An Introduction to Online Gaming | National Online Safety (2024)

FAQs

What is the introduction of online gaming? ›

Online gaming is simply the playing of a video game over the internet, usually with friends. Online games can be played on any number of devices from dedicated video games consoles such as PlayStations, Xboxes, and Nintendo Switches, to PCs, laptops and mobile phones.

Things to consider if your child games online: age ratings of games they play. messaging and contact functions on the games. in-game purchases. trolling, griefing and scams.

Playing online isn't all fun and games—children are at risk from bullying, identity theft, credit card fraud and even sexual exploitation. Make sure to talk to your children about these risks. Only by establishing a dialogue at an early age, will they be prepared to avoid these threats.

For kids over the age of 6, the American Academy of Pediatrics says no more than 60 minutes on school days and 2 hours on non-school days. Kids under 6 should spend closer to 30 minutes. It's also appropriate for parents to know and approve the games their kids are playing. Avoid any games with graphic violence or sex.

Online game addiction, as one of the most serious behavioral addictions (Lopez-Fernandez, 2018), could cause a series of physical and mental problems, such as poor sleep, depression, anxiety, or even death (Ferguson et al., 2011; Kuss and Griffiths, 2012; Wei et al., 2012).

Among adolescents, online gaming addiction has been reported to disrupt mental health, increase depression, anxiety, and psychoticism, disrupt family relationships (De Pasquale et al., 2020), lower quality of life (Beranuy et al., 2020), increase social phobia (Wei et al., 2012), lower school performance, and improve ...

The causes of addiction to online games include mental health issues, dopamine desensitization, seeking escapism, social isolation, and peer pressure.

Online Safety is being aware of the nature of the possible threats that you could encounter whilst engaging in activity through the Internet, these could be security threats, protecting and managing your personal data, online reputation management, and avoiding harmful or illegal content.

Common concerns regarding safety of the internet include malicious users (spam, phishing, cyberbullying, cyberstalking etc.), websites and software ( malware, computer virus, etc.) and various types of obscene or offensive content. Why is E-safety important?

Is online gaming good or bad? ›

Online gaming habits can escalate into addiction, which can negatively impact the physical and mental health of the individual. Physical harm, for instance, can include reduced sleep, vision problems, back pain, poor diet, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

This totals to about 18 hours per week.

15-20 hours every week is starting to overplay, and more than 21 hours every week(3hrs every day) is the type of gameplay that will start to have a detrimental impact on wellbeing according to this Oxford study. However that in itself isn't a gaming disorder.

Yousuf said pediatricians generally recommend the following guidelines: Under 2 years old: Zero screen time, except for video chatting with family or friends. 2-5 years old: No more than one hour per day co-viewing with a parent or sibling. 5-17 years old: Generally no more than two hours per day, except for homework.

There is no set time limit for how long it is safe for adults to engage in video games. But, Jean Twenge, a psychology professor and researcher at San Diego State University, claims that “one to two hours a day is the safe limit for teens.”

In 1980 ARPANET was linked to the University of Essex, Colchester, England, where two undergraduate students had written a text-based fantasy adventure game that they called MUD, or “multiuser dungeon.” When the first outside users connected to MUD through ARPANET, online gaming was born.

Online games refer to games that are played over some form of computer network, most often the Internet. Online games can range from simple text-based games to games incorporating complex graphics and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously.

In October 1958, Physicist William Higinbotham created what is thought to be the first video game. It was a very simple tennis game, similar to the classic 1970s video game Pong, and it was quite a hit at a Brookhaven National Laboratory open house.

Some examples of online gaming would be sports wagering, fantasy sports, online lottery tickets, keno, and casino games such as poker, roulette, and slots.