The Ukrainian Esports Federation (UESF) has joined an educational campaign by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Diia.Osvita platform focused on digital safety for teenagers. The initiative was launched ahead of the start of the new school year.
As part of the campaign, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, in collaboration with the UESF, created a guide for Diya.Osvita titled “Hyena Hygiene on PEGI: How to Understand Age Ratings in Online Games.”
The guide helps teenagers and their parents understand age ratings and determine what kind of content a particular game may contain.
The guide also explains how the PEGI system works, which is used in more than 35 countries, including Ukraine. The 3, 7, 12, 16, and 18 age ratings do not indicate the game’s difficulty but rather the age group for which its content is appropriate.
Additional icons next to the age rating warn of possible violence, profanity, real-money purchases, pressure mechanics, or interaction with other users.
You can check information about a specific game using the free PEGI App. The app includes a database of games, filters, and instructions for setting up parental controls.
What dangers await gamers online
Another piece in the campaign—“Hyena Hygiene Hosts a Live Stream: Online Safety in Gaming”—discusses the threats teenagers may face while using gaming platforms. These include fake invitations to test a game, “free” skins or in-game currency, messages from fake support services, and phishing links. The piece also addresses cyberbullying in chat rooms, grooming, blackmail involving personal photos, and the use of deepfakes.
The UESF noted that they are also working to make the PEGI App available in Ukrainian.
“Millions of teenagers spend time playing online games every day, and one of the federation’s goals is to make this environment understandable and safe for them and their parents. We are ready to continue contributing our expertise to such initiatives, in particular by supporting the process of localizing the PEGI App into Ukrainian so that this tool is accessible to every Ukrainian family in their native language,” said UESF President Maksym Krippa.
The complete guide, “Hyena Hygiene on PEGI,” is available on the Diia.Osvita platform.