Your Guide to Video Game Safety for Safer Internet Day 2025

Safer Internet Day is a great reminder to make sure your kids are having fun and staying safe when playing video games online. Last year, we talked about following the “safety first” mantra by setting parental controls and creating household rules around online video games. This is still great advice!

But a lot can change in a year. Your older kids may be asking to sign up for a new game to socialize with their friends, and some younger kids could even be ready to play online video games for the first time. Here are some tips and resources to help you make sure your kids continue to stay safe when playing games online.

• ESRB’s Family Gaming Guide has sections for establishing household rules, setting parental controls, and playing multiplayer games online. There’s also a section to ensure that you’ve checked all the boxes when it comes to online privacy!
• ESRB’s Parental Controls section includes step-by-step instructions for activating parental controls on your kids’ video game devices. Virtually all devices that play games include the ability to set parental controls, including consoles, handheld gaming devices, PCs, smartphones, tablets, and more. This includes settings to limit (or block) communications with other players online. Some parental controls even allow you to curate your kids’ friends lists to ensure they can only communicate directly with friends, relatives, and other people they know in real life. Parental controls also allow you to manage which games your kids can play (based on the ESRB-assigned age rating), when and for how long they can play, and whether they can spend real money to purchase new games or make in-game purchases.
• ESRB’s Blog section features years of articles highlighting popular games and helpful tips for managing your kids’ video game experiences. We even have blogs on popular video game-related platforms like Twitch and Discord to help you make sure your kids are staying safe when communicating with others online.
• Mute, block, and/or report other players that are behaving inappropriately. Every console and video game with online functionality empowers players to mute or block others that may be more interested in being rude than having a good time. For particularly egregious individuals, you can also report them to the platform holder and/or publisher, as their behavior may violate the company’s community guidelines.
• Keep your kids’ personal information private! Have a conversation with your children about what they can and cannot share about themselves online and why. Explain why it may be dangerous for them to tell other players things like their real name, their location, where or when they were born, or anything else that can be directly traced to them. It’s also helpful to let them know that companies shouldn’t collect personal information from them, like their email, without getting your permission first. You can tell that a product or service is handling personal information responsibly by looking for the ESRB Privacy Certified seals. They certify that a video game or toy-related product or service complies online privacy laws and best practices.
• Create a welcoming environment for your kids to talk to you about their concerns.  Crucially, kids need to know that they will never get in trouble for something someone else does, so they can always go to you if they’re uncomfortable about anything they experience (be it online or in person).

One of the best ways to stay on top of your kids’ online safety is to regularly talk about what they’re playing, why they love it, and with whom they play. Approaching video games from a judgement-free perspective will help you better understand what your kids get out of video games, and what you can do to make sure they’re having a great time while staying safe.