How to Keep Your Child Safe in VR

A Guide to Meta’s Parental Accounts and Important Security Tips

We know that VR attracts many children and young gamers who, like us adults, are eager to embark on adventures in the VR world. Here we want to highlight these younger players and their safety. Children love to play, but it is important that we as parents/adults take responsibility for their digital experiences. In this post, we will discuss how to set up a Meta parental account, but also provide some tips on how to keep your child safe in VR.

How VR affects children is currently unknown. VR is relatively new and there is therefore not enough research. What we write here is based on our experience with children and VR and our knowledge of the products and is not scientifically based.

Meta Parent account for children between 10 and 12 years old

Recently, Meta has introduced parent-managed meta account for children aged 10 to 12 years. This new feature aims to improve families’ user experience of Meta Quest 2 and 3.

To create a child account, you as a parent or guardian must log in or create your own Meta account and Meta Horizon profile before you can create a child account via Family Center. This change comes after Meta lowered the age limit from 13 years to include children aged 10-12.

When managing a child’s Meta account, you can:

• manage your child’s account and privacy settings, including their password
  
• see how much time your child spends in VR and set time limits.
  
• allow or block your child’s access to apps and features
  
• approve the purchase

More information on how to create an account for you and your child can be found at Meta.

Breaks are good for small as well as big VR players

Although there is not much research on VR and children yet, we can be pretty sure that screen time is a factor to consider when children play VR. Keeping track of how long and how often your child plays can therefore be useful, and Meta’s parent account can help with this.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that a VR headset is heavy and there is a strain on the neck when carrying it. It is therefore wise to encourage your children to take regular breaks when playing VR.

Pay attention if your child feels dizzy, nauseous or experiences discomfort with the VR headset. In case of any discomfort, it is important to remove the headset immediately. Never allow the child to continue playing if they feel bad, but let them take a break and try again when they feel better.

A safe gaming environment makes visiting the VR world a better experience.

Having a safe gaming environment inside and outside the VR world is important for your child’s safety.

When your child is playing VR, you need a safe place to play. First, it is important that they have a large enough free play area, here Meta recommends 2×2 meters. Free play space means that there should be no furniture, toys or other items that the child can trip over or break. In addition, it is important that no one can accidentally enter this game space, such as a sibling or pet. This is important to minimize the risk of injury to the player, other household members or objects in the home. There are covers and grips that protect your headset and controller from minor bumps and scratches, which you can find here at VRGaming.

Talking to children about what happens in VR is important. In VR, just like in social media, you may encounter inappropriate content and inappropriate people. We cannot stress enough to our children the importance of alerting an adult if they are approached by a person with malicious intent.

We hope this post has given you some useful tips on how to keep your child safe in VR, so they have a safe and positive experience while exploring the world of VR. Little VR gamers need extra care and together we can make sure that our little VR gamers have fun and are protected at the same time!

If you have any questions or concerns or if we have been unclear about something, we at VRGaming are always available for you. Please contact us at: support@vrgaming.se

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