Kids and Media have met representatives from Microsoft’s American X-Box team and Wifi Media Holland. Here is their best advice on how parents can get involved in their children’s gaming world.

Kids and Media have met Jason Ing from Microsoft’s American X-Box team and Tom Zwanikken from Wifi Media, Holland.

“I applaud Kids and Media’s efforts to create a safe gaming environment for families,” says Jason Ing in Microsoft USA. He believes it is important that parents give their children good gaming habits.

Get Involved
“Parents should get involved in their child’s everyday gaming,” says Ing.
“Show interest and be clear. If you put a TV and games consoles in the children’s room, it’s difficult to keep an eye on them,” says Ing, who encourages strategic placement of home electronics.

Don’t use computer games as a baby sitter
“Many parents have very busy days, and it can be tempting to let the children game freely to maintain the peace at home,” says Ing.
“Parents should not use games media as a baby sitter,” he says, “it soon results in them playing far too much.”

Adhere to recommended age limits
The ESRB rating system provides information about appropriate age and any strong content.
“Parents should follow the recommended age from ESRB. It is an easy way to ensure that the game doesn’t have inappropriate content,” says 20-year-old Tom Zwanikken from Wifi Media, Holland. He is a participant at the World’s largest electronics fair, CES, in Las Vegas for the second time, and loves the computer games.

Choose good games
Zwanikken encourages parents to make conscious decisions about which games they buy for their children.
“There are great differences in the quality of games. Choose the good ones. Ask for advice in the shop or read games reviews to find games of good quality which also suit the child’s age and interests,” is his advice.

Dare to set limits
Both Zwanikken and Ing believe that parents should set limits early if they think their child spends too much time playing computer games.

“Parents must set limits. One can also use parental controls on their games consoles to accomplish this,” says Zwanikken.

“Console games are often less addictive than games which are played on the Internet together with many others. Many of the online strategy games are easy to get addicted to because you are constantly rewarded for participating: new weapons and tools. I’ve played World of Warcraft. This game has it’s own parental controls and information pages aimed at parents,” says Zwanikken.

Read Kids and Media’s games reviews.

Photo:

CES 2010: The ability to connect several screens allows fantastic experiences. (Photo: Kids and Media)

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