Today is Safer Internet Day, when the world comes together with a shared vision of making online experiences better for everyone.

Many parents are concerned about how online gaming affects their children, but eSafety, Australia’s regulator for online safety, says that there are significant benefits alongside the risks, and active family involvement can make gaming safer.

New research delved into the gaming experiences of more than 2,000 8- to 17-year-olds. Most (89 per cent) reported they had gamed in the last year, and two-thirds (66 per cent) of those spent more than six hours per week gaming.

“Online games are incredibly popular with children, so it’s understandable parents and carers are concerned about possible harms – especially given it’s a world beyond many adults’ comprehension,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.

“Our research highlighted the common paradox of the online world: there are some serious risks we need to know about but there are also some incredible benefits – and this was clearly articulated by young people themselves.

“Online gaming makes young people happy and provides relief from tough times. Over 40 per cent said gaming benefited their emotional well-being; almost 60 per cent said it improved their social connection; and almost 80 per cent said gaming helped them develop skills or learn something new.

“On the flip side, there were some concerning reports of harm. Over 40 per cent young gamers had negative experiences, which included just over 30 per cent who experienced bullying behaviours, and over 30 per cent of teen gamers were exposed to potentially harmful ideas, ranging from racism to self-harm to sexism.”

Bullying occurs when a young gamer reports that another player sent them nasty or hurtful messages; passed around or posted nasty or hurtful things about them; called them nasty or hurtful names; excluded them on purpose; embarrassed them on purpose; or did something else on purpose to upset them or make them feel bad.

“But in surfacing these harms,” Ms Inman Grant said, “we also surfaced a tactic parents and carers can use to help make things safer: be interested and curious in the online games your child is playing.

“Young people who had experienced online abuse were more likely to have opened up about it if their parent had engaged with them previously about their gaming.

“We know parents talk about their children’s online gaming experiences with each other. This Safer Internet Day, let’s all go a step further and start having those same conversations with our children. Even better, let’s co-view and co-play online games with our kids, and be much more engaged in their online lives. Almost two in five of all young gamers told us they would like their parents and carers to play online games with them. This jumps to just over half of pre-teen gamers.”

The research also indicated that a minority of children and young people had been exposed to other potentially high-impact harms. Seven per cent of all young gamers reported other players doing or saying something that made them feel uncomfortable, such as being asked personal questions or to keep secrets – behaviours that could be a pre-cursor to grooming. On top of that, three per cent of gamers aged between eight and 12 received or were asked for nude images or sexual information while gaming.

“These findings are another reminder that grooming is a risk in online environments,” Ms Inman Grant said. “That’s why it’s crucial to support your child not only to implement privacy settings but help them understand why private information should not be shared. Where social interaction is enabled in online gaming features, set parental controls to manage who they are chatting to online, and regularly remind them we may not always know who our online friends are. Having regular conversations about grooming and how to recognise it is important too, and you can access our parent resources at eSafety.gov.au to start those fundamental conversations.”

To help protect your child from online grooming, encourage them to be wary when someone:     

• asks a lot of questions about personal information soon after meeting 

• starts asking them for favours and does things in return — abusers often use promises, gifts and favours to gain trust 

• wants to keep the relationship secret — online groomers typically try to keep their relationships with their targets extremely private from the beginning, asking for it to be something ‘special’ just between the two people 

• contacts them frequently and in different ways, like texting, Instagram, and/or online chat 

• asks them things like who else uses their device or computer, or which room they use it in 

To help parents and carers get involved in their child’s online gaming lives, eSafety has launched new resources.

“On Safer Internet Day, we’re calling on Australians to ‘Connect, Reflect, Protect’,” Ms Inman Grant said. “We want parents and carers to know how to help their kids connect safely online, to encourage them to reflect on how some actions can impact their safety, and to protect themselves by staying across the latest online safety advice, including game-specific advice, at eSafety.gov.au.”

The research also demonstrated that young gamers were proactive about their safety. Almost all (95 per cent) young gamers took steps to try to stay safer online, including 78 per cent who restricted whom they played or talked to, and 53 per cent who didn’t share personal information while playing.

Ms Inman Grant said parents should not only be buoyed by young gamers’ approach to safety but by their open invitation to join in and play, which is also a fantastic opportunity to role-model safe online behaviours.

“Playing online games with your children offers an incredible joint learning experience,” Ms Inman Grant said. “For us parents, we can learn from our child’s mastery and games strategy. For our children, they can benefit from our life experience to better navigate their online lives with safety and respect for others.”