Internet Web Safety 101 for Parents Video Gaming Online

Xbox live

Playstation Network

Wii Online

XBox 360 Xbox Live

The Xbox 360 makes a great gift but what else can children do besides play games they buy or rent from the local BlockBuster. They can play those games online and make connections and befriend people from all over the world and add them to their buddy list so that even though they are not in a game they can voice or video chat with these new buddies

The first and most important step in keeping children safe is to get the Xbox 360 out of the finished basement or child's bedroom and put it on the main floor of the house where you and other parents spend most of their time. Yes I know it's more convienent to have it out of public spaces but in reality children are only young and impressionable for such a very short time that anything that is done for their best interest is worth the most extreme inconviences to parents and to the gameroom effect on the decor of the house.

The Next most important step in keeping children safe is to actually play some games with them regularly. Parents need to understand the draw a specific game has on children before they can fully discuss and be considered sincere when addressing concerns with children that the Parents may have with the game or games. Understanding the Video Game Rating system

Lecture over. Now down to the nitty gritty of what tools the xbox 360 offers parents to help them in their parenting of a gamer.

Parental Controls found in the family settings section on the Xbox 360 menu

• One of the best Parenting tools that Xbox Live Gold (online gaming) offers is the ability for the parent to control the chat output. Parents can easily set the xbox online settings so that their child can talk through the MIC to other Players but the other players comments are heard through the TV speakers allowing Parents to listen ensuring their children aren't being exposed to inappropriate stuff. And if abnoxious people are online or in the event your kid is not keen enough to recognize that captain creepy is using subtlies for creepy reasons, the parent can mute that player so your child can have a relatively safe online xbox360 gaming experience chatting with normal people. Well. that's if you consider online gamers normal. Some of us are though.


• Parents, think of it this way; isn't it better that we be home with a bunch of friends over, eating all of your groceries, while gaming online with the xbox 360? Isn't that better then us wondering the streets with nothing to do but to get into trouble. (We wouldn't get into trouble. This is just a scare tactic we use to get you to buy one for the house). Your response is always homework... Not that we would neglect our grades etc...The next Xbox 360 Feature addresses that battle. Read On.


• Parental Controls Online and Offline gaming- Setup is easy to control what games your children play, control what movies they watch and you can even control how many hours per day or week they play. The System will automatically Shut the game down when your child has reached the limit. Great for Parents but Not the most exciting feature on the xbox 360 for children.

The ultimate family friendly setup is to have 2 tv's in the family space used most often. One for gaming and one for the rest of the family, parents included so they are able to enjoy the latest movie or just watch the news in the same room their children are gaming. (I know it sounds abnoxious) But if your 360 is in the basement anyway, you already have the second TV. We actually built a cabinet that holds both Tvs and when friends come over with their XBOX we can link the two and have a 8 player gaming party. And when we are not gaming the second TV is hidden by a cabinet door that closes.

These are suggestions, when implimented early, when the children are young, are very easy to maintain. When implimenting these steps only after a problem occurs usually when the child becomes a teen, the implimentation will only fuel the already teen resistence and suspiscions to any changes natural to adolescence.