Kaspersky Study: Children Are More Angry From Playing Games

GAMEFINITY.ID, Jakarta – A study conducted by global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky showed that four in 10 parents from Southeast Asia believe that their children are more irritable than usual as a result of playing games. Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky said that currently parents are raising children who are digital natives, which means children born with digital devices and the internet.

“The generation gap often leads to miscommunication and this scenario is common when a child knows more online trends and tricks than mom or dad,” says Stephan.

In the study entitled “More Connected Than Ever Before: How We Build Our Digital Comfort Zones”, a recent survey of 760 respondents in Asia Pacific confirmed that children are spending more time online due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Stephan said that parents’ fears of children’s playing online games are sometimes quite objective and also a bit exaggerated. Even so, prohibiting children from playing games is not the right decision because children are said to feel they are being treated unfairly.

“Like many other situations, ban is not an option. Parents should not prohibit children’s activities in video games, but effectively control them, use special software and device settings, and communicate with children in explaining the rules.”

Parents can prohibit their child’s activities from playing online games if the child has a tendency that is detrimental to health, such as visual disturbances and disturbing posture. A child’s aggressive behavior is not driven by the video games they play, but by broader reasons.

“Suppose you don’t show your kids a video game at all, but they’ll still be competing in kung fu with their friends, shooting invisible enemies with bows, pistols, grenade launchers or explosives. Both boys and girls do this, although it is believed that playing war is a boy’s prerogative,” explains Stephan.

Kaspersky recommends that parents use an age rating in video games. To prevent children from playing games that are not age appropriate, parents need to use software to limit the ability to launch games or any content based on age ratings.

“Keep in mind that age ratings have even minor deviations, if you’re pretty sure that a 12+ rated game is good, why not install it for your ten year old son? The important thing is to always remember that whenever trying to restrict a child’s access to play, you first need to talk to them and explain why it’s important to do so.”

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