To encourage children and young people with SEND, get the best out of their gameplay and reduce potential risks, use this advice on strategies you can use to ensure it has a positive impact on their wellbeing.
Gaming gives CYP the opportunity to be known for being great at gaming – rather than being known for having a disability / additional needs. Interest in gaming can give them something to build an offline friendship around and talk about. This is especially important for CYP who may find learning neurotypical social skills more challenging.
For some children playing a short game on their devices can give them an escape, a way to manage their emotions, and provide a bit of downtime for them to be less focused on potential issues that are causing them distress.
Most games involve developing fine motor skills to control the game. Other games, such as those involving a touchscreen can help people develop hand-eye coordination.
Often children who enjoy gaming will do more than just play the game. They may also look to create their own games and characters allowing them to be creative and broaden their skills in a particular area. This could be by drawing characters or coding by creating their own games on a particular platform.
Gaming development can be a career. CYP may aspire to do so if they are keen on a career in gaming. AskAboutGames Thriving Futures: A Rough Guide to Game Careers gives good advice on what careers are.
With the rise in popularity of multiplayer games like Fortnite, the social aspect of gaming has grown. Often games provide chat features for users to interact. In some cases these have safety features (like privacy settings, AI tracking, and human moderation) but at times children may use other apps alongside the game to communicate which don’t offer the same protections to keep them safe.
Also, our research reveals that children with vulnerabilities are twice as likely to experience contact with strangers and online trolling than those without vulnerabilities.
Gaming is designed to keep children engaged so it can be hard for children with SEND to stop playing especially if it fulfills a range of needs for them. Spending long periods playing without breaks can interfere with their wellbeing. If a child’s sleep, physical activity, learning, and socialising are being impacted negatively by their inability to stop gaming then there is cause for concern.
Children can develop a passion for gaming and can spend many hours watching videos on how to play the game or watching live streams of others gamers playing. Sometimes these may contain inappropriate language or adult themes, particularly if they are playing games with an adult rating. They may also want to record and share their own game play which can have risks.
The use of loot boxes in games or in-game purchases where you cannot see what you are buying can be considered a form of gambling and can encourage young people to gamble. Gambling stimulates the brain’s reward system creating a thrill, so it’s important to set passwords or pins to restrict in-app purchases. Explaining what is free and what costs money in the games they play and where the boundaries are can also help them to make smarter choices.
Children with autism or ADHD spend twice as much time playing video games and are more likely to become addicted to them, the Mail Online reports.
Research has previously suggested that children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for problematic video game use, or so-called “video game addiction”.
It can be easy for children, particularly those with communications difficulties, to form strong bonds with people they play games with online especially if this is the main way that they socialise. There is the danger that they may make friends with someone who is a groomer or a catfish (lying about who they are), it can put them at great risk if they decide to meet up in the real world.
It is important to be aware that:
Gaming can offer all CYP the ability to socialise, be creative, and build-up core skills. However, for those with additional learning needs, there is a need to give them extra support to spot potential online risks.
Many gamers use personas and so can make it harder for CYP to know who they are playing with and what their true intentions are. There are also ways that people interact on games that may impact their wellbeing such as the use of griefing (a type of bullying) used to win games.
Although there are no direct links between violent behaviour offline and video games it’s still important to know how video games affect CYP. CYP with Autism Spectrum Disorder tend to engage in restricted and repetitive behaviours. As a result, they might be at higher risk for developing addictive game play patterns. Be aware of the content in the games they play and using PEGI ratings to identify which games are age-appropriate is also key.
While there are some risks associated with gaming, making use of the controls and settings available, combined with ongoing conversations and engagement, children and young people can safely enjoy all the experiences it offers.
Agree ways that you can help them balance the importance of offline activities, family time, school work, and sleep versus playing games online. This will encourage them to think about what amount of time is healthy for them to stick to. Ensure your child takes a short break every hour they play.
Make full use of privacy settings to manage who your child can communicate and game with online. These controls aren’t a substitute for parental involvement, so it is important to keep talking to your child about who they are gaming with online and how to deal with anything that upsets them or makes them feel unsafe.
Make a habit of checking in with them on what games they are playing and what they are enjoying to know when to step in and offer your support. You may even play together as a family. Another simple way to do this is to encourage them to play games in a place where you can see and hear them so you can support them if there is a concern.
Online gaming for some young people is a form of escapism, and socialising while gaming can give young people with SEND a chance to build real-world friendships built from common ground on their likes and dislikes as well as building on their motor, cognitive and creative skills.
If they are already gaming online, use these tools and strategies to help them get the best of their online gaming experience and prevent potential risks.
This will help you to get to grips with how they work and why they enjoy them. If you are familiar with the types of games they are playing you will be in a better position to support them.
Like movies, you can use age-ratings to check if a game is suitable for a child. PEGI ratings on games are essentially safety certification to provide parents with the advice of what the game may contain, i.e. bad language, discrimination, drugs, fear, gambling, sex, in-app purchases, and violence and based on this what age it is suitable for. All games in the app stores also have age ratings.
To help them develop good gaming habits, agree on a set of boundaries to help them have a clear understanding of who they can play with online, what games they can play and how long they’re allowed to play. Display these rules near the device they use to make it easier for them to become habitual.
Check that you both know how to use report and block functions on the game or platform they are using if they are concerned about something they’ve seen.
Use on platform safety features. Most consoles and platforms now have safety features that you can apply to CYP’s accounts to manage screen time, access to chat features, and the games they can play.
Children often gravitate to play the same game every time they turn on their consoles. This might be because it’s what everyone else is playing or it’s a game they’ve seen played by YouTube and Twitch streamers. You can use resources like the Family Video Game Database to look up their favourite games and find suggestions for other games to play, often with a calmer, more imaginative and educational aspect.
Ongoing conversations and engagement with young people is important as it means you can be kept up to date on what they’re doing, if you or they have any concerns and overall, to give you piece of mind.
To help them socialise safely while gaming talk about what is and isn’t safe to share. Explain that it is good to share what they are interested in but when it comes to personal details like their address and where they go to school it’s best to keep these private as not everyone online is who they say they are.
It’s important to talk about the tricky themes that are featured in games like violence, sex and gender representation, to make sure they have a real-world view when it comes to their understanding.
To prepare them for the online issues that they might face, talk to them on how they can deal with them, and what they can do if they get upset. Whether it’s telling a trusted adult if someone is being mean to them or if someone asked them to do something they feel uncomfortable with. It’s a good idea to equip them with simple coping strategies so they know where and how to seek support if they need it. For children who may find these hard to remember or understand, you can use our ‘Get help cards‘ to support them.
To help identify if gameplay is having negative impact on children’s development, it’s important to consider the following questions:
Create a space where children are able to create a healthy balance between playing games and their lives online are important to stop them from developing bad gaming habits.
Any child, from any background, can be at risk of emotional abuse online. But some are more vulnerable than others. We are all aware of the worries about gaming: too much gaming, isolated young people not learning social skills, being lured into gambling or being harmed by groomers.
Report it! If you suspect a child is a victim of online sexual abuse, report it immediately to CEOP or contact the police. You can also report a problem by visiting our report issue page.
Often if a child is playing alone or for too long this can affect their mood. They may exhibit signs of frustration if forced to stop or even anger. It’s important to keep an eye on this to understand how best to manage these situations if it occurs but these things are not a sign of addiction on their own.
Playing with your child (or watching them play) is a good first step to better understanding their gaming mood. Looking up their games on resources like Family Video Game Database helps you better understand the experience from an adult’s perspective. Reflecting on the following questions can help you separate cause and effect and work out how to best guide them to better behaviour without blaming, limiting, or banning games.
Advice on how to help children manage their emotions when gaming affects their mood or mental state
On certain games and platforms there may be times where users will use ‘toxic language’ to intimidate, ridicule, or frustrate other players to win the game or simply as an accepted part of the gameplay. These constant insults can affect children’s mental state so it’s important to show young people how to block and report any behaviour that is not acceptable and mean.
Taking time to read the community guidelines together so children are aware of what is not acceptable on the platform can help them to be better prepared to call out this behaviour if they see it. If they are taking part in this kind of behaviour to fit in or be part of the group, help them understand why it is not acceptable and that words can impact people’s feelings. Talk about what the consequences may be, e.g. getting banned from the platform.
If your child is experiencing bullying within gameplay you can find out the steps you can take here.
Take a look at our 10 things you need to know about Cyberbullying guide.
See guideIt’s important to ensure your child understands what a good online friend is. You can use this activity to help “What is a good friend activity‘.
Many children game online with strangers, so it is really important that your child understands that not everybody is who they say they are and may hide behind fake profiles for dishonest reasons.
If you suspect that a child is developing unhealthy or worrying relationships with people online, it’s important to talk to them to get all the facts. Children in this situation may think that what they are doing is okay because this person is their ‘friend’.
Even if they are not in immediate danger, we would advise contacting the National Crime Agency CEOP Command who can investigate further and put the interest of the child first. It’s also important to report the user on the platform so action can be taken as well.
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