In my last article on the topic of parents and video games, Video Games and Families - Learn and Connect with your Teens, I discussed the benefit to parents of learning about video games as one of bonding with their teens. However, an equally important reason for parents to keep up with video game technology is to understand what their teens are doing. All the major video game consoles have parental control features that you should be aware of and know how to use.
I would have loved to have had parental controls when my sons were younger, especially around the difficult tween or middle school years. It was much more difficult to control what they viewed and played when it meant watching everything they did. Now parents can give their kids space and yet still be in control.
There are various types of parental controls for television viewing, the Internet, mobile phones and video games. The two types that are used for video gaming are those that place limits on the amount or type of usage and controls that limit access to age-appropriate content.
There are three different types of parental controls for the Xbox 360:
- Xbox 360 Console Control settings - Allow you to control what games your kids can play based off of the ESRB ratings and what TV shows or movies they can watch. These selections are protected with a pass code.
- Xbox Live Family settings - Enable/disable Xbox LIVE Vision Cam, decide what your kids will play, both on- and offline, decide who your child can communicate with online and control who can see your child's profile or friends list.
- Xbox 360 Family Timer - Control the amount of time your child uses Xbox 360 on a daily or weekly basis.
You can find directions to set up these parental controls at GetGameSmart.com. I tried setting them up just to see how they worked and it was extremely easy and you are able to set up separate controls for each child in the family. Don't worry if you are not tech savvy, you don't need to be. If you need directions to do this for the Nintendo Wii or Sony Playstation3 and PSP, you can find them on the ESRB website.
A great way for you to discuss and agree on Parental Controls with your kids is to use the PACT provided on the Get Game Smart website. In the PACT you basically spell out the limits you have set up regarding your involvement, your child’s access to the console and Xbox LIVE, what kind of content they are allowed to view and how much time they can spend gaming. This way there will be no surprises for your kids when they are playing. I think the PACT makes the parental controls so much more effective. It is harder for your kids to complain when they agreed on the rules in advance.
If you really want to do all you can to learn, understand and create a safe gaming environment for your kids, sign up for the Get Game Smart Family Challenge. It will help you make smarter choices about what your children play, browse and watch. You choose the challenges that you feel are right for your family. The challenges include watching a video of tips from experts, a Do You Know Your Gamer quiz and a video on understanding game ratings.
Over time, as your children become tweens and then teens, you will need to adjust the parental controls and PACT. At that time you should take the opportunity to go over gaming and online safety with your kids. Explain to them that even though you are giving them more freedom, they need to know how to use it wisely. The Just for Kids and Tips for Teens sections of Get Game Smart are one way for them to learn. It wasn't easy, but my sons eventually reached an age where I had to relinquish gaming and viewing decisions to them.
See also: Video Games Teens and Parents Can Play Together
See also: Video Games Teens and Parents Can Play Together
This post is sponsored by Get Game Smart a great resource that helps families make smart, safe choices about kids’ media use - especially video games.
