With thanks to: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
Factors to consider:

• You may have introduced boundaries at home about when and what type of games your child is allowed to play. Consider communicating these rules and what your expectations are if your child stays with family friends or with child care.
• Encourage your child to talk to you about the games they play and how they feel after playing them. Children are sometimes frightened by games but won’t tell anyone in case they take the game away. Whilst children are still learning to distinguish between reality and fantasy, it’s important to talk to them about what they see in gaming.
• If your children are playing games online don’t forget that you can also set parental controls on many devices to give you extra piece of mind. The VSC website offers full instructions on how to set parental controls for the most popular devices.
• One final piece of advice. If you’re worried about children playing video games on their own, then why not join them? AskAboutGames.com is a fantastic resource for advice on gaming as a family.

What is PEGI?
The PEGI system is designed to inform the public of what’s suitable and what’s not for different ages. PEGI’s professional analysts look at hundreds of video games every year and determine what is suitable for different age groups using a set of criteria which have been established by experts in the field of child protection, psychology, the law and media. These criteria help them to decide what game content is appropriate in each of five rating groups.
All games released in the UK will have PEGI ratings on the packaging; 3,7,12,16 or 18 meaning that games rated as such should not be played by persons below those respective age bars. Why?
Because it’s quite possible that there may be content within the game which could potentially be harmful, frightening or worrying to developing children. Next to the age rating there are also pictograms to explain why the rating was awarded.
Gaming consoles and apps
The VSC Rating Board also rate online games for all the major consoles, and in collaboration with other rating authorities worldwide they now also give ratings to apps on a number of platforms including; Google Play, Microsoft Store, Nintendo E-shop and Oculus. Here they not only provide content information, but also details about whether the app features in-game purchase options or whether the app can identify your child’s location. It’s important to consider age ratings for these platforms as well as games bought from a store.
In addition to the numerical PEGI ratings, you will also see the ‘Parental Guidance Recommended’ rating for some non-game apps. This serves as a warning that these apps can offer a broad variety of user generated or curated content so it’s best to take a look at the app yourself to see how it’s being used. Typically, this applies to products such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.