Beyond The Screen: Fostering A Culture Of Responsible Gaming Among Youth

By Pratishtha Arora & Arnika Singh

India’s virtual gaming world is changing fast, and it’s transforming young lives along the way. With affordable internet, pervasive smartphone penetration, and a thriving digital economy, gaming today is much more than a pastime for hundreds of millions of Indians. It offers entertainment, skill-building, social interaction, and even career prospects. But as with any fast-evolving ecosystem, it also comes with its own set of challenges. 

For younger players, gaming is very much about how they learn, socialise, and communicate. That’s why discussions about responsible gaming are important, not to restrict participation but to provide gamers with the awareness and habits they require to play safely in online spaces. 

The advantages of gaming are long since well known: it stimulates thinking ahead, fosters creativity, enables teamwork, and even sharpens reflexes. Yet without self-control, it can also trigger problematic habits, wasteful expenditure, confrontation with abusive communities, and higher susceptibility to cybercrime. The remedy is in being aware at an early stage, engaging sensibly, and constructing positive online routines. 

Balance At The Centre

Balance is at the centre of responsible gaming. Simple actions like setting limits on time and expenditures, tracking playing patterns, and regular breaks can keep gaming from being an intrusive force. Now, most reputable gaming sites include features such as usage monitoring, self-exclusion, and playtime limitation, but their value is dependent on awareness and usage by the user. 

Equally important is the selection of legitimate, regulated platforms. The selection of validated platforms ensures equal play, improved consumer protection, and protection from fraudulent activities. Validated identification at sign-up provides a crucial layer of accountability, protecting players and the ecosystem from illegal operators and malicious activity. 

Problem gaming, if not controlled, can have severe consequences, not only for mental health, but also on scholastic performance, interpersonal relations, economic status, and social adjustment. 

Financial Literacy

Financial literacy is another crucial angle to this conversation. With gaming now featuring real-money spending and in-game purchases, players must learn digital spending. Awareness of exploitative mechanics such as loot boxes, budgeting, and avoiding reckless spending are habits that young users need to learn to safeguard their financial health. 

Digital safety and privacy also need special emphasis. As games become more social, players are increasingly at risk of scams, identity theft, and harassment. Good practices, like strong passwords, two-factor authentication, secure payments, and reporting suspicious behaviour, need to become second nature. Users also need to be mindful of privacy settings so that they can manage who can interact with them and what information is shared. This is where redressal of grievances comes into play. Gaming organisations have to offer simple and

effective avenues for players to complain, express their concerns, and find redress, strengthening confidence and accountability. 

Essentially, responsible gaming education needs to begin early. As we show children how to cross the road or manage money, we need now to show them how to be good digital citizens, how to play online games safely, ethically, and with confidence. 

Parents, Educators Can Play Key Roles

Here, parents and educators play a key role. Rather than perceiving gaming as a distraction, they can be allies, setting limits, initiating discussions about life online, and encouraging reflective use. Parental controls and apps that manage screen time are helpful, but trust and communication are even more effective in allowing children to self-regulate. 

Most importantly, these discussions need to go beyond the cities. Gaming is popular in cities, towns, and villages, and so should awareness campaigns be. Localised awareness drives, workshops, and digital literacy training can make sure that safe gaming is not a privilege of cities, but a national standard. 

The gaming industry itself needs to set an example. Developers need to build responsibility into the design, embedding safety features, open policies, and proactive community moderation from the outset. Visible player welfare commitment will be a differentiator in a matured market.

(Arora is the CEO of Social & Media Matters; Singh is the Co-founder and Policy + Comms Lead at Social & Media Matters)

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