Friends in games

What you can do

1. Ask who your child plays with and who they also know outside the game. What do they enjoy about playing together?
2. Try this example: ‘Let’s carry on in a private app.’ Agree who your child can ask before saying yes.
3. Discuss when to end contact, such as demands for secrecy, images or money. Your child can get help even if they have already agreed to something.

Avoid

• Listen first, without blaming or shaming your child.
• Do not forward private messages, intimate images or explicit screenshots.
• No app can protect against everything. Do not promise that it can.