Every couple of days there is some new article about how technology and gaming are bad for our children and that it will ruin them, whilst I do agree young children being exposed to unsuitable games that have horror and violence is totally unacceptable, gaming is also a great way to have fun and interact with your children, if it is managed correctly, all seven of the children love playing games together, as I sit typing Tyrus, Viggo and Eowyn are giggling in the background as they work together to get past a particular level on Little Big planet! Last night Asa and I played on Towerfall Ascension with various children.
Back in October I was invited down to London to attend the PlayStation Family Day, along with the big five, we travelled down with Sarah from Boo Roo and Tigger too and her lovely children. Whilst we were the children got to try out lots of the latest games (which ALL seemed to end up on their Christmas List), but also to discuss that gaming can be a positive thing for the children to do, encouraging them to learn, whilst having fun.
We are huge fans of the PS4 and we love the fact that it has so many other uses than just playing the games, we access Amazon, Netflix and our Sky Account, all through the one console, which is very handy when you have seven children that all want to do different things!
If you are at all concerned about your children playing on the PlayStation, Ellie Gibson has put together a brilliant guide called A Parents Guide to Playstation which has some great hints and tips to ensure the children use it correctly. For more info, visit PlayStation for Parents
Playing it safe
Parental controls make it easy to keep an eye on what your children are playing and who they’re playing with. Video game companies want to keep your kids safe, just like you do – many of the people working in today’s industry are parents themselves and share the same anxieties about their children’s well-being that you and I do. To that end, PS4’s parental control settings are designed to be as simple as possible to use.
Using parental controls on PS4 you can:
- Restrict access to games and movies based on their age rating or certification.
- Block access to unsuitable websites – or even disable the Internet browser altogether.
- Disable text and voice messaging to prevent you kids from chatting to anyone online.
- Set up a sub-account for your child to control what they’re able to buy on PlayStation Store – either by disabling spending all together, or setting a monthly limit
Very nice & informative blog