Parental Controls for Games

Related Content

• Cyber Moms Club Home

Control which games they’re playing and for how long

Computers, Wii, Playstation, and Xbox. What do all of these have in common? They can connect to the Internet and kids love to play games on them. But what kind of games are your kids playing? And are they at risk of being infected by viruses, malware, and other online threats? There are various steps that can be taken to make the gaming environment safer for your kids. Read more to learn about the parental controls that can help provide the protection that you want.
What do kids like most about computers? Games. Educational games. Racing games. Movie and cartoon-based games. Online and offline games. Games on PCs. Games on consoles. Appropriate games. And inappropriate games. As in all other things concerning your kids and computers, it’s your job to supply the parental wisdom, judgment, rules, and oversight.

Which Games Are Appropriate For Your Child?

You have two great tools to work with when choosing the appropriate games for your children. The first is your own common sense and your knowledge of your children and their individual maturity. The second is an organization called the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The ESRB rates computer and video games according to the appropriate audience for each game (like movie ratings). For example, FC is for early childhood games, E is for everyone, and E10+ is for everyone 10 and older. It also provides brief content descriptors for each game. If you’re looking at the game in a store, you’ll find the rating symbol on the front of the game package and the content descriptor on the back. The same information is available online at the ESRB website.

Parental Controls: How to Control Which Games They Play

When your kids are at home, you can control which games they’re playing and for how long. You don’t have to look over their shoulder or carry a stop watch. Instead, use parental controls. Each of the major game consoles – Sony Playstation®, Microsoft Xbox® 360, and Nintendo Wii™ – includes parental controls which allow you to control which games can be played and what type of content can be viewed by whom, and how long they can play. At the end of this article are convenient links to instructions on setting parental controls in some of the most popular game consoles.

The Security Game

When kids play games, especially online games, on net-connected PCs or game consoles, there are security risks involved. It’s important to remember that a game console is essentially just another computer on your home network. It is susceptible to viruses, spyware, and other malware just like your PC. And because it is on your network, it can spread malware to your PC. Game console makers issue security patches just like PC makers. Make sure you download and install those patches. To protect your PC and your network, you should install and update good security software.

The Parent Game

The foregoing will help you keep your kids, your PC, and your personal data protected when your kids are playing games at home. But keep in mind, they often play computer and video games at school, at friends’ homes and other places where you won’t always be around. So talk to your kids. Set ground rules for which games or types of games they can play and for how long. Talk to their teachers and their friends’ parents too. The more you know about the games they might play and where, the safer they’ll be.