Resources
Below is a collection of resources for parents, educators, and developers, plus initiatives, and research aligned with RGG’s goal of building healthier online gaming experiences for young people
Parent Resources
Substack | Patrick Klepek
A parent newsletter navigating the complexities of being a gamer with school-age. Includes game reviews, recommendations, interviews, and deep dives.
YouTube | Rachel Kowert
A YouTube channel diving into the science of games with videos about how play shapes our minds, behaviors, and society.
Sesame Workshop
A Sesame Workshop and Google digital initiative, including playful, actionable conversation prompts designed to help caregivers and young children build healthy tech habits together.
The Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice Gaming Page
FTC
A web page including game ratings and reviews and parental controls to help parents make informed choices about video games.
PEGI
Explore more resources for parental controls across consoles and devices: restrict games by PEGI age rating, limit screen time, manage purchases, and more
Christchurch Call
A collection of free online resources for adults and caregivers to build knowledge, resilience, and confidence to protect against online harms.
Ubisoft
Age-tiered gaming guides for kids, teens, and adults, plus a companion parents' guide, developed with the gaming mental health charity Safe in Our World.
ESRB
Learn how to set up parental controls, start a conversation using the ESRB discussion guide, download the ESRB mobile app, and more
Using Video Games to Level Up Learning: A Guide for Parents
Verizon
Explore educational gaming for young to middle school-aged children.
Developer Resources
Anti-Defamation League
A quick reference on platform policies around hate, including protected identifying characteristics, to help with reporting hate online.
Thriving in Games, Joan Ganz Cooney Center
A collection of tools and resources to cultivate thriving player communities; draws on a global network of hundreds of companies.
How would kids cast themselves?
Kidscreen
Research from Nickelodeon and OK Play on how kids default to racial stereotypes in casting lead roles, and how producers and designers can help change this.
UNICEF, LEGO Foundation, LEGO Group, Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Games for Change.
A global initiative advancing children's well-being in digital play through practical tools for designers and developers.
Disruption and Harms in Online Gaming Framework
ADL and Fair Play Alliance
A detailed catalog of known problematic in-game conduct.
Ubisoft
Age-tiered gaming guides for kids, teens, and adults, plus a companion parents' guide, developed with the gaming mental health charity Safe in Our World.
Educator Resources
Minecraft Education
Minecraft's "CyberSafe" collection of five lessons in online safety equips students with the essential tools to foster a safer digital experience and empower young earners to be informed digital citizens.
Thriving in Games, Joan Ganz Cooney Center
A new approach to K-5 digital literacy: teaching kids how to think, not what to think.
Moderating Minecraft: Embedding Social Supports For Tween Online Wellbeing
Katie Salen Tekinbaş & Claire LaBeaux
Blog post for Spaces of Refuge Series, Connected Learning Lab, June 2021.
Initiatives
First modular, asynchronous certification program for digital leaders, formalizing digital community leadership with credentials, skills, and frameworks for building sustainable spaces while protecting wellbeing.
A collection of tools and resources to cultivate thriving player communities; draws on a global network of hundreds of companies.
Discord
Trainings and resources on online safety and communication, developed with partners including Crisis Text Line and ECPAT International.
Reports & Research
Fair Play Alliance
Best-practice guidance on moderating User-Generated Content, focused on reactive moderation in response to user reports.
The Missing Middle: Reimagining a Future for Tweens, Teens, and Public Media
Monica Bulger, Mary Madden, Kiley Sobel, and Patrick Davison; Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Interviews with 50 tweens and teens on how they spend time, discover content, and what misconceptions adults hold about youth..
State of the Research: Toxicity in games and gaming culture
Psychgeist YouTube channel, Rachel Kowert
A video resource on science-based approaches to fighting toxic behavior online.
Connected Play in Virtual Worlds: Communication and Control Mechanisms for Children and Adolescents
Yao Du, Thomas D. Grace, Krithika Jagannath, and Katie Salen Tekinbaş; Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 5(5), 27, 2021
Analysis of critical design features serving youth across stages of childhood and early adolescence, based on case studies of popular virtual worlds and online games.
Rachel Kowert, Front. Psychol., 10 November 2020
First comprehensive cataloging and overview of dark participation in games, including behavior definitions, variants, and social/psychological impact.
American Psychological Association
Psychological research on video games and behavior, including their effects on aggression, cognition, and young people's mental health and well-being, and more