Online safety always needs to include more than just setting up a safe search engine or filters for the family to use.
No filtering program can be 100% effective at blocking adult, scary or inappropriate material so it’s important that education and critical thinking skills are developed alongside any technological intervention and there is plenty of advice on the NetSafe website for parents.
So many devices now access the internet that parents need to be aware of the capabilities of all kinds of technology – young people can go online from conputers (at home and in many other places), from a smartphone, a games console, or device belonging to a friend.
How to set parental controls on PCs and gaming consoles
The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (iGEA is an industry association representing Australian and New Zealand companies in the computer and video game industry) has created a series of ‘How to set-up Parental Controls’ videos to help parents manage healthy video gaming habits for their children.
The videos, hosted by iGEA ambassador and sports presenter Stephanie Brantz and Auckland journalist Kate Palmer provide step-by-step instructions to show parents how to activate parental control features on popular gaming consoles including the Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Wii and a PC.
Password-protected controls can be used to:
- limit the amount of time kids can spend playing
- ensure children only have access to age-appropriate games which are normally rated G, PG, M or MA15+.
The videos encourage parents to site the console in a family room and play games with their children to have fun and understand their appeal. We have embedded the iGEA YouTube videos below:
Introduction
PlayStation3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
PC – online and CD-ROM/DVD based gaming
You can find out more about how the Office of Film and Literature Classification rates games and read case studies that explain the actual process of assessing games that have made the headlines.
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