Ramble: kids and gaming (new UKIE campaign "Get Smart About Play")

Aargh I haven't posted for ages, how awful!

Anyway, this article by Keith Stuart that popped up in my news feed today: Putting controls on your kid's gaming is a key part of being a parent.  As more and more gaming parents have kids, you'd hope that they'd be able to think sensibly about what restrictions kids should have, and to show interest in their kids' hobby.  Yes, this is something I've rambled about before.

The article is about how UKIE (the association for UK Interactive Entertainment) have just launched a campaign called "Get Smart About Play".

The key points of this campaign are:

P - Play with your kids.  Understand what they play and why.
L - Learn about family controls.  Visit askaboutgames.com for simple step-by-step guides.
A - Ask what your kids think.  Discuss ground rules before setting restrictions.
Y - You're in charge.  Set restrictions that work for your family.

Play with your kids. Understand what they play and why.

The askaboutgames.com website has some helpful guides for games that kids like to play, like Fifa 20, Fortnite, Roblox (and also some games that I can't imagine many kids are playing, but hey!).  Don't just go with the media furore over why a game is bad.  And a brilliant resource for finding out about whether games are appropriate for your kid (or not) is Common Sense Media.  Often, though, the best way to find out whether a game is appropriate for your child is to play it.

As for playing with your kids, if you like games this shouldn't be a hardship.  If you don't like games then it might be a bit harder!  However, there is probably something out there that you can all enjoy, even if you don't like the idea of "traditional" games.  How about Just Dance?  (It'll give you a workout, too!)   Or one of the Lego games like Lego Star Wars?  These games are totally forgiving, so it doesn't matter if your are rubbish and die all the time. :-)  The askaboutgames.com website has a bunch of family games that might be worth a try.  Then there's Minecraft, which is fantastic co-op, and gives you so many play options (kill monsters or build replicas of the Eiffel Tower, it's entirely up to you!).

The Eiffel Tower in Minecraft!

Generally kids want to play what their friends are playing.  This is bound to lead to some disagreements if you don't agree that their friends are playing age appropriate games.  Being able to demonstrate that you know about their games is vital when it comes to making fair decisions.

Learn about family controls.

This is not a simple thing.  I know with the PlayStation 4 I've struggled to find a balance.  Locking down the PS4 on the basis of Seb's age has lead to games being blocked that I'm willing to let him play.  And often locking things down can lead to online restrictions (and I'm happy for him to do some online things).  Have a look at the askaboutgames.com website and at least set some restrictions.  Lock down those horrifying 18 certificate games.  Stop randoms from contacting your child.  Think about things sensibly and consider your options.

You can look at age ratings for games on the PEGI website.

Ask what your children think.  Discuss ground rules before setting restrictions.

Your kids probably know a lot about being safe online.  (They teach this a lot at school - I'm sure lots of them are far more knowledgeable than grown ups are.)  As with any 'parental rules', if you don't discuss them and why you're implementing restrictions, they're likely to cause a lot of anger and your kid might find ways round things.  Rules you don't have any real reason for are just going to come across as unreasonable and cause friction. 

Nightmare Freddy - yikes!

We had a lot of issues with Seb over Five Nights At Freddy's.  On the surface you might think this is just a jumpscare game, but the lore of the thing is horrifying, and the deeper you get into it the more horrible it all is.  Plenty of child murdering, and proper nightmarish characters.  To begin with I thought it was ok, but the more I thought about it the more it unsettled me.  I've watched a lot of FNAF lore videos by MatPat and kept meaning to write something about it, but the research just seemed endless and I haven't managed it!!  In the end we had to implement a blanket ban with Seb (he's not good at half measures and they confuse him).  FNAF is a tough one since a lot of the stuff around it is clearly marketed towards kids, with plushies and toys, but it's certainly at least a 12 certificate game.

You're in charge.  Set restrictions that work for your family.

Sometimes discussing things with your kids is not going to end well.  If you really don't want them playing Resident Evil 2 but all their friends are playing it, you can see they're going to be unhappy about a ban.  Amusingly, Seb tells his friends off for playing games we've told him aren't appropriate.  (He's a stickler for rules.)  I think all we can do as parents is be as informed as possible, as reasonable as possible, and compromise where we can.  But if you're not happy with something, remember that you are in charge.  You can switch off the wi-fi, if it comes to it.  Sometimes parent choices aren't going to be popular; it's the same with gaming as everything else. 

I am so not looking forward to the teenage years...

Well done to UKIE for starting this campaign, and I hope it helps a lot of parents who worry about this sort of thing.  There are some dangers to playing online.  There are some inappropriate/horrible games out there.  But there are a lot of great, fun, games that give kids chances to work together and opportunities to play that we never had when we were growing up. 

Swings and roundabouts, eh?  Swings and roundabouts...