Safety is No Game. Is Your Family Set?
New tools and resources help parents make smart decisions on children’s use of interactive media.
Home video games and other digital media, so popular with young people today, present parents with many choices. They need to decide what content is appropriate for their children, for instance, and how long children can watch or play.
To find out how families are coping with these decisions, Microsoft recently sponsored independent research: a survey of 800 parents of children between the ages of 5 and 17, all with a video game console in their homes.
Parents told us they take an active role in their children’s media use. Nearly all have some rules, although slightly fewer than half have comprehensive rules covering access, content and time. Many said enforcing rules is a source of tension at home.
As a leader in interactive entertainment, Microsoft has long worked to help parents manage their children’s video gaming and online experiences. Xbox was the first game system with built-in parental controls, known as Family Settings, for both online and offline play. Windows Vista includes similar controls, which let parents determine the games their children can play, the programs they can use, the Web sites they can visit—and when.
Last week, with help from three-time Super Bowl champion Jerry Rice, we kicked off the second year of a public education campaign that aims to encourage family discussions about children using media in ways that balance school, exercise and fun. A dozen family organizations, including the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), are participating in this effort.
Together, we have published the family PACT, which helps families discuss and agree on comprehensive rules on media use. PACT asks parents and children to agree on the level of Parental involvement; the amount of Access children can have, including who they are allowed to play and interact with online; the types of Content children are allowed to play or watch; and the amount of Time children can use media.
Microsoft also has answered a need identified by nearly two-thirds of the parents we surveyed, who said they would welcome a tool to limit time spent playing video games. Using the new Xbox 360 Family Timer, parents can limit Xbox play on a per-day or per-week basis. (A similar feature of Windows Vista helps parents limit time spent on the PC.) Xbox owners will be able to download the Family Timer starting next month.
Microsoft will continue working to give parents the tools and guidance they need to make informed and effective decisions in their children’s best interests. We hope our efforts will help families manage issues posed by new media technologies, today and in the future.
