As a parent, it's natural to be curious about the games that your kids are playing online. Whether it's exposure to violent content, or to trolls and bullies in the online world, there's all sorts of things that parents can see as cause for concern. But what better way to find out what gaming is all about, than giving it a go yourself!
In this film, we see the three of Own It's gaming bootcamp for parents take on some of their children's favourite games, so they can see what all the fuss is about.
Own It's gaming bootcamp for parents brought together the parents of gamers, to discuss the world of video games and how to help your child safely explore it.
Giovanna Fletcher: Welcome to BBC Own It's gaming bootcamp for parents. I'm Giovanna Fletcher and through the wonders of technology, I am ed by Julia, Marcus and Sonia. Hi guys! Today we are going to be diving into the virtual world of gaming that our kinds play in, and along the way, we're going to discover how to keep it fun and safe for our kids, but also put some of our own fears to bed.
What better way to learn about the realities of our kids gaming than to game ourselves and see if there's anything to actually worry about. Let's jump in.
Title: Play the game
Julia: Argh!
Sonia: How do these kids master these skills so quickly?
Giovanna Fletcher: I can how to go forward. That's good. How do we jump? A is a jump. Oh gosh.
Marcus: Have you done the dance thing yet?
Sonia: Oh my god, how do you dance? I wanna dance.
Marcus: I don't know, we need to figure that out.
Giovanna Fletcher: The thing that makes gaming and the gaming world so scary to me is that I am so ill-informed. Like, I just don't know anything about it.
Sonia: And they just think, like, we're made of money because they bring out new things all the time, like, constantly.
Julia: Whoa! I got the ball. I had the ball. Wow, amazing. Whoa.
Marcus: Hey, this is fun. This is good.
Julia: I don't know, I think I'm being ambushed or maybe taken hostage. I died, basically.
Giovanna Fletcher: I would love to discover more about the gaming world and how it can be done and experienced safely. What I can do as a parent, I'd, you know, to make it safer and to make it, and keep it, fun.
Julia: The gaming industry is quite a lucrative career path and there are subjects like coding being offered in schools now, even at primary level as well as secondary level.
Sonia: I want to play PlayStation and the kids can go and do homework.
Julia: I don't really like violent games. How do I actually kill someone? Sorry. How do I kill?
Giovanna Fletcher: That was so much fun. To be honest, I'm just glad I could switch it on. How did it feel tackling your fears of gaming head on?
Marcus: I found it quite immersive. More immersive than I gaming when I grew up in the 80s. There was a lot of interaction with people I didn't know in the game. Who were talking to me and giving me instructions. I found that a little worrying to be honest.
Julia: Yes, it's a concern, but I tend to know who my son's gaming with most of the time, because it's usually his schoolmates that he's playing with.
Giovanna Fletcher: Does it make you want to dive back on it? Like, are you talking to me now, but actually you just want to be back on your game?
Sonia: I want to be back on the game, I want my own profile, I want to get my own skins, like, I wanna be a pro.
Giovanna Fletcher: Were you impressed by the creativity that goes into the games and the world that's built around them?
Julia: Yeah, no, it's very creative. I mean, yeah, it's brilliant. I couldn't manage to sort of weave myself around it, but I've seen my son do it and it's really impressive the world they create. And I think the fact that some of it has been created by kids as well is pretty impressive as well. It just shows that the only limit, really, is your imagination.
Giovanna Fletcher: Great! Well, for more information on how your kids can safely own it online, check out the Own It website.
What are the facts?
A study conducted by Safer Internet Centre, showed over 50% of young people play online with 77% of 8-17s playing on a weekly basis.
That's a lot of play time! And parents, we know you have a lot of questions.
What are the long term effects of video games?
Does my child know the difference between the online world and real life?
Who is my child interacting with in their gaming life?
Well, the real question is, have you ever tried playing yourself?
If the answer is no, then why not?
Get stuck in!
The best way to find out what your child is playing, is to play yourself. Playing games is the best way to see what your children are viewing.
Does it promote violence?
Does it contain explicit violence?
Does it use bad language?
Grab a headset, and dive into the online world and start exploring. Put your mind at ease and have a go.
Fancy a bootcamp?
This isn't just any bootcamp. This is a gaming bootcamp for parents.
We teamed up with Giovanna Fletcher to put three parents through their gaming paces.
Find out what they discovered and whether the games their children play surprised them.
Why not check out some of the other episodes in the series?
Is Gaming Good for You? discussing the positive effect of gaming.
Giovanna's Top Five Tips for helping your child game safely online.
Films created in consultation with Childnet
Why not check out some of the other episodes in the series?
What games are your kids playing online? discussing how kids are gaming.
Originally published as part of Own It - the BBC's place children can find help, and advice on how to live their best and safest online life.
Check out the CBBC Gaming Hub with your child to explore articles all about gaming, cool clips, and even games to play!
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