Online Safety Education

Dubuque Esports League has partnered with Kidas.net to protect kids in online gaming. We want to ensure a safer, more enjoyable environment for everyone. We understand online gaming can sometimes expose children, teens and even adults to negative and dangerous interactions. That's why we are committed to this pledge and take seriously creating a positive, safe gaming environment for all.

Our Pledge to
Online Child Safety

At Dubuque Esports League, we pledge to…

Recognize and Commit

Analyze and Improve

Take Action and Measure

  • Acknowledge the issue and pledge to support efforts to combat negative behavior and dangerous activities targeting children and adults.

  • Support innovative technologies and practices to reduce scamming, bullying, and predatory behavior incidents.

  • Take responsibility for ensuring a non-toxic and non-criminal gaming environment, especially for young players.

  • Commit to ongoing analyses that track unsafe incidents involving kids.

  • Identify and update policies or practices to identify and remove bad actors from our gaming platforms.

  • Maintain accountability and transparency within your organization.

  • Aspire to achieve a 100 percent toxic-free gaming environment and measure progress towards this goal.

  • Share analyses with trusted partners to gain insights into industry challenges and protect kids playing online games.

  • Consider sharing results internally for discussions and recommendations for further action.

Join us in making online gaming safer for kids. Together, we can create a positive, secure, and enjoyable gaming experience for the next generation.

Protect your child and support Dubuque Esports League with ProtectMe Software by Kidas! Your subscription will assist our mission and give you peace of mind with features like monitoring video game chats, receiving weekly insights on gaming behavior, text alerts about dangerous threats, and expert recommendations for handling exposure to threats.

FAQs

  • At Dubuque Esports League, promoting online gaming safety is crucial. Our programs emphasize education, encouraging responsible sharing and privacy protection. We educate players and the community about treating online communication like face-to-face interactions, being cautious of fake personas, and handling questionable content responsibly.

  • We monitor online gaming with tools like a management system, firewall, trained staff, and Discord moderators. All our staff/moderators have completed a background check. We partnered with Kidas to monitor real-time screens for threats, privacy violations, sexual content, and threatening conversations.

  • At DEL, we are not just about winning games but also about creating a positive environment where players can grow and thrive. We hold our players to the highest level of character and believe that discipline and respect are essential values that every player needs. Read our code of conduct.

  • Ages 12 or Under.
    All children under the age of 13 must remain with, and be supervised by, their parent or guardian at all times to participate in any free play activity.

    Ages 13 to 17.
    If you are thirteen (13) to seventeen (17) years of age, the written, signed consent is necessary to participate.

    Additional Consent Requirements. Certain games recommend heightened consent and/or supervision requirements, including but not limited to age 18 and above. DEL reserve the right to place additional supervision requirements in line with game ratings.

    Learn more about specific game ratings.

  • As parents it is important to learn about online safety. Our team offers regular education about esports games and ways to structure and support good online gaming habits. Another great resource is Connect Safely. They offer an array of parent guides from cyberbullying to how to use Twitch. Plus you can check out this video by one of our board members who shares 5 Tips for Online Safety.

    Last, you can use a program Kidas on your child’s computer to monitor their gaming.

  • Discord is organized into chat groups called servers, which are the spaces on Discord. They are made by specific communities and friend groups. The vast majority of servers are small and invitation-only. Some larger servers are public. Anyone can start a server on any topic, so long as it doesn’t violate Discord’s Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.

    Here is a great guide for learning about Discord and filtering out explicit information.

    Dubuque Esports League does have a Discord server. We have a variety of channels and policies in place that

  • We are an affiliate of Kidas and use their ProtectMe software on our computers and Discord. ProtectMe is a tool to help us identify and address any dangerous situations that your child may encounter while interacting with others in video games, from cyberbullying to predatory behavior. ProtectMe analyzes your child’s gaming activity and in-game communication to alert you of any potentially concerning situations.

    All of our player’s data is encrypted throughout every step of the monitoring process, including when ProtectMe analyzes data and sends our team alerts. All of our servers are physically located in the United States. Kidas complies to the strictest privacy regulations, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). We do not share your child’s data with any third party.

    You can learn more about their program.

“We take online safety and cyberbullying seriously and work to teach it in our camps, leagues, clubs and programs. We want our players to learn to be responsible and respectful digital citizens. One of our campers was so inspired by what he learned about cyberbullying that he rushed home to share it with his parents. His mother pulled us aside the next day to express her gratitude for emphasizing this important topic in our program. It turned out that she had recently lost her teenage niece to suicide that stemmed from online bullying, and appreciated our efforts to educate our campers about the potential dangers of online behavior. We are proud to provide a safe and inclusive space for our campers to learn and grow, and we will continue to prioritize their well-being and education in everything we do.”

Shelby Wartick & Susie Quinn
DEL Co-Executive Directors