Keeping Kids Safe, Online and Off

You're still the grown-up: Learn how to set limits for your children's tech travels.

Even in the face of kids' superior grasp of technology, says Steve, you are still the grown-up, and you're still theoretically in charge of choosing what comes into your house. With Legos, notes Angela, the worst you're worried about is screwing up your vacuum cleaner, but beyond that the calls get tougher. A lot of parents (and some government officials) would like to keep mature content away from the not-yet-mature. There are some fine resources available for parents looking to screen games and Web sites for their households, says Angela. There are also some incredibly bad so-called solutions out there that are likely to do more harm than good.

The gaming industry has attempted a degree of self-regulation of video-game content with its Entertainment Software Rating Board ratings. You can read the details at the ESRB Web site , but the gist is that the board assigns an age-level rating to individual titles, along with the reasons for the rating--violence, nudity, language, and so on. The program is voluntary, but virtually every game manufacturer participates, though some people would question whether game makers are as honest as they're supposed to be about what's tucked away in the corners of some of these games ( Hot Coffee , anyone?).

Which is why, say the Duo, it's good to look at some of the specialized review sites out there, which tell not only whether the game is age-appropriate, but whether it's boring or stupid. Different sites care about different issues; EdutainingKids.com , for instance, focuses on games that are appropriate for kids (as opposed to titles like, say, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ). Steve thinks they're a little more positive about such matters than he is. (Angela suspects that most sentient creatures are more positive about most things than her co-host is, but she's not talking.) Computing With Kids , which puts up one succinct review each week, is another fine review site for kids' titles. For mainstream-market games, Angela gives an enthusiastic recommendation for GamerDad , run by folks who love both video games and their kids.

For more information on keeping kids safe online, Angela suggests you check out GetNetWise's kids' safety section , brought to you by a coalition of tech firms, Internet businesses, and children's advocates. Steve recommends SafeKids.com , which has a list of Web-surfing rules to talk over with your child. Both sites serve up info on protecting your kids and your computer, and guidelines for talking to your children about how to take advantage of the Internet, without letting it take advantage of them.