Online gaming survey shows 14% of youths interact with strangers, including sharing personal information
One in four parents was not at all aware of who their child played online games with, according to the survey.
.jpg?itok=PBSfs7Ki "Online gaming survey shows 14% of youths interact with strangers, including sharing personal information")
Nearly half of the youths surveyed by the Ministry of Communications and Information played online games every day, and tended to play for at least two hours each time. (File photo: iStock)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: Over 10 per cent of youths who played online or video games engaged strangers outside of gaming, including sharing their personal information.
This is according to a survey by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), which found that more than 30 per cent of youths frequently or sometimes played online games with strangers.
Such behaviour potentially exposes youths to adult predators and online scams, said MCI on Tuesday (Feb 13).
The findings came from a door-to-door survey of 810 Singaporean youths, and their parents, from October 2022 to February 2023. Aged 10 to 18, these youths played online or video games at least once a month.  Â
The survey aimed to understand gaming habits among youths and their parents' awareness and efforts to manage the impact of gaming on their child's well-being.
While the majority of respondents (64 per cent) never or rarely played online games with strangers, 36 per cent of them sometimes or frequently did so.
About 14 per cent chatted with strangers about non-gaming-related topics, shared personal information with them, or met them in person.
Nearly half of the youths surveyed played games every day, and tended to play for at least two hours in each gaming session.
The survey also found that 17 per cent of youths aged 13 to 18 experienced in-game bullying from other players. Only 8 per cent told their parents what happened, while almost half did not take any action.
In the same age group, about 38 per cent had sometimes or frequently come across vulgarities or violent content in games. Those who played first-person shooter games were "more likely to come across both types of harmful content".
"While MCI’s survey focused on potential risks and dangers that youths may be exposed to, it did not conclude that online gaming only resulted in negative impacts," said the ministry in its news release.
"Other studies showed that there were benefits of gaming, such as enhancing perceptual and motor skills, promoting teamwork and prosocial behaviour, and providing platforms to express creativity and imagination.
"MCI’s survey sought to highlight the need to raise parents’ awareness of their child’s gaming activities, and encourage youths to make more informed decisions about their gaming behaviour."
PARENTS' AWARENESS, NEW INITIATIVES
Parents generally had low awareness of their child’s gaming activities - only about half of them were able to give an accurate estimate of the amount of time their child spent on gaming.
Meanwhile, 31 per cent were fully aware of who their child gamed with, and 25 per cent were not aware at all.
Parents concerned about their child's gaming habits were found to be more likely to manage such activities, including setting limits on gaming time (54 per cent) and using parental control tools (22 per cent).
But, for youths whose parents set limits on gaming time, 24 per cent lied to parents about the actual amount of time spent.
"This suggests that restriction on gaming time alone is insufficient to manage youths’ gaming activities," said MCI.Â
"More needs to be done to raise the awareness of potential risks and dangers associated with online gaming and encourage youths to make more informed decisions about their gaming habits."
To enhance online safety of Singaporean users, especially youths, Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo announced new initiatives at a public engagement session on Tuesday in support of Safer Internet Day.
MCI noted that the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will introduce new "bite-sized materials" to support parents in guiding their children to navigate "more safely and responsibly" online.
The resources will be rolled out in phases from February onwards on the Digital for Life (DfL) portal, including the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Families for Life Parenting website and the Ministry of Education’s Parents Gateway.
MCI said the resources will be organised according to age and digital milestones, such as a child’s first smartphone, social media account or online game.Â
"Examples of topics covered include managing children’s screen use, cultivating healthy online habits and safeguarding children from online risks such as cyberbullying and online sexual grooming," said the ministry.
In addition, there will be workshops, webinars and family activities conducted by Digital for Life partners.
