
- • Becoming secretive about who they play with or talk to during games
- • Significant mood changes connected to gaming — anger, frustration, or withdrawal
- • Spending increasing amounts of money or requesting top-ups for in-game currency
On their device
- • Friend lists or messages from unknown adult players
- • Unexpected charges on linked payment methods or gift card redemptions
- • Games rated well above the child's age installed on the device or console
Prevention steps
Set up parental controls on every gaming platform
Use the built-in parental controls on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC gaming platforms. Restrict voice chat, limit spending, and manage who can send friend requests.
Play together and stay informed
Take time to understand the games your child plays. Join them occasionally so you can see how the chat and social features work firsthand.
Check age ratings and reviews
Use PEGI ratings as a starting point, but also read parent reviews on sites like Common Sense Media for real-world insights into a game's content and social features.
What to do if it happens
- 1If your child receives inappropriate messages in a game, help them block and report the player through the platform's tools.
- 2If unexpected spending has occurred, contact the platform's support team — many offer refunds for unauthorised purchases made by children.
- 3Talk to your child calmly about what happened and use it as a chance to review and tighten the safety settings together.
Related topics
If you need to report this
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
The picture in the UK
53%
of children who play online games spend money within them, on items such as skins, loot boxes and battle passes.
Ofcom, 2025Myths & facts
Myth: If the age rating says the game is fine for their age, the whole experience is fine.
Fact: PEGI ratings mainly cover the game's content — violence, language, themes — and older ratings may not reflect online features, who your child might meet in chat or in-game spending (PEGI has started updating its criteria). A game rated suitable for young children can still have open chat with adult strangers and in-game purchases.
Myth: In-game chat is moderated, so children can't come to serious harm there.
Fact: Moderation varies enormously between games and is often automated and patchy, especially in voice chat. Bullying, scams and grooming approaches all happen in game chat, which is why chat settings and friend-list rules matter more than trusting the platform.
Myth: In-game purchases are pocket-money amounts, so they're nothing to worry about.
Fact: Many games are built around repeat spending — battle passes, loot boxes and limited-time items — and small purchases add up quickly. Put a password or approval step on every purchase and agree a spending limit before it becomes a row.
Age by age
- 5-7
Keep gaming in shared family spaces on your account or a child profile, choose offline or single-player modes, and turn chat off entirely in the settings. Play alongside them so the habits feel normal.
- 8-10
Agree that online play is with real-life friends only, keep voice chat off with strangers, and set purchase approvals on the console or store account. Rehearse what to do if someone in a game is unkind: mute, block, tell you.
- 11-13
Talk openly about strangers in lobbies and Discord servers, the difference between banter and bullying, and the rule that being asked to move from the game to a private app is a red flag in itself. Keep spending limits in place.
- 14-16
Respect that gaming is real social life at this age, and focus on the riskier edges: gambling-style mechanics and skin trading, scams offering free game currency, and late-night sessions crowding out sleep.
A real-world example
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Resources
Sources
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