How Much Is Too Much Gaming For Kids

How much gaming is too much gaming for your child, and when is a game too violent? These are some of the questions addressed in the Australian Centre for the Moving Image’s (ACMI) new Parents Guide To Videogames.

Entitled Parents, Kids & Videogames – What’s The Score? A Parent’s Guide To Videogames, the guide is designed to offer parents an independent analysis of the issues surrounding videogames, while addressing the fears they may have regarding their children’s gaming habits.

ACMI says that since many parents haven’t grown up with videogames, combined with the interactive and sometimes violent nature of games makes gaming more of a concern than books, movies or music.

ACMI Games curator, Helen Stuckey says that “it’s important that parents are able to make informed choices, and make these decisions based on independent findings, that are free of commercial or censorship agendas. As part of ACMI’s commitment to education and exploration of games culture, we wanted to give parents a better understanding of this potentially beneficial form of interactive entertainment.”

Looking into areas such as criteria for classification and the interactive nature of the medium, Parents, Kids & Videogames aims to inform parents to help them form their own decisions on both the merits of gaming and the potential areas for concern.

ACMI also presents an annual program which looks at gaming in a cultural context. It also has a designated exhibition space for videogames and games culture.

‘Our Games programs engage audiences with a progressive and intellectual approach to electronic gaming’ Helen said. ‘We challenge preconceptions about games and encourage visitors to think about computer games in new ways and as a champion of the art-form, we are committed to providing a range of informative and educative online resources, such as our parent’s guide’.

The guide is available as a free download from:  www.acmi.net.au/global/docs/parentguide.pdf