The child was exposed to insulting comments.
1. Let your child know that you were notified again about trash talking in their game. Explain to your child that you want to help them and they shouldn’t deal with it alone.
2. Help your child figure out if they know the person who was insulting them or others in the chat. If they have experienced it repeatedly by the same person, they may be experiencing cyberbullying. If that’s the case, let them know that they can pick who they want to play with and can always mute the chat and report/ block players who are acting inappropriately.
3. Moving the computer or game console to a room where you can monitor their game-play can also be helpful.
See our tips for conversation with your child about trash talk:
Ask whether they experienced harmful comments. Find out what was said and whether they were upset by it.
If they felt hurt or upset, be sure not to minimize what happened. Tell them that you understand that they feel hurt or upset and you would feel the same way if that happened to you.
Explain some of the reasons other kids might engage in trash talking:
They may not be thinking about the impact of their words on others.
They may put others down in order to feel better about themselves.
They may be getting worked up and overly stressed by the game, which can lead to bad choices!
Help your child think through the culture of the games they play. If there’s a lot of upsetting trash talk, ask them to consider whether this game is more fun or more frustrating! Maybe there’s a different game that’s a better fit for them.
If the child is regularly frustrated in the game, building better frustration tolerance takes time and may require help from a therapist–especially if your child struggles with this issue both in and outside of video gaming. To work on this issue at home, develop an incentive system for your child where they earn points or privileges each time you see that they are handling frustration appropriately and trying to stay calm.
Recommendations written by Kidas Experts.