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March 1, 2010
• Vol.7 Issue 3 Page(s) 72 in print issue | |
Parental Control Restrictions For Your Kids’ Gaming | |
 Game consoles let kids do much more than just play video games. They can access the Internet, download media, and play CDs and DVDs. While this makes for a great entertainment station for your family, it can make controlling the content your kids can access more difficult. Many game console manufacturers try to make a parent’s job easier by including parental controls that let you restrict access to content from a variety of media sources. Most let you lock and unlock parental settings with a PIN or a password to ensure your kids aren’t going to be able to get their hands on inappropriate content. Or, if you have kids of various ages, some game consoles will let you create individual accounts (or game console user accounts), letting them access content appropriate for them. And to prevent your kids from creating new accounts that don’t apply to the family settings, certain consoles will prohibit the creation of new usernames and memberships without the parental control PIN.  Content Restrictions ESRB ratings are designed to inform parents of a game’s content so they can decide if it’s suitable for their children. Some consoles let you restrict ESRB ratings so only games with a particular rating can be played on the console or downloaded from an online store. Parents might also have the option of blocking certain movie ratings, such as PG-13- or R-rated content, depending on the console. Many games can be accessed online through the console’s Web browser without having to download them to the actual console, so some let you decide whether your child can access Internet or live games. Depending on your console, you might be able to control the level of the Internet restriction. Or if your console provides access to an online store, you can adjust settings that will allow particular access. Some consoles will block a user from using the Web browser, while others will let you plug in keywords or URLs to block. And if you don’t want Junior and his friends spending lots of money on games while you’re not home, you can restrict access to the online store so you have the final say about purchases. Time Restrictions To prevent your youngsters from spending too much time in front of the TV, you can place daily or weekly gameplay time limits on most game consoles. These settings will block children from playing games beyond the time limits you implement by prompting the user to enter a parental control PIN or password to play games for a longer amount of time. Also, depending on the console, parents can also look up how long their children have been playing video games. Not Just For Kids Because adults enjoy the benefits of having a game console just as much as kids do, you can turn off parental control settings anytime you want. All you need is your PIN or password, and you can access movies or games that aren’t age-appropriate for your children. You also have the option of disabling the game console’s parental settings and re-enabling them when you’re done using your game console. Oftentimes, a game console won’t require that you re-enter parental settings after you’ve turned them back on.  by Tessa Warner Breneman |
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