What Your Kids Are Playing: A Parent’s Guide to Video Games and Online Safety

1. What Your Kids Are Playing: A Parent’s Guide to Video Games and Online Safety Presented by: Donald Clinger, Ed.S., NCSP

2. About the Presenter • APS employee for 7 years • Father of one small boy • Video game enthusiast (XBOX 360) • Non-video game interests: Sports (basketball, football), Music (guitar), Technology

3. Presentation Topics • Video Game Rating System • Online gaming • Talking to your kids about video games • Video games and its relation to behavior • Screen Time • Resources for Parents

4. ESRB • Entertainment Software Rating Board • Provides guidance about the content and age-appropriateness of computer and video games • The MPAA of video games

5. The Ratings – The Front of the Box

6. The Descriptors – The Back of the Box • The following are examples of possible game descriptors: • Intense Violence • Fantasy Violence • Sexual Content • Crude Humor • Strong Language • Blood & Gore • Comic Mischief • Use of Drugs • Lyrics

7. The Ratings Continued • ESRB Ratings apply to all console versions of the same title. • Call of Duty has the same content on the PS3, XBOX 360, and Nintendo Wii

8. For Example

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12. Online Gaming • Most games have an online component. This includes sports titles and other E rated games • This means your child can: • Play with a friend that has the same game • Play with complete strangers that have the same game

13. Online Gaming Cont. • ESRB ratings do not apply to online interactions or content • Consult parental controls to limit who your child can play with online • ESRB website has detailed information on setting parental controls for major consoles (XBOX 360, Wii, PS3)

14. Talking about games • “It's important to pay attention to the nature of the games and the sense that kids make of the experience." Kahne • Ask your kids what they did in the game • Ask them what is their favorite part of the game • Watch them play or join in • Explain the difference between M and E rated games and why they can or cannot play them

15. Value to Video Games • Many games have a problem solving component (Lego game series) • In such games, players are encouraged to constantly form and test hypotheses. Players have the opportunity to learn to see mistakes as opportunities for improvement, rather than errors • Social skills: Almost 60% of frequent gamers play with friends. 33% play with siblings and 25% play with parents.

16. Pew Internet & American Life Study“Teens, Video Games, and Civics”09/16/2008 • 97% of teens ages 12-17 play computer, web, portable, or console games (99% of boys and 94% of girls) • The five most popular games among American teens are Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire, and Dance Dance Revolution. • 32% of gaming teens report that at least one of their three favorite games is rated Mature. • The two most widely played game genres were racing and puzzle games, played by nearly three-quarters of teens in the sample.

17. Violent behavior and VIOLENT video games • Over two hundred studies have been published which examine the effects of violence in entertainment media and which at least partially focus on violence in video games in particular. Some psychological studies have shown a correlation between children playing violent video games and suffering psychological effects, though the vast majority stop short of claiming behavioral causation. • The American Psychological Association summarizes the issue as, "Psychological research confirms that violent video games can increase children's aggression, but that parents moderate the negative effects.“ Craig A. Anderson has testified before the U.S. Senate on the issue, and his meta-analysis of these studies has shown five consistent effects: "increased aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affect; increased physiological arousal; and decreased pro-social (helping) behavior". Nevertheless, some studies explicitly deny that such a connection exists, most notably Anderson and Ford (1986), Winkel et al. (1987), Scott (1995), Ballard and Lineberger (1999), and Jonathan Freedman (2002). More recently, Block and Crain (2007) claim that in a critical paper by Anderson (and his co-author, Bushman), data was improperly calculated and produced fallacious results.

18. Violent behavior and VIOLENT video games continued • After conducting a two-year study of more than 1,200 middle school children about their attitudes towards video games, Harvard Medical School researchers Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson found that playing video games did not have a particularly negative effect on the researched group. • It is also worth noting that violent crime rates in the USA have declined dramatically since the early 1990s, among both juveniles and adults, even as sales of violent video games exploded and such games became increasingly graphic over time.

19. Popular E Rated games • Pokemon Video Game Series • Lego Series (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) • Most sports Titles (Madden, NBA, NHL, FIFA) • Most Mario Titles

20. Popular T rated games • Guitar Hero Series • Rock Band Series (Lego Rock Band is rated E) • Super Smash Bros. Brawl • Need for Speed Underground (Racing)

21. Popular M Rated Games • Call of Duty Series (World at War, Modern Warfare) • Halo Series • God of War Series • Grand Theft Auto Series

22. Screen Time • Any time your child spends in front of a screen (TV, internet, gaming) • The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under age 2 have no screen time, and that kids older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming. • It's also a good idea to make sure kids have a wide variety of free-time activities like reading, playing with friends, and sports, which all play a vital part in helping them develop a healthy body and mind.

23. Screen Time Continued • Stock the room in which you have your TV with plenty of other non-screen entertainment (books, kids' magazines, toys, puzzles, board games, etc.) to encourage kids to do something other than watch the tube. • Keep TVs out of kids' bedrooms. • Turn off the TV during meals. • Don't allow your child to watch TV while doing homework. • Treat TV as a privilege that kids need to earn — not a right that they're entitled to. Tell them that TV viewing is allowed only after chores and homework are completed. • Set a good example. Limit your own TV viewing. • Keep the computer in a common area. Keep it where you can watch and monitor your kids. Avoid putting a computer in a child's bedroom. • Bookmark your child's favorite sites. Your child will have easy access and be less likely to make a typo that could lead to inappropriate content.

24. Parent Resources Game Reviews: www.gamespot.com (General video game reviews, some content not appropriate for young audiences) www.ign.com (General video game reviews, some content not appropriate for young audiences) www.gamerdad.com (Video game reviews & other info from parental perspective) www.whattheyplay.com (Family guide to gaming) Online Safety: www.netsmartz.org www.pta.org/mediasafety www.webwisekids.org www.wiredsafety.org

25. ESRB Website • www.esrb.org • Search for games by titles or key words • ParenTools email newsletter • Information available in Spanish

26. Where Online Gaming Meets Learning • www.starfall.com (literacy games from ABC’s to non-fiction and more) • www.scholastic.com (various educational games and activities for kids and parents) • www.seussville.com/university (Dr. Seuss themed academic games) • www.funbrain.com/kidscenter (games in all academic areas • www.brainpopjr.com (games in many academic areas. *login required)

27. Closing • You have the power to filter what your children are exposed to through the media. • Movies and video games should be treated similarly • Games can be beneficial to a child: social, problem solving, frustration tolerance, predicting, story-telling • Set screen time guidelines in your household • Every child is different.