Worried about Roblox and stressed about Minecraft?

Cork parents are being offered a free crash course in what their children are actually doing online – from the games they play to privacy, online contact and managing screen time without the inevitable household row.

The National Esports Centre on South Mall, Cork City, is hosting a free parent seminar on Monday, September 21st at 6pm, aimed at helping parents better understand their children’s gaming habits and keep them safe online.

The one-hour session will look at the platforms and games children are using, how contact and privacy settings work, and some practical ways parents can approach screen time at home without it becoming a daily battle.

And you don’t even have to leave the house to take part. The session will be hybrid, meaning parents can either attend in person at the centre or join online. Reserve a spot here.

Weekly gaming club 

The event comes after the centre ran five weeks of gaming camps in Cork over the summer, welcoming more than 80 local children.

According to the centre, plenty of those children enjoyed the camps enough to ask about coming back – prompting the launch of a new weekly gaming club for children aged 8 to 15.

The club will get underway on Monday, September 28th at the National Esports Centre.

While gaming can sometimes get a bad rap when it comes to children and screen time, the centre says its summer camps offered an opportunity to explore gaming in a structured environment and learn more about how children engage with it.

The upcoming parent session is designed to give parents a better understanding of that world – without requiring them to become gaming experts themselves.

Whether your child is currently obsessed with Fortnite, Minecraft or something you’ve never heard of in your life, it’s a chance to get a clearer picture of what they’re doing online and how you can help them do it safely.