About gamescom 2024How to guide children through safe gaming

The world's largest video games fair, gamescom, starts today in Cologne. At klicksafe, parents can find detailed information about video games and media education. To coincide with the start of gamescom, we have collected many of our offers on the subject for you in an article. You are also welcome to visit us at gamescom. From August 23 to 25, you can find us at the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK) stand.

For millions of children and young people, digital games are part of their daily leisure activities. The vast majority of them have positive experiences, but there are also some negative aspects that parents and guardians should be aware of. We have described some of these problems below and provide tips on how you can deal with them.

Cybergrooming

Contacting children and young people with the aim of preparing sexual abuse is known as cybergrooming. Perpetrators look for platforms where they can meet many children. You can find detailed information on this topic in the cybergrooming section.

Cost traps in games

Loot boxes, free-to-play, microtransactions - there are now many mechanisms to get players to spend money in games. Children in particular can quickly lose track of the actual costs. With in-game purchases, players can buy game advantages or obtain digital items for their game characters or game worlds. These can have a high value for children, similar to toys, trading cards or stickers. Try to understand why your child wants to make a purchase and then decide together.

Data protection

Almost all games and games consoles are now connected to the internet. In order to use games and services, registration is usually required. Make children and young people aware of the need to provide as little data as possible online. Large gaming platforms have often been the target of data theft. Therefore, also discuss password protection and set up two-factor authentication.

Toxic gaming community

Millions of people come together every day in the online world of video games. Unfortunately, things are not always friendly. Insults, threats, bullying and harassment are no exceptions. How problematic the community is varies from game to game and from platform to platform. In serious cases, you can seek help from Hate Aid or other counseling services, for example.

Problematic content

Not all games are suitable for children and young people. In Germany, the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK) checks all games before publication and issues an age rating. However, these are not recommendations or educational assessments. A game with an age rating of six and above is therefore not necessarily suitable for all six-year-olds.

Games as an introduction to the internet

Huge fan communities develop around many popular video games. As a fan, you don't just play the game, you also watch the YouTube videos of the relevant influencers, follow their social media channels on Instagram and TikTok, participate in communities on Discord and Steam, follow live streams on the Twitch platform and much more. A fascination with one game can therefore be the gateway to a variety of other platforms that are not necessarily suitable for children.

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Excessive gaming

Where "excessive" gaming begins is something that must be negotiated individually in each family. Binding, comprehensible and jointly drawn up rules on media consumption offer you and your child guidance and can avoid arguments. You can find more information on this topic in the "Addiction and dependency" section.