On a computer, on a console or on the phone, young people are crazy about video games: 96% of 10-17 year olds play at least occasionally. A hobby rather than popular, but sometimes worrying parents. At what age should video games be allowed? How long ? What are the good games? An awareness campaign, "Good Uses, Good Memories", has just been launched by the Union of Leisure Software Publishers (SELL) to inform parents a few weeks of Christmas.
"There are children who only talk about video games"
"I pretty much locked the video game at home, whether on a computer or on a laptop." Fabrice is responsible for 5th grade classes at a private college in the Hauts-de-Seine. His daughter Perrine started playing at 6 years old. She has 12 today but out of the question to let her do anything with video games. "We made rules with her mother and she understands it very well, she has the right to play one hour on weekends and only games that I have chosen." is the video game that educates, "says Fabrice.
He himself plays as a teenager, he knows the excesses that can generate video games and wants to protect his daughter. "I still see him today in college.There are children who only talk about that, who do just that.The result, they have problems of attention and poor school results," says Fabrice. For his daughter, he has activated a parental control. These devices are present on all computers, phones and game consoles. But, while nine out of ten parents know about it, only one in three uses it, according to a SELL study.
Framing play time and dialogue
Limiting the playing time of the youngest is the first axis of the awareness campaign launched for Christmas. "Parental control systems make it possible to set a maximum playing time, to choose accessible games, to control online purchases, to limit browsing on the Internet", recalls Emmanuel Martin, General Delegate of SELL, a union that brings together the main players French video game publishers. By installing barriers directly on the machine, parents have full control over the activities of their children.
Because, if the video game is primarily a hobby, it can generate addiction, nervousness or isolation in children (and adults) if it is poorly framed. "There is no fixed maximum playing time, it depends on each child, but from the moment the video game practice creates tension in the family, a child abandons their other activities or their notes fall in class, so we must rebalance, "advises Emmanuel Martin. "The key is dialogue, parents need to get involved in the video game practice, understand it and then interact with their children."
Little Santa Claus, do not forget ... the PEGI ranking
There is no doubt that video games will still occupy a good place on Christmas lists this year. For parents who are uncomfortable with this medium, a glance at the game jacket makes it easy to know if they are suitable for your child or not. At the bottom left in front of, and in small behind, a white number in a colored square indicates the minimum age required to play the game. This is the PEGI ranking, which divides games into five age categories, based on content: 3, 7, 12, 16 and 18 years old. Thus, the last Pokémon is playable from 7 years, while the game of war Call of Duty , and its very realistic violence, is accessible only to 18 years old.
"It's a system that works well but must become a reflex," said Emmanuel Martin. Indeed, "if more than one parent out of two is attentive to compliance with the PEGI classification during the act of purchase, a majority of children (54%) are less important." "We must be vigilant, especially when we buy dematerialized games or online games, where the pictogram is not always so visible." All answers to questions parents may ask about the video game are available on the website Pédagojeux.fr.