Safe at Home
Working together is the key to keeping video games a positive experience.
Children always have loved games, and today the most popular ones are digital: played on computers, video game consoles such as Xbox 360, and online. Most of this play is wholesome fun, but parents are understandably concerned about young people being exposed to inappropriate games or to online contacts that are unsavory and possibly unsafe.
To help address these concerns, Microsoft is launching a national effort to educate parents and other caregivers about how to protect children in this digital age. We are joined in this effort by our friends at Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Best Buy.
Together, we will work to inform consumers about available resources, such as the game ratings and content descriptions issued by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. We will work with parents’ organizations to help families practice good habits when it comes to digital entertainment.
And we will work with retailers to help them assist shoppers and protect young people through in-store educational displays and materials, staff training, and enforcement of store policies that restrict the sale of mature and adult games.
For starters, Microsoft has launched a Website with practical advice on how to guide young people toward appropriate digital entertainment. The site, www.xbox.com/isyourfamilyset, includes complete details on the Family Settings built into Xbox 360 consoles. These easy-to-use controls enable parents to limit access to games and movies and govern how children interact with other online gamers.
Microsoft supports the creative freedom of game developers and publishers, and we are proud to develop and provide a platform for digital entertainment that teaches and inspires, as well as entertains.
At the same time, we believe the interactive entertainment industry has responsibilities to help parents protect young people and to respond to community concerns about controversial or mature content. We also believe that parents and other caregivers should play an active role - setting limits and making responsible, informed choices - in children’s entertainment experiences.
In other words, helping to keep children safe is everyone’s responsibility. And we can do it without spoiling their fun - digital or otherwise.
