Most popular games for kids is also one of the most addictive. Minecraft is a massive multi player online game (MMO), which means that players enter an online world where they play the game at the same time with millions of other players from around the real world.
The game is marketed to children and the purpose is for players to create an avatar and enter the online world without any money or resources with the aim to build an empire. This is achieved by wandering around the online world “mining” for resources, which are then crafted into tools which allow you to mine for more resources. Said resources are commodities such as rock, stone, gold and the rarest; Diamonds.
Fortunately, there is an offline version of the game. Children are unable to interact and chat with other users and are also unable to enter any of the user created worlds. This means their susceptibility to online grooming is removed. However, the game still poses the greatest issue of increased screen time. Getting the most out of this game and achieving the player’s goals takes a huge investment of time, which creates a major distraction from school work and will impact sleep. As we know, reduced sleep affects cognitive function impacting children’s ability to learn and retain new information during school.
As part of Family Zone’s many helpful features, we can block the online version of Minecraft from your children’s devices, without blocking other games they may be allowed to play. Our team of Cyber Expert’s has identified the online game as being unsafe for children to use and the offline version as posing a risk of increased screen time.
