Xbox Live Trouble

[Beliall]

Really wasn't sure what to title this thread, or even how to start this post but here goes.

 

for a couple of weeks now my Son, 11 has been having difficulty online with a group of "friends" he plays games with, sometimes they would seem fine then they would blockk him from their friends list if he wouldnt play a certain game with them, that he would eventually end up playing just so he could join them and keep his friends.

One such game is ARK, survival evolved, a game where you form tribes for PVP fights or just farm, build and tame dinos with narco berries (that put them to sleep) They have spent the entire day force feeding these berries to my son and locking him in a cage in game much to his despair. I tried to explain to him that this behaviour isnt right and they are not really his friends but he insisted he keeps playing and so i left him to it, to learn for himself, i have tried to stay out of this kind of thing online since kids have to learn by their own experiences.

this came to a head about an hour ago when he got so upset  he was crying and angry and punched his TV set, breaking it. So i thought enough's enough, after speaking to him about what he did i went into the xbox chat and asked whats been happening and said that the jokes gone on long enough and they need to stop, they all left and blocked him again.

 

I feel a little bad about that but i think its for the best, told him he can make new friends and he seems a little happier now.

The reason i felt i needed to explain all that is because im hoping that if anyone here has a child around Ryans age that plays Fortnite, Overwatch and that kind of thing, that would like a new friend, he would love to meet them (also, since these kids were american, getting some UK friends would make bedtimes easier for me  

 

His online tag is "nerfspy"

 

thanks for reading.

 

[Buzzell]

Don’t feel bad about it pal. You should delete them from his friends list. There obviously taking the piss out of your son and it’s not on.

 

Doesn't your son have any school friends that could play online with him?

[Foxhateram]

This is why online games are for 13+ it clearly states on the user agreement that these games aren't suitable for under 13 age children. Who knows who these people were. 

 

I strongly suggest you lock down his Xbox so he can only add people after your authentication. Next step to that kind of situation is that they'd ask him to pay them in game money or items to not be blocked and after that who knows what they'd ask for. 

 

Grooming is a real issue and this sounds like the start of just that.

 

I know it sounds like I'm preaching but as a teacher I've seen so much if this over the years and seen the terrifying consequences of it too. 

 

This site is excellent for E-safety advice. 

 

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/

 

P.s I know this is a respected site but it is also open for anyone to read. Please remove his gamertag, it's not something that you want the whole world to see.