A new study has found that very young children as young as four years old are making gaming payments online although technology companies have claimed they are not dangerous for underage individuals, especially so young.
The research was held among 2,000 parents and found that 12% had seen their children in pre-school age spend money on online games in spite of being so young.
A local organisation that supports British parents, called Internet Matters, shared that there were often games that do not require money to play and are tagged as suitable for children at that age. The body, however, claims that, at a later stage, such games often start requiring payments from players, regardless of the fact that it comes to children, in order to allow them to advance to another level. Special in-game items, such as character performance boosts and equipment, are also available to players in return for real-money payments.
The head of Internet Matters’ digital unit, Ghislaine Bombusa, revealed that children often played such games on devices their parents share with them. This basically means that the payments could be accessed by children with the knowledge and agreement of their parents. Ms Bombusa called for parents to be more careful when it comes to downloading any games on a device they share with their children.
Parents Concerned about Their Children’s Spending on Real-Money Gaming Apps
Gaming and gambling sites and apps have not been the only ones accessed by underage British children. The research also found that 8% (almost 1 in 12) of four- and five-year-old kids had come across sexual content while using mobile devices. The rate is almost the same when it comes to encountering any abuse or trolling by strangers on the Internet, while 13% (1 in 8) of the children had viewed content involving violence.
As found by the survey, almost half of the parents who took part in the research (43%) were concerned that their children are spending real money to make purchases in online games and gaming apps. Furthermore, some parents were worried that children have been lured into buying the abovementioned in-game items called loot boxes, which offer the chance of getting special bonuses, boosters and some add-ons for their characters and are purchased with real money.
About 38% of the interviewed British parents said they were worried about their children gambling on gaming websites or through gaming apps.
The Internet Matters ambassador and a child psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos shared that many children, especially at such a young age, o not really understand the value of money they spend on video games online. In her opinion, that is exactly the reason why they have to make everything possible to explain to their children that spending money on gaming sites and apps could make them subject to scams and frauds, not to mention they could lose money.
- Author
Daniel Williams
