We have worked closely with East Coast Health Care and the Norfolk Healthy Schools Team to bring together some useful information for parents and children.

The following links will take you to websites full of information for parents/carers on how to help keep your children safe on the internet, whether that be on a laptop, i-pad, tablet or on a mobile device.

With the growing popularity of gaming, across the country, there has been a marked increase in the number of children playing or having access to games that are not age appropriate.  Games, like films are given an age classification.

Game age ratings:

Most platforms will feature an age rating on the game. Due to the way certain platforms categorise games according to their content, at times the age rating for one game may not be the same across all platforms. So, it can be confusing. However, you can set parental controls on your games console to limit what content your child accesses.

What is PEGI?

The PEGI system is designed to inform the public of what’s suitable and what’s not for different ages. It can be a helpful tool in helping you to decide what games are appropriate for your child.

PEGI’s professional analysts look at hundreds of video games every year and determine what is suitable for different age groups using a set of criteria.

This criteria has been established by experts in the field of child protection, psychology, the law and media. It helps analysts to decide what game content is appropriate in each of the five rating groups.

How are games rated under PEGI?

All games released in the UK will have one of the following PEGI age ratings on the packaging: 3, 7, 12, 16 or 18. The rating means that the game shouldn't be played by a young person under that age. 

Why? Because there may be content within the game which could potentially be harmful, frightening or worrying to children. As well as an age rating, PEGI also uses icons showing content descriptors, letting you know if a game contains: violence, drugs, bad language, discrimination, fear, gambling, sex, or in-app purchases. 

Remember - PEGI ratings are based on safety and not game difficulty. Lots of children want to be challenged by games and believe an older rated game will be harder.  However, playing games that are above the child's age classification means your child will be potentially exposed to content that is not suitable for their age or stage of development.

You can find lots more valuable information including guides to using parental controls and what parents needs to know about gaming on this page of the Think-you-know website:

 https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/gaming-whats-appropriate-for-your-child 

or click on the Thinkuknow - Gaming button below: