Kotaku: Parents

Child Left in GameStop Leads to Neglect Arrest

Mike Fahey — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:30:00 EST

Attention parents of the world: GameStop is not a babysitting service. That fact was made abundantly clear to 21-year-old Kethia Dagrin-Francois of Florida when police arrested her for child neglect after her five-year-old son was found wandering the parking lot of Boyton Mall. More »

Why Won’t My Parents Play Video Games With Me?

Brittany Vincent — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST

Why won't my father game with me? More »

Police Say Christmas Gaming Drove Woman to Attack Children with Butcher Knife

Mike Fahey — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST

Allegedly enraged over her five-year-old son's playing of a video game he received as a Christmas gift, Jutrina Tillman of Phoenix, Arizona, dragged the young boy into his bedroom and began to strangle him before threatening to kill him and his 13-year-old sister with a butcher knife. More »

How To Talk to Your Children About Classic Video Games

Mike Fahey — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:20:00 EST

It's a delicate subject but one that will inevitably come up for any parent, and you've got to be prepared. In this age of bright and shiny high definition games, how can we force our children to play through the games we grew up on first? This is commenter Balmung's question in today's Speak Up on Kotaku. Now eat your video games, kids. More »

It's Frightening How Persistent a Child Predator Can Be

Mike Fahey — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EDT

In December of 2010, 18-year-old Alex Trowell of Idaho was on his way to visit his 12-year-old World of Warcraft girlfriend in New Mexico. Alerted by the girl's mother, New Mexico police called Trowell and had him turn his car around. More »

Parents Concerned Over High School Students Play-Acting Call Of Duty

Mike Fahey — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EDT

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"It's too real and too much like the Columbine tragedy," says one concerned parent regarding a video shot at Rocklin High School in California depicting students pretending to play Call of Duty with imaginary weapons. Oh come on, really? More »

Playing Video Games With Dad Builds Better Daughters

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST

Do video games make girls healthier and happier? A brand-new study out of Brigham Young University's School of Family Life suggests they do, as long as parents are willing to play along. More »

How Do You Balance A New Baby And Gaming?

Mike Fahey — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:20:00 EST

Commenter Jopeter explores the joys of trying to balance gaming with a newborn baby in today's installment of Speak-Up on Kotaku. More »

Violent Video Games Promote Civic Behaviors

Mike Fahey — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:30:00 EST

Just because you're shooting other people online doesn't mean you're going to shoot them offline. In fact, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Texas A&M International University, playing violent video games could promote civic engagement in children. More »

Resident Evil 5 May Have Exposed Child To Real Evil

Mike Fahey — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST

A father in the Canadian province of British Columbia contacted the police on Monday after receiving sexually explicit messages from a man his 12-year-old daughter had met playing while Resident Evil 5. More »

Playing With Your Children Can Save Their Mental Health

Mike Fahey — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:30:00 EST

Using the television or video game console to babysit your child might be more detrimental than you think. The results of a two decade study show that actively participating in your child's life could save them from severe personality disorder. More »

Who Should Be Responsible For Keeping Violent Games From Children?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EDT

A Gallup survey conducted over the weekend finds that while Americans believe the greatest responsibility for keeping violent games out of children's hands lies with parents, they aren't opposed to the government stepping in to help. More »

Law And Order Handles Video Game Fueled Child Neglect Badly

Mike Fahey — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EDT

In last week's ripped from the headlines episode of Law and Order: SVU, a couple gets so wrapped up in a ridiculously fake video game that they forget who their daughter is. "This is the kingdom of Galagar!" More »

Bumper Stickers For Proud Gamer Parents

Mike Fahey — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:20:00 EDT

Any kid can get on the honor roll, but how many can get through Super Mario Bros. without using a warp pipe? These are the sort of accomplishments any gaming parent would be proud to display on their bumper. More »

Grand Theft Auto Used To Steer Children Away From Violence? That's New

Mike Fahey — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:20:47 EDT

Grand Theft Auto, often the whipping-boy for the anti-violent video games movement, is being used by a program in Merseyside, England to help stop children becoming desensitized to violence. Welcome to Bizarro world. More »

Italian Teen Stabs Father Over FIFA 2009

Mike Fahey — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:40:00 EST

An Italian man giving video game advice to his son Sunday evening was repaid with a 15-inch kitchen knife to the neck. More »

Survey: 82% Of "Gamer" Parents Are Hip To The ESRB

Mike Fahey — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:20:00 EST

A survey conducted by The Harrison Group and Activision Publishing has found that a large percentage of parents with gaming children are familiar with the ESRB ratings system. More »

What Parents Think Their Kids Learn From Video Games

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:40:32 EST

One parent has put Modern Warfare and Halo to educational use for their four-year-old. Another believes Okami teaches values. These are the things the parents among you told us about what games do — or don't do — for children. More »

Parent: Nintendo DS Would Have Distracted Newton From Discovering Gravity

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:00:42 EST

I just discovered a hullabaloo over at the Orange County Register's Mom Blog that began when blogger/mom Marla Jo Fisher explained why she keeps her household gaming free. More »

SOE Assures Parents It's Okay To Play Free Realms

Mike Fahey — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:20:00 EDT

In advance of the release of their family-friendly online multiplayer game Free Realms, Sony Online Entertainment has release a booklet explaining the benefits that games like Free Realms offer children. More »

Wrestling Video Game Blamed For Child's Parachuting Death

Mike Fahey — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:40:00 EDT

Friends of 9-year-old Damori Miles of Brooklyn, New York, claim the boy was imitating moves from WWE SmackDown vs Raw when he jumped off of his apartment rooftop to his death wearing a makeshift parachute. More »

Microsoft: 75% Of Parents Think Gaming Is Beneficial

Mike Fahey — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST

Microsoft's second annual Play Smart, Play Safe campaign survey results are in, with UK parents overwhelmingly agreeing that video games have a beneficial effect on their children and families. More »

Obama Talks Gaming During Congressional Address

Mike Fahey — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST

Just because President Barack Obama is a verified gamer doesn't mean he supports irresponsible gaming. During last night's Congressional address, the President re-iterated his firm stance on parenting over gaming. More »

Family Gaming Awards Play The Age Card

Mike Fahey — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:20:00 EST

UK site Game People takes a slightly different approach to video game awards, breaking games down into life stages instead of the more traditional console or genre distinctions. More »

AOL Schools Parents On Gaming At PlaySavvy

Mike Fahey — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:40:00 EST

AOL has officially launched PlaySavvy.com, a new website aimed at informing curious parents about the games their children play and generating revenue from ads aimed at this lucrative demographic. More »

MediaWise's 2008 Game Buying Guide - To Buy, Or Not To Buy?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:20:00 EST

Along with the NIMF Annual Video Game Report Card comes the annual MediaWise Video Game Buying Guide, which instructs parents on which games to buy for their children and which to avoid like the plague. More »

NIMF's 2008 Report Card Praises Industry, Scolds Parents

Mike Fahey — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:40:00 EST

The Nation Institute on Media and Family have issued their annual Media Wise Video Game report card on how parents and the industry deal with game ratings, and once again the industry wins. More »

Parents.Com's Kid-Friendly Holiday Games List

Mike Fahey — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:00:00 EST

The folks at Parents.com have just issued their list of the Best Kid-Friendly Video Games of 2008, a quick and dirty guide to games that aren't...quick and dirty. More »

New Gamestop Ad Preys On Your Worst Fears

Stuart Houghton — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:20:00 EST

It is an advertising truism that Sex Sells, but so does fear. Whether it is fear of human odours fuelling deodorant marketing or fear of Terror selling a war, manipulating our darkest fears is a surefire way to get the public to sign on the dotted line. More »

Study - Violent Video Games Makes Kids More Aggressive

Mike Fahey — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST

It's been a while since we've had a really good "video games make our children violent" study, and I was beginning to fear we've given up on the idea, but then the story "Violent video games linked to child aggression" showed up on CNN.com this morning and my fears were completely assuaged. The story is about a study conducted by Dr. Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., of Iowa State University, who studied three groups of children in both the United States and Japan to gage their violence levels three to six months after playing violent video games, versus children who did not play violent video games. The results may not surprise you at all. More »

Grand Theft Auto Helps Preteen Rescue Family From Crashed Car

Mike Fahey — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:20:00 EDT

While we've seen countless story regarding children using Grand Theft Auto as their inspiration to do wrong, it's extremely rare that we see news about GTA being cited as a cause for good. It happened on August 27th around 9pm, as the Norris family of five was heading to Diamond, Illinois to visit relatives. Their 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee swerved off the road, hitting a guardrail and flipping four times before coming to a stop, caving in the roof and smashing out the back window. With her mother hanging upside down and her father pinned against the steering wheel, 11-year-old Audrey Plique climbed out of the back window and helped her parents and two younger siblings escape the car. The motivation for her heroic act, according to her mother Karen Norris?

"She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us"

MadWorld Violence Concerns Worry Mediawatch-uk

Mike Fahey — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:40:00 EDT

It's about damn time the media watchdog groups got around to blasting Sega and PlatinumGames' upcoming Wii-slaughterfest MadWorld. I was worried they were losing their touch, but galloping to the rescue on his bright and shining white stallion comes John Beyer, director of pressure group Mediawatch-uk. More »

Parents Fear GTA More Than Sex And Alcohol

Mike Fahey — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:40:00 EDT

Back in my days as a teen, my parents weren't afraid of anything as far as I was concerned, but not all 15-year-olds are 6'6" with a goatee. Today's parents have plenty to worry about in fact, though a recent survey performed at the family-focused consumer game site What They Play seems to indicate their priorities are a bit out of whack. They asked a series of asked over 1,600 respondents what they’d fear the most if their 17-year-old were to participate in a sleepover. The results, picked from single answers only - no multiple choice here - indicated that while 16% were concerned about pornography and 14% about beer, 19% voiced concerns that their child might end up playing Grand Theft Auto. More »

Christians Getting Serious About Gaming

Mike Fahey — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:40:00 EDT

This month sees a big push among Christian publications around the country towards educating parents and families about the growing influence of video games in our culture. The focus of the push is a lengthy article by Christian journalist Steve Rabey titled "Getting serious about gaming - Impact of video game industry raises concern", and quite frankly it isn't at all what I expected. Instead of being a religious rant about the dangers of video game, Rabey's article offers varied points of view on the subject, especially when discussing video game violence and the effect it has on children. More »

GameStop Unveils Enticing Family Site

Leigh Alexander — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:40:00 EDT

Retailer GameStop has launched a website called GameStop Playground, designed to appeal to families - and possibly to put anxious parents at ease about buying video games for their kids. It features activities, mini-games and videos alongside tools geared at helping parents understand the ESRB's ratings, with game recommendations for kids. More »

Gaming Into Adulthood

Maggie Greene — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Finally getting to grad school was — in some ways — a rude awakening for me; I still haven't mastered the art of balancing the demands of my work with, uh, everything else, which had never been a problem to this point. My gaming life has been sporadic at best since January, and I spend more time writing about games than actually playing them. But despite my ineptitude, I felt a little hopeful after reading a nice piece over at GameSetWatch that explores the art of growing up and balancing a beloved hobby (gaming) with the demands of adulthood, like parenthood: More »

UK Mother Blames Nintendo For Badly-Behaved Kids

Leigh Alexander — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:20:00 EDT

You guys should probably sit down for this. More »

Obama Name Checks GTA, Says Video Games Are Raising Our Children

Mike Fahey — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:01:00 EDT

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama might not be all that fond of video games, but at least he is keeping up with the latest gaming news. In a speech given at a campaign stop in Indianapolis, Indiana, the senator addressed the problem of children being raised by video games, launching into the subject by mentioning Grand Theft Auto, which "is going to break all records and make goo-gobs of money for whoever designed it." Poor Rockstar. Hopefully those goo-gobs will make up for the fact that Obama has no idea who you are. More »

Video Games Can Be A Rich And Magical Experience

Mike Fahey — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:40:00 EDT

Several of you have pointed us to an amazing opinion piece by Naomi Alderman at The Guardian titled "If we deny children access to all computer games, we deprive them of a rich and magical experience", a beautifully written response to recent events in the UK like the Byron Review and the banning of shocking Kane & Lynch advertisements. She praises Byron's report for touching on the many opportunities for fun and learning that computer games allow, and how we need to move away from the notion that computer games cause harm, and then points out how the print and television media reacted by warning parents about violent games and monitoring their children at all times. In short, they completely ignored the positive points and focused on the negative. Alderman paints a much brighter picture, though the quote that struck me as the most poignant was this:

The world of Grand Theft Auto does contain violence and misogyny; but then, so does The Godfather, or Goodfellas. So, for that matter, does The Iliad.

Video Game Safety For Parents

Mike Fahey — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:20:00 EDT

When I read the headline " Internet and video game safety: Ten practical tips to help protect your children" over at the UK Telegraph website, I was certain I was about to read some overblown warning about the dangers of violent video games. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by ten actual practical tips that encourage parents to be responsible about their children's internet and video game use. Who'd have thought?

Some video games teach children important skills, from cooperation to patience, but others really are just about gorily blowing other people's heads off. The more you understand about which games your child uses, the more you'll be able to guide their choices.

These are extremely helpful bits of advice for any parent concerned about their offspring's gaming habits. I'm not so sure parents on this side of the pond are hip to the concept of parental responsibility, but it's worth a shot. More »