MCI survey finds youth gamers in Singapore at risk of predators and scams, with 14% of them engaging strangers online
Over one-third of them came across violent or vulgar content, while there is low parental awareness of child’s online gaming activities
SINGAPORE — More than one-third of youth gamers in Singapore have played games with strangers, with some 14 per cent of them engaging with strangers outside of gaming. These engagements include chats with strangers about non-gaming topics, sharing of personal information and meeting strangers in person.
Such behaviour presents "a risk of potential exposure to adult predators and online scams", said the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) in a press release on Tuesday (13 February) as it unveiled the results of a door-to-door survey conducted from October 2022 to February 2023.
The findings were derived from 810 Singaporean youths and their parents. The youths, aged 10 to 18, played online or video games at least once a month.
The survey found that almost one in two (47 per cent) youths do gaming for two hours or more daily. More than one-third (38 per cent) of them had sometimes or frequently come across vulgarities or violent content in games. Furthermore, those who played first-person shooter games were "more likely to come across both types of harmful content".
The survey also found that 17 per cent of youth gamers experienced in-game bullying. Close to half did not take any action, with only a small minority (8 per cent) telling their parents about the bullying.
As the survey focused on the potential risks and dangers that youths may be exposed to, it did not conclude that online gaming only resulted in negative impacts. Other studies have shown benefits to gaming such as enhanced perceptual and motor skills, promotion of teamwork and prosocial behaviour, and provision of platforms to express creativity and imagination.
Low parental awareness
Overall, parents had low awareness of their child’s gaming activities, with only about half of those surveyed giving an accurate estimate of the amount of time their child spent on gaming. Meanwhile, three out of 10 parents were fully aware of who their child gamed with, while one in four parents were unaware.
Parents who were concerned about their child’s gaming habits were more likely to actively manage their child’s gaming activities. The survey found 54 per cent of parents setting limits on gaming time, and 22 per cent using parental control tools.
For those youths whose parents set limits on gaming time, 24 per cent of them lied to their parents about the actual time spent on games. Based on the survey results, MCI concluded that "restriction on gaming time alone is insufficient to manage youths’ gaming activities".
"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," said the ministry.
New initiatives
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) will thus be rolling out new bite-sized materials to support parents in guiding their children to "navigate the online world more safely and responsibly".
The resources will be launched in phases from this month onwards on the Digital for Life (DfL) portal, as well as 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 by age and digital milestones, such as a child’s first smartphone, social media account or online game.
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. In addition, workshops, webinars and family activities will also be conducted by DfL partners.
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