Child Development Institute recommends
Kid Safe Video Games
for children and teens. Please check the
Game
Rating to be sure a specific game is appropriate for
your child's age. The American Academy of Pediatrics
cautions that video game ratings are not always
accurate. We encourage you to look-up and carefully read
the
Game Review from Game Critics to determine if the
content reflects what you feel is appropriate for your
child.
We believe that playing video games should be limited
and should not use up too much of the time your child
devotes to play. While video games are fun and can help
develop coordination and planning skills, they are no
substitute for more active play.
There is substantial research that the violence in even
seemingly tame video games does lead to increased
violence in children and adolescents. To avoid possible
violence we encourage purchasing games from these
categories: Racing & Flying, Role-Playing, Sports &
Outdoors and Strategy. While we do not recommend Mature
Rated Games which are for 17 and above, if you are
considering buying these games for your young adult
child, we encourage you to read this list of
Mature
Video Games Parent's Should Watch Out For and also check
out the
Dirty Dozen lists from the Lion and Lamb
Project. You should know that video games are no longer
kids play. Actually 66% of gamers are over 18 with the
average age of 29. According to the Entertainment
Software Association, of all games sold in 2003: 54%
were rated Everyone (E), 30.5% were rated Teen (T) and
11.9% were rated Mature (M).
The American Academy of Pediatrics wants parents to know
that media does have an impact on children and teens
which can be positive or negative. We encourage you to
read Understanding the Impact of Media on Children and
Teens.
Playing violent video games is to an adolescent's
violent behavior what smoking tobacco is to lung cancer.
That's according to information included in the revised
AAP Policy Statement Media Violence, which indicates
that playing violent video games accounts for a 13% to
22% increase in adolescents' violent behavior compared
to a 14% increase in lung cancer from smoking tobacco.
Some basic guidelines include:
- Make a media plan. Schedule media times and choices in
advance, just as you would other activities.
- Set media time limits. Limit children's total screen
time. The AAP recommends no more than 1 to 2 hours of
quality TV and videos per day and NONE for children
under the age of 2.
- Make media a family activity. Whenever possible, use
media with your children and discuss what they see,
hear, and read.
- Set family guidelines for media content. Check the the
content and consult guides such as:
ChildrensSoftware.com,
Gamecritics.com,
Lion & Lamb
Project and ReviewCorner.com.
