Working to improve the social, emotional, mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Cornwall
For professionals

Gaming

  • If you want to know about typical gaming activities
  • If you’re worried about how much time a child or young person is spending gaming
  • If you’re worried about interactions with peers on and offline
  • If you want to know more about age restrictions

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Disrupted sleep from device dependence / gaming

Online gambling

Receiving gifts in online games from family members

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Gifts, whether on or offline, can be a way of controlling or grooming a young person. Children and young people are most likely to be abused by someone known to them. Therefore, if a family member is giving a young person a great deal of money through a game, this should be investigated.

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources:

 

Receiving gifts in online games from strangers (someone unknown to parents/carers)

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Harmful Harmful Harmful Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Gifts, whether on or offline, can be a way of controlling or grooming a young person. If a child or young person is receiving any amount of money through a game from a stranger, this should be considered risky.

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources:

 

Gaming unsupervised

Playing age-appropriate games with supervision

Playing age restricted games unsupervised

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

Additional context: For younger children, age restricted games are more likely to contain content they will find upsetting. For young people, parents should be aware of the reason for age restrictions and decide whether their child can play. If parents are unaware of the content this may be more concerning.

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources:

 

Playing age restricted games with direct parental supervision

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources:

 

Filming themselves / friends playing age-appropriate games

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not applicable Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources:

 

Age-appropriate multiplayer online gaming

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Not Harmful

 

Additional context: There is additional risk when playing multi-player online games as players will often be strangers. Therefore, parents/carers should ensure they are aware of the level of communication between players, supervise younger children and discuss risks with older children.

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources:

 

Playing ads for offer of rewards

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Playable ads may be gathering data without the young person’s knowledge. Also, many games include options to watch ads for rewards, but clicking on an ad may take the child away from the original game. This may then lead them to other content which may require payment or subscription or may not be age-appropriate.

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources:

 

Prolonged period of upset or anger after gaming

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Harmful Harmful Harmful Harmful Harmful

 

Additional context: There is no evidence that gaming makes children or young people violent. However, games can cause a great deal of frustration, which can lead to violence or aggression. The game most children said caused this sort of frustration was Fifa (a football game). If the child or young person struggles to let go of their anger or frustration after gaming they may need support to process their feelings in a healthy way.

Related behaviours from other categories:

Related resources: