4 in 10 parents told us that they don’t talk to their children about making good decisions online. To make these conversations easier, the Power Up Pact encourages parents to have conversations about healthy video game habits ahead of setting up parental controls on their game devices.
The Power Up Pact is designed to guide a conversation to agree on boundaries around screen time, spending, online interactions and age-appropriate content.
It’s important to have family conversations about online video games so that you can understand the type of interactions and experiences your children encounter in-game, as well as agree on expectations and boundaries together ahead of setting up parental controls.
How much time you spend playing games is a choice that is specific to individual families. The game guides provide a helpful way to choose which games to play, and adopt a varied diet of experiences. Once you have agreed what you will play and for how long, use the parental controls to manage this on your device or console. The Power Up Pact is a tool you can refer back to, to ensure the agreement is followed through.
Before associating a credit card with your gaming device it's important that you have set-up a user for your child that is PIN protected and specify that they cannot make purchases without requiring a password from you.
PEGI ratings recommend which age the content of a game is appropriate for. The age categories are 3, 7, 12, 16, 18. You can also see additional information through content descriptors which explain why that rating was awarded. These descriptors appear on the packaging for games bought in boxed form from stores. They can also be seen on major online storefronts where games can be downloaded.
It’s important to consider who your children play with online, e.g. should they only play with friends that they have met in the real world? Setting clear boundaries helps keep children safe online and maintain a fun experience for them. If children use the voice or text chat function, keep playing in a shared social space where you can hear or see the interactions.
