What's the 'safest' way for preteens to game?

[thehorseandhisboy]

Just that really - safe in terms of not being able to access inappropriate websites, not getting into chat with people they don' t know, not negatively impacting on their mental health etc.

At the moment, ds 10 has an hours on Roblox at the weekend. Really don't want to go down Fortnight route, as it's so violent and addictive and he gets very caught up in what he's watching/doing.

Are consoles better?

I know next to nothing about gaming, so all input greatly received.

Nintendo switches seem to be a safe option for gaming. there is a list of parental controls here that you can set, including not allowing playing with others and setting a screen time limit

Honestly he must feel very left behind. Most 10 year olds will have a console and will play fortnite.

Its different times. This is how kids communicate now.

My DS is 7 and him and his friends play together online every night.

Fortnite isn't anymore violent than Marvel films etc.

Actually, he's fine Morgan12 thanks for your concern. He has lots of other interests.

I'm not sure that I agree that Fortnight is only as violent as Marvel films tbh - the interactive element affects players in ways that watching films don't.

I also don't think it's great for developing brains to have such regular access to so much high end stimuli and see so much violence, but happy to have a different opinion to others on that.

What are the differences between Play Stations and X-boxes and things like Nintendo switch, or are they all pretty interchangeable?

I think Nintendo switch has more parental control, and you can play it as a handheld device as well as on the tv, whereas xbox and playstation are on tv only (hope I have that right!)

Thanks! I tried to make sense of all this via Google and got horribly confused.

I didn't realise that switch was playable on a TV for example.

no worries, yes we have a switch and it has a special port, that when connected to the tv means you can play on the tv screen

forgot to mention, it is worth looking at second hand consoles. we got our switch from Cex and it was much cheaper than 1st hand whilst in good condition

Good point. They're very £££ new and I expect get new models get released fairly often.

IMHO the single best thing you can do is keep whichever console you do get in a family / living room, and play with him from time to time. Don’t put it in his bedroom. Get to know the games he plays, and how they work. Ask questions about who he’s playing with if he’s online (are these your friends from school? Do you know who that is in real life?). Make sure he knows and sticks with online safety rules (not to use his real name, not to give personal details etc).

I honestly don’t think any built in console protection can beat a parent who is interested, knowledgable and present in the room where the gaming is happening.

I don’t agree with you re. Fortnite - it’s highly engaging and great fun, and one of my favourite to play with DS. Violence... have a look at Call of Duty and GTA which many of my 12 yr olds friends play regularly: Fortnite is baby stuff in comparison, and if it’s managing to keep the 12-14yr olds away from COD and GTA for a while, I’m right behind it.

Really useful article here
www.theguardian.com/games/2020/jan/10/putting-controls-on-your-kids-gaming-is-a-key-part-of-being-a-parent?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other @

My 8 year old has had an Xbox for a year or so and got a Nintendo switch for Xmas. I'd recommend the switch because they can use it handheld and hook it up to the TV too, it's really versatile. I'm also surprised your ds hasn't played Fortnite to be honest, I imagine most boys in his class have for some time now.