8 Most Dangerous Online AI Games For Kids
Do you remember the days of outdoor playing before the Internet took over? Kids would play hide and seek, tag, skip, play football or cycle around the neighborhood. The toy bucket only had a baseball bat, tennis racket, skipping ropes, action figures, cute stuffed animals, hula hoops, etc., but the modern way of living has changed how our kids interact and how they play.
It is becoming challenging to save kids from screen exposure and new gadgets. Parents also take advantage of it; when they need “me time”, they hand the child a tablet and later track websites visited by their kids. The question arises if all these internet-based games and toys are safe for kids.
8 Most Dangerous Online and AI Games For Kids
Here is a list of the top 8 most dangerous online games and toys that seriously threaten kids’ well-being.
- Roblox
- Cayla Dolls
- Blue Whale
- Fire Fairy
- Cloud Pets
- The Letter X
- Choking Game
- Salt And Ice Challenge
Let us explore them one by one.
1. Roblox:
It is a social gaming platform where kids play games while interacting in a virtual world. It is popular among kids and even adults.
The Danger
The harm comes with the messaging feature. Paedophiles join this gaming platform and send explicit content to innocent children. Parents can be shocked to see how adult strangers join the game and start sending text messages to them even if they are tracking websites visited. The game is about role-play. Child predators ask kids to follow their virtual home and ask them to see their bedrooms, and do sexual movements that are oblivious to children as they don’t know what they are doing. Paedophiles approach children by passing comments like, you look cute, your age and gender? Some comments are sickening to the core. Parents must keep their children from such games and constantly view browser history.
2. Cayla Dolls:
It’s an innocent-looking 18-inch doll with a pretty smile, appealing hair, attractive eyes, and a cute outfit. My friend Cayla used a speech recognition method and connectivity through the Internet. Cayla is an intelligent toy that can interact with kids and search online for the answers to the questions they ask.
The Danger:
An official watchdog in Germany has claimed the doll to be harmful to kids and even went further to ask parents to destroy the toy as it has the potential to collect and record the personal data of your child or you. Cayla has a built-in microphone that can be maneuvered as an eavesdropping tool.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center and Commercial-Free Childhood campaign filed a complaint against them, stating that this toy records and sends the files to a remote server managed by Nuance without parents’ consent. It violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. Parents should keep such toys away from their children’s reach and view their children by themselves,
3. Blue Whale:
The Blue Whale is an online game on social media groups where the administrator assigns specific tasks. A series of functions contains challenges, each more extreme and terrible than the previous one.
The Danger:
Blue Whale challenge often leads to the suicide of a teenager at the end of the game. Hundreds of kids worldwide have fallen prey to this dreadful game, particularly in Russia (originating place). The curator can track Facebook activities, too. The bizarre tasks assigned to the players must be completed in 50 days. The task may include watching horror movies for 24 hours, cutting yourself or carving the name Blue Whale on your body. The final task would be to kill yourself by jumping off high-rise buildings or in front of the moving train. Parents should be careful if they see some signs and monitor WhatsApp activity.
4. Fire Fairy:
A web history tracker is essential, as many online pranks target children. Fire Fairy victimizes younger children (particularly girls). It was designed after the animated series the Winx Club. Young kids are asked to do something to become a fire fairy.
The Danger:
The set of instructions for this game follows;
- After circling in the room thrice, say, “Alfey kingdom, sweet little fairies, give me the power; I’m asking you”.
- Tiptoe to the kitchen and turn ON the gas stove burners.
- Go back to bed and sleep. You will get up as a fairy the following day and then say, “Thank you, Alfeya, I’ve become a fairy.”
Parents should track websites visited by their kids, as a five-year-old was burned severely in Russia due to this hideous game.
5. Cloud Pets:
Cloud pets are harmless, cute toys in the shape of rabbits, unicorns, elephants, cats, and bears. The catch is they are all connected to the Internet, and parents can send and receive voice messages through the cloud pets app and high-tech toys.
The Danger:
An alarming situation occurred for the parents when Cloud Pet’s database leaked the information like a sieve. Tracking websites visited by children is vital. Remember that a toy connected to the Internet is no longer a regular toy. Parents have to be extra careful. The risks involved in uploading the data to a server can be severe.
6. The Letter X:
It is a game turned into a trend on the social website Snapchat. Users will choose one person as their target X and start abusing them with words based on their appearance.
The Danger:
It is crucial to monitor your kids’ Snapchat. The game is similar to cyberbullying, resulting in depression and sometimes suicide by the targeted user. Many kids have been reported to commit suicidal attempts because of the trauma they had experienced at bullying on Snapchat.
7. Choking Game:
Choking or blackout challenge is a single or multiplayer game where kids choke themselves to attain high euphoria.
The Danger:
The popular game, mostly among teenagers, is hazardous and life-threatening. Kids upload choking videos on Facebook; therefore, parents should track their kids’ Facebook activities. Kids playing the game are supposed to choke themselves up to a faint point. Oxygen and blood flow are temporarily stopped. After kids regain consciousness, they feel the ecstasy of lightheadedness. Teens often receive challenges on their WhatsApp, and they monitor WhatsApp, too. It’s saddening that so many kids die every year due to this gruesome game worldwide.
8. Salt and Ice Challenge:
It is a self-harming internet challenge. People are challenged to sprinkle salt and place ice on their skin.
The Danger:
When salt and ice are combined, the chemical reaction causes the ice to reduce the temperature to as low as -18 degrees. This temperature leaves horrific burns on the skin, like frostbite. Kids play this challenge to check who can tolerate the burns for a more extended period. The game is recorded on video and uploaded on social media. Parents, please monitor the Snapchat app.
Final Words:
Today, our world is filled with death-defying challenges, extreme Internet of Things-based toys and curses on social media. The rise of alarming numbers of deaths among children around the globe is a matter of concern for every parent. The apps and challenges give a sense of thrill to kids who are unaware of the dire consequences. At the same time, many companies try to feed off the data compiled from their users and sell them without their permission. Paedophiles are not at rest either; they take advantage of young children online. The only way parents can save children from such horrifying encounters is by using a good parental control app like NexaSpy. Limit their digital experience and level up your parenting with NexaSpy.
