For parents

Your child has a question. Start there.

If your child handed you a guide, they are asking to have a conversation. You still decide what works for your family.

Why your child is reading this

They may have reached an age limit or a setting you chose. Our guides explain the rule, then help them ask for a specific change you can consider. They never teach children to avoid your controls.

A parent’s permission does not replace a platform’s minimum age. If the requested feature is not available at your child’s age, choose something they can use now, or agree on when to revisit it.

Three parts of a more careful plan

1. Set the platform’s own controls yourself

Open the official settings together. Keep control of the parent account and any PIN. Decide who can communicate with your child, which games they can use, and when they play. The sources in each guide explain that platform’s current options.

2. Agree on terms and a check-in

Write down one specific request, who your child will play with, a time limit, and a review date. Agree that they can stop a conversation and come to you when something feels wrong. Decide together what would pause the trial.

3. Practice what to do when something feels wrong

Before a trial starts, let your child show you how to leave a conversation and find the game’s report option. Tell them they can come to you if someone makes them uncomfortable, even if they broke one of your agreed rules.

Ask what happened before deciding what to change. The next step might be a different setting, a pause, or playing together for a while.

If your answer is no

Give a reason your child can understand. If there is a condition that could change the answer, write it down together. If the age rule is the reason, say so clearly. They do not need to keep asking every day.