Virtual Reality, Children and Safeguarding: What Parents and Carers Need to Understand!

Virtual reality is no longer a niche technology. VR headsets are now mainstream, affordable, and increasingly marketed to families. Many parents describe buying a headset as they would a games console, often without realising that VR is not just gaming. It is a fully immersive social environment.

This matters for safeguarding.

At Prior Mindset, safeguarding conversations increasingly include virtual reality, particularly where children and young people are accessing VR spaces without adults fully understanding what those spaces involve.

This blog is not about banning technology. It is about understanding risk, reducing harm, and protecting children in environments that are often out of sight.

Virtual reality is a social world, not just a game

Unlike traditional gaming, VR places users inside environments where they can:

• Speak to other users in real time

• Move through shared spaces

• Watch videos together

• Join public or private rooms

In many social VR spaces, users do not know who else is present, how old they are, or what the environment will contain. Entry into these spaces is often unintentional and unconsented, particularly for children.

A child may put on a headset expecting a game and find themselves:

• Hearing adult conversations

• Exposed to sexualised, violent, or hateful language

• Entering rooms with misleading or unclear titles

This is a safeguarding issue, not a technology preference.

Age limits and parental controls: what the evidence says

Meta, the company behind Meta Quest headsets, states that:

• Children aged 10–12 may use parent-managed accounts (region dependent)

• 13+ is required for standard accounts

  
  

Parental supervision tools exist through Meta’s Family Centre. However, safeguarding practice recognises that no parental control system is fully robust. Controls can be misunderstood, inconsistently applied, or bypassed.

Safeguarding does not rely on settings alone. It relies on adult understanding of the environment.

Why trust is not the issue

Parents often say, “I trust my child.”Safeguarding requires a different question:

Do we trust the environment with our child?

VR spaces may include:

• Adults and children interacting together

• No clear age separation

• Limited or inconsistent moderation

• Harmful language becoming normalised

This is not about parental failure. Most parents have not been given the information they need to make informed decisions.

Specific risks professionals are raising

Based on safeguarding discussions, professional observation, and existing online safety guidance, the following risks are repeatedly identified.

Exposure to harmful language and behaviour.

Some VR games and social platforms are marketed to children yet involve open voice chat. Children may be exposed to:

• Racist and misogynistic language

• Sexualised comments

• Peer-to-peer verbal abuse

Repeated exposure risks normalising behaviour that would not be acceptable offline.

Grooming and exploitation.

Online grooming no longer looks like a stranger initiating contact. It often presents as:

• Friendly usernames

• Offers of belonging

• Shared activities such as games or watching films
  

In VR, adults may not know a child is present, and children may not disclose their age. Power imbalances are invisible but significant.

If a child may have been groomed or sexually exploited online, concerns should be reported to CEOP.

Exposure to violence and extreme content.

Because VR rooms are user-generated, children may be exposed to:

• Graphic discussions of violence

• Real-world traumatic footage

• Extremist or disturbing material

This can happen without warning and without adults knowing a child is present.

Psychological and developmental concerns.

Some individuals use VR as their primary social world. For vulnerable young people, especially neurodiverse people, this raises concerns about:

• Social withdrawal from the physical world.

• Increased isolation.

• Reliance on virtual spaces for identity and regulation.

  
  

  Safeguarding professionals recognise that when virtual environments replace real-world connections, vulnerability to exploitation increases.
  

VR is not all bad – balance matters.

It is important to be clear: VR is not inherently harmful.

Positive uses include:

• Therapeutic and sensory experiences.

• Virtual travel and activities for people with physical disabilities.

• Anxiety-friendly social exposure.

• Mindfulness, exercise, and creativity.

The safeguarding concern is not the technology, but the lack of informed oversight when children use it.

Practical safeguarding guidance for parents and carers.

If a child or young person is using VR:

• Learn how the headset and apps work before use.

• Explore parental controls and supervision tools.

• Avoid unsupervised access to social VR apps.

• Talk openly with children about what they see and hear.

• Treat VR like a real-world social space, not a toy.
  

If fraud, coercion, or online exploitation is suspected, concerns can be reported via Action Fraud (also known as Report Fraud).

How Prior Mindset supports families and professionals.

Prior Mindset is not a crisis service. The focus is on prevention, understanding, and early safeguarding awareness.

Support includes:

• Psychoeducation for parents and carers around parental controls and reporting agencies.

• Training for professionals and organisations

• Therapeutic support for children and young people

• Clear signposting to safeguarding resources
  

Resources are available via www.priormindset.com, including materials on online safety, social media use, and digital wellbeing.

Safeguarding works best when adults are informed before harm occurs.

A final message for parents.

Virtual reality is not the future. It is the present.

Children deserve the same safeguarding protections online as they do offline. That requires curiosity, knowledge, and adult responsibility, not fear.

Prior Mindset is here to support families in navigating these challenges with clarity, evidence, and care.

Find support.

To access resources, training, and support, visit: www.priormindset.com

Prior Mindset is here when you need it.

With Warm Wishes,

Miss Jerri Prior.

BABCP Highly Specialist Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist.

Registered Social Worker for Adults and Children.

Founder, Prior Mindset- Putting Your Mental Health First