14 DAY TRIAL // Parents haven't always been very understanding with their children, but ever since video games have started to play a bigger and bigger role in the latter's lives, the former have been somewhat reluctant to let them play.
A study recently presented by the British Board of Film Classification, the organization that handles game rating in the United Kingdom, has revealed that a lot of parents are very concerned about what games their children are playing. Now, as a reply, Microsoft has released its own study made in the UK, which shows that 80 percent of parents believe games are a vital part of the entertainment industry nowadays.
Three quarters of parents think that video games, if rated properly and checked by themselves, can have a very positive impact on their own children’s lives. The study also reveals that, as opposed to last year, a lot of parents have become familiar with the parental tools that they can use to block violent or offensive content from being shown when their kids are playing games.
Even though 81 percent of children in the UK play offline games, the fact that 71 % also play an online one at least once a week has made a lot of parents take an even bigger interest in knowing what people their kids interact with when playing. But despite the fact that they can always have their parents by their side when playing, 95 percent of children said that they didn't feel worried or frightened when gaming, either online or offline.
Neil Thompson, senior regional director UK & Ireland, Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division, comments, “Microsoft is committed to finding tools and creative resources to educate and engage both parents and children on their interactive entertainment experiences on both Xbox 360 and Windows Vista. While we are pleased there is a high level of awareness of Microsoft’s parental controls, including the Family Timer which can limit the amount of time kids spend gaming, and video game age ratings such as the Pan-European Game Information system known as PEGI and PEGI Online, we need to make it easier for parents to adopt and use these tools. “
It's really nice to see that parents are beginning to understand the positive sides to gaming and not be judgmental when they prohibit their kids the use of video games.