Below are some tips from the Federal Trade Commission for keeping your kids safe online.

Kids and Video Games

Discuss Your Rules and Expectations About Video Games With The Kids in Your Life – FTC January 2025

Parental controls and video game ratings are strong tools, but they’re no substitute for talking with your child about your rules and expectations about video games. Wondering how to get started? Here are some topics and questions to consider and discuss.

• Which video games have we, as a family, decided are okay for you to play? Why?
• What activities do we want to make sure video games don’t crowd out or replace — like sleep, meals together, or time outside?
• Do you know how to block a player who is bullying or threatening you or your friends?
• In which situations is it a good idea to stop playing a video game and find a parent or a trusted adult?
• What are our family’s rules about not sharing personal information — your address, school, or plans for the weekend — with anyone online or in a game?
• What are our family’s expectations about avoiding sex talk or sexual situations online?

As kids play video games, they often meet other kids their own age — but even games that are aimed at kids sometimes have adult players. Does your child want to join a multi-player game where they may be able to chat online with people they don’t know? Here are some additional questions and ideas to think about and discuss with the kids in your life.

• Consider whether a multi-player game is the right choice. Some multi-player games are harder to put down because the game continues even when the user takes a break to do homework, have dinner, or sleep. This could jeopardize the user’s in-game progress and make it harder to enforce time limits with your child. If you want gaming to be a social experience for your child, consider asking friends to come over to play together.
• Chat with friends only. Many platforms have options for parents to view and approve children’s in-game “friends” and contacts. Review them with your child, remove any friends they don’t know in real life, and choose settings to only allow chatting with friends.
• Check out AI chatbots. An AI chatbot is a computer program that simulates human conversation. Help your child understand that a chatbot isn’t a real person or trusted friend. Some AI chatbots in video games are designed to keep children engaged in the game. Other AI chatbots in games may say things that could be harmful or dangerous to children.
• Chat in the game only. If an unknown player asks your child to chat on a different platform, it could be a sign that the player is trying to start a personal connection with them. Consider talking through different scenarios to help them know what to say if it happens:
  • Start with “No thanks.” And ask your child to come and talk to you.
    • Example:
      • Unknown player: “You’re a really good player. Want to talk about gaming on [insert chat app name]?”
      • Your child: “No thanks. I’d rather just keep playing the game.” [Your child talks to you.]
  • Ignore the question.
    • Example:
      • Unknown player: “So, how old are you?”
      • Your child: [Doesn’t respond.] [Your child talks to you and decides whether to block the unknown player if they continue asking personal questions.]
• Block bullies. In-game bullying and trolling are common while kids play video games. Encourage children to block players who are rude or bully them.
• Block people asking for personal information. If another player keeps asking your child personal questions, or asks for personal information, tell your child to block them and talk to you or another trusted adult. They can also end the game and try again some other time. When your child talks to you about the interaction, ask what the other person said, what they asked for, and whether your child shared any information. Help your child understand that some adults pretend to be kids online and try to create inappropriate relationships with kids.
• Discuss gameplay only. Consider limiting your kids’ discussions while in multiplayer games. Tell them not to share any personal information. Even little pieces of information, in combination with others, could make it possible for someone to identify them. Scammers and identity thieves can vacuum up bits of information — including passwords or Social Security numbers — from anyone, even kids, and use them to open phone, utility, or internet accounts, or even open credit card accounts to buy stuff.

Parents: Talking to your kids about text scams

By BCP Staff, March 31, 2025

You’re not the only one getting scammy text messages about unpaid toll charges or issues with your Amazon account. Chances are your tweens and teens with phones are getting them, too. Sure, you can tell your kids to delete and never respond to unexpected texts. But if you want them to understand why, the FTC can help you make a game plan.

The next scam text you get could be a great way to start a conversation about how text scams work. Scammers impersonate real companies and agencies in text messages. Their goal? Get you to give them information like your Social Security or credit card number. Let your kids know why never to click links in unexpected text messages: not only are people not always who they say they are online, but clicking could lead you to a website that tries to steal your data. Make sure they know that sharing personal or financial information could lead to bigger problems, like identity theft, losing your money, or scammers getting access to your accounts.

Help kids know how to delete and report junk text messages on their phones. To turn it into a game, ask kids to show you the message first and explain how they knew it was a scam. Here’s your answer key — one point each time they correctly spot a scam:

• Scammers might pretend to be someone from school or a well-known business.
• Scammers say there’s a problem or prize to get you to respond. Not sure that problem or prize is real? Get help from a parent or trusted adult.
• Scammers use pressure so you don’t have time to think. Slow down.
• Scammers tell you to pay with cash, a gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or payment app. Paying in these ways makes it hard to get your money back.

Once your kid earns enough points, come up with a special treat to celebrate. Learn more about spam text messages at ftc.gov/textscams.