*Cyberbullying and Online Gaming - What everyone needs to know.
While gaming has the potential for positive benefits (positively impacting a players’ cognitive, emotional, and social skills), it is also a place where cyberbullying can happen. If someone is not performing well in a game, other players may curse or make negative remarks that can turn into bullying, or even exclude the person from playing together.
Anonymity of players and the use of avatars allow users to create alter-egos or fictional versions of themselves, which is part of the fun of gaming. But it also allows users to harass, bully, and sometimes gang up on other players. When players are anonymous, it can be difficult to hold them accountable when they bully others and use the game as a tool of harassment.
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Know which gaming communities, social media, and apps used while gaming and their security risks, which you can research online.
- Help the gamer to set the privacy and security settings for their games and apps.
- Teach them about safe digital behavior, including not clicking on links from strangers; not downloading bots (software for automated tasks) or clicking on links in gaming forums; not sharing personal information like emails, phone numbers, addresses, and passwords; not participating in bullying behavior of other players; and what to do if they observe or experience cyberbullying.
See the Guide to help all to learn ways to identify, prevent, and address cyberbullying: https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/cyberbullying-online-gaming?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1yW1h-O_36nvnDx-km7VJDUI
