KUWAIT CITY, Dec 13: Participants in a symposium held by the Kuwait Society for Information Security rang alarm bells when they revealed that 69.9 percent of the crimes committed by teenagers were inspired from electronic games that they spend hours playing in the absence of adult supervision, reports Al-Qabas daily. They explained that children within the age group of 15 to 18 years are exposed daily to this imminent danger.

It exposes them to negative phenomena that affect their mental and physical health, such that they get trapped in societal dangers and violent attacks. Warnings have been issued that children and teens have been entering social media sites without adult supervision to pass time with many and varied electronic games that encourage violence and murder.

Specialists warn of the danger of these games, especially for children, who end up being susceptible to becoming victims of sexual assault or getting hacked and to the theft of credit card information of their parents. During the symposium, which was held by the President of the Kuwait Society for Information Security Dr. Safaa Zaman, the specialists recounted experiences and incidents that children and adolescents in the country faced as a result of these games, such as being asked to photograph themselves and their families in inappropriate situations for the purpose of extortion in exchange for money that can be used in games.

According to a security official who participated in the symposium, studies were recently presented by the concerned authorities in the country, which showed that 69.9 percent of the crimes committed by teens are motivated, and the source is electronic games.

He explained that there are various issues related to electronic games, including the recruitment of a group of teenagers - who were caught few months ago - for the benefit of one of the organizations with the aim of carrying out a terrorist act inside the country. This is the second group of teenagers caught by the security services after being recruited through games, as the previous case was in 2020.

In addition, Dr. Safaa Zaman affirmed that there are multiple problems and wide dangers associated with electronic and video games, including psychological, family, behavioral, violence, and education problems, as these games have become one of the negative influences on the educational attainment of students. She warned that children’s lack of role models leads to them entering the world of social media through imitation without knowing the danger threatening them, adding that the spread of any image on the Internet entails a set of data that others pick up and use negatively including extortion.

Dr. Zaman indicated that some games involve extracting data from the WhatsApp application, and then communicating with the owner of the device, threatening them and forcing them to participate in challenges that can lead to death. She said children’s fear in sharing the stories and problems that happen to them through the Internet can lead to disasters. Dr. Zaman called on parents to activate their role and fulfill their duty to protect their children.