HELOTES, Texas – As summer nears, children and teens may find themselves online gaming more than usual, which is why one e-sports organization is preparing both gamers and their parents on ways to stay safe in online spaces.
XP League in Helotes teaches their gamers the art of gaming, STEM skills and ways to stay safe and protected from threats like cyber attacks, phishing scams and online predators.
Glenn Howard, an Air Force Veteran, owns and operates the business, and he said even though the atmosphere is all about fun, safety is their top priority.
“We make sure that one, parental control is always turned on for children 13 and younger,” Howard said. “If they are 13 and older and they use things like in-game chat, things like that, that they only communicate with people they know. But we teach them to been the lookout for random anonymous messages. Stranger danger, right. It is like if they are going to a grocery store, they know not to talk to anyone they don’t know. That is the same here, just online.”
Not only are the children learning the ins and outs of the tech world, but XP League also holds webinars for parents who aren’t as familiar with gaming spaces, providing safety tips they can practice as guardians.
“We provide parents the tools to understand what are perceptions of dangers and what are actual dangers,” Howard said. “A lot of times, parents don’t truly understand what the threats are out there, and so they tend to overreact or underreact to the wrong things. We want to give them a chance to be effective for their child.”
In addition to the multiple coaches constantly monitoring their gamers’ activities, there is also a server that tracks all computers with the ability to stream through Twitch, a video live-streaming service popular among video game enthusiasts. It allows parents to see their child’s activities anywhere they tune in.
“The more often you teach them early in often to be aware of these threats, the less likely they are to make those horrible mistakes,” Howard said. “It only takes one time to make that that life-changing mistake, and a lot of times those mistakes happen because kids are by themselves. They’re by themselves in their bedrooms on a computer, and they have no guardrails. We provide guardrails, we provide that constant education and awareness.”
If you need to provide your child with a safe and fun way to enjoy the summer months, consider visiting XP League.
Visit their websites for more on the different camps, events and lifelong skills your child could participate in.
Read more:
