India’s Ministry of Education has released an Advisory on children’s online gaming habits: The online gaming industry has seen exponential growth in India, especially when it comes to games for mobile platforms. Gaming has become increasingly popular among the Indian audience, especially the younger generation. It also comes with a downside as we see a large number of cases pertaining to gaming addiction, huge in-app purchases, and other such detrimental incidents rising rapidly in the past few years.
To address this issue, the Indian Government’s Ministry of Education has released an Advisory for both parents and teachers. It gives a brief introduction about how the complex structure and challenges provided by games attract audiences, especially children. There is also a list of guidelines that adults must follow to prevent their children from developing a gaming addiction which in turn can become a severe gaming disorder.
Things that you should not allow children to do:
- Do not allow them to purchase in-game items without your consent. Use OTP-based payment methods on your mobile to stop this.
- You can place a limit on the amount and number of transactions that your child can do while gaming.
- Prevent your children from downloading software and games from untrusted sources on the internet.
- Do not give them access to buy anything directly from their own mobile or laptop.
- Advise them not to give their private and other sensitive information on the internet while gaming or other online activities.
- Prevent them from playing games continuously for long hours. Advise them to take breaks in between so that it lowers the negative impact on their health.
- Ask them to never engage with strangers while gaming or on the internet. You should also tell them to never show their faces or provide personal information. This can increase the chances of them getting blackmailed, bullied, or scammed.
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India’s Ministry of Education has released an Advisory on children’s online gaming habits:
Things that you can allow your child to do under your supervision:
- Teach your child to take a screenshot on the smartphone or laptop whenever something wrong is happening with them. Use this evidence to report to the concerned authorities regarding the problem.
- You should use a good antivirus program that can protect your child’s device from viruses, spyware, and other online threats.
- Select that avatar or in-game name for your child which can keep their identity anonymous.
- You should activate the parental control settings on the device before giving it to your children.
- See to it that your child plays games which are suitable for his age.
- Notify the concerned authorities if any stranger is communicating with your child and asking for their personal information inappropriately.
- If your child is subjected to bullying, ask them not to respond and just take screenshots of the incident. Report this behavior to the administrator while also un-friending or blocking the user from your child’s in-game account.
- Take off some time and play some online games with your children that they like. It will help you to understand their tastes and their interaction with other online users.
- Talk to your child about the monetary and addictive qualities of games like loot box rolling, gambling, etc. Tell them about the effects that these features have on their online and offline lives.
- Ensure that your child is accessing the internet from a family computer that you can easily check.
- Remember to look out for these red flags:
- Unusual secretive behavior when asked about their online activity
- A sudden increase in the time they spend online, especially on social media platforms
- They seem to change screens on their device hurriedly when you approach them.
- They become withdrawn or angry, after using the internet or sending text messages online.
- Their device suddenly has many new phone numbers·and email contacts that you do not recognize.
Here are a few things teachers can also do for their students:
- Keep an eye on the falling grades and social behavior of the students. Try to have a light-hearted, friendly conversation with them regarding it.
- If they observe something suspicious or alarming, they should inform the school authorities immediately.
- Teachers should ensure that children are made aware of the pros and cons of the internet regularly.
- Teachers should also train their students on how to do the secure configuration of web browsers & web applications. They should also teach them about the rules to follow while accessing the internet or playing games.
If there are any unfortunate incidents that your child is facing regarding gaming and online addiction, the Ministry of Education has provided the following links to report the issues to the concerned authorities.
National Helpline: https://cybercrime.gov.in/Webform/Helpline.aspx
Statewise Nodal Officers- https://cybercrime.gov.in/Webform/Crime_NodalGrivanceList.aspx
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