Study Finds Few Australians Are Aware of Parental Locks

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Study Finds Few Australians Are Aware of Parental Locks


A Michael Atkinson's [http://www.igea.net/2009/12/parents-all-thumbs-when-it-comes-to-gaming-controls/] claim that an R18+ rating would be bad for the country.

Commissioned by Australia's Interactive Games and Entertainment Association [http://www.igea.net/], the survey revealed that only 26 percent of parents in Australia are aware of the parental controls built into the current generation of videogame consoles, while roughly half admitted to being unaware of "classification locks." Male parents are considerably more likely to be aware of parental locks than females, 66 percent to 40 percent.

While gamers in Australia and abroad have long argued for the addition of an R18+ rating to the country's videogame rating system, these startling numbers provide a considerable boost to the position held by South Australia Attorney General that such a rating would be meaningless because parents would be unable to keep inappropriate content out of the hands of children once its in the house. It's difficult to argue against the need for stringent governmental restrictions on videogames when parents are clearly incapable of protecting their children themselves.

But wait! It occurs to me that there might be another possibility. Could it be that Australian parents are wallowing in the mire of cluelessness not because they're too stupid to care for their own children, but because the lack of an effective videogame rating system in Australia has left a void of information? Is there a chance that the government of South Australia isn't assisting parents at all, but is actually doing them harm by continuing to foster ignorance? After all, once they were made aware of the controls, 79 percent of parents said they would make use of them.

"Interactive gaming is played by young children, teens, Mums and Dads and as a popular family past-time [and] we want to equip parents will the tools to ensure their children enjoy the best gaming experience," said IGEA CEO Ron Curry. "Up to 88 per cent of Australian homes have at least one device for playing video and computer games and we are urging parents to be aware of the settings that can help families ensure healthy gaming habits."

Of the 21 percent of parents who said they wouldn't bother with parental controls, 38 percent claimed they weren't concerned about the length of time their children spent playing videogames, 34 percent said they didn't care what kinds of games their kids played and 22 percent figured their kids would just figure out how to override the parental locks anyway. A somewhat less formal survey of the people in this room found that 100 percent of the respondent thinks that 21 percent of Australian parents are dumbasses.

via: GamePolitics [http://gamepolitics.com/2009/12/07/aussie-parents-lag-parental-control-knowledge]


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Sennz0r

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May 25, 2008
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When I read the title I had a genuine facepalm moment.

Also how can you not care what kind of stimuli your kid gets exposed to?

Idiots.
 

Christemo

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Jan 13, 2009
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... once again, Atkinson is trying to spoil the fun about video games, that bloody arsehat.
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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Furburt said:
Woodsey said:
Do they have an 18 rating for films?
Yes, but unlike any other democratic nation, they also censor books.
Well as far as I'm aware you can't parental lock films (unless your specific player lets you) - so why not 18+ for games?

Ridiculous. And censoring books? Talk about a hard on for worthless control.
 

Kajin

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Apr 13, 2008
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Furburt said:
Woodsey said:
Do they have an 18 rating for films?
Yes, but unlike any other democratic nation, they also censor books.
Are we sure australians are democratic at all? I doubt it.

OT: Why should australian parents be aware of parental control locks when their government doesn't allow the existence of such games in their country at all?
 

Geoffrey42

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Aug 22, 2006
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I wonder what sort of parental locking mechanism they use on magazines containing nudity. Because, seriously, once it is in the house, there is no way for the parents to keep the material out of their children's hands. Oh, the horror!
 

Kollega

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Jun 5, 2009
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And this is why that wanker Atkinson has any kind of support. If people were more tech-savvy and knew how to keep 8-year olds from playing Manhunt even if said 8-year olds get it somehow, R18 rating would not be a problem of any kind. Oh wait, it's not a problem even now.

And censoring books? Come on! It seems that Australia is not only down under, but also backwards. It's gonverment, at least.
 
Aug 25, 2009
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'In other news, Australian parents are unaware that in order to stop underage children from playing 18 rated games, you simply don't buy them 18 rated games. This, combinged with the willingness of Australian shopkeepers to sell games and films clearly rated 18+ to eight ears olds, makes for a strong argument.'

[/rant]
[/sarcasm]
 

Gildan Bladeborn

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Aug 11, 2009
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How the hell does that provide significant support to Atkinson's retarded claims? Knowing how to enable parental controls isn't even an issue in the first place! If Australia had an R18+ rating, kids would not be able to purchase those titles so there would be no reason to restrict their access to them "once they are in the home", unless you bought them for them anyways, clearly ignoring the obvious rating on the box.

If the parents are buying the games for themselves, they're probably smart enough to figure out parental controls or some other way of keeping inappropriate titles out of youngsters hands. If you aren't buying R18+ titles for yourself, you either A) Genuinely do not care what your children are exposed to and will buy them anything they ask you for, or B) Are a colossal idiot, because nobody with a modicum of sense will buy a game for their kids so they can enable parental locks and keep the kids from playing it, that defeats the entire purpose of buying the game for your kids.

If anything, this is more evidence in favor of having that rating - if your country had a proper rating system developers wouldn't have to try to push the boundaries of the current maximum rating because it's the only one available, and there would be less objectionable content in the games kids could conceivably buy for themselves without parental approval, and thus less reason to enable parental controls. The lack of the R18+ rating is the primary reason you'd want to enable parental controls in the first place!
 

stonethered

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Mar 3, 2009
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Ouch. I disagree with the man heavily, but I have to admit. If Australian parents are that ignorant about gaming, maybe they really do need to change something about the classification system.
Maybe start a flier campaighn to raise awareness, or launch a series of well publicized lawsuits.
 

Jared

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Jul 14, 2009
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ForgottenPr0digy said:
no surprised to see this news

I bet they could have done the same survey in America and get the same results
Same anywhere in the world I bet.

Its just more fuel for the fire which is the Australian Game Ceritfication Board...
 

AWC Viper

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Jun 12, 2008
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Christemo said:
... once again, Atkinson is trying to spoil the fun about video games, that bloody arsehat.
Seconded. they should have a coup in SA. damn Parliament.
 

cobra_ky

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Nov 20, 2008
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It has never made sense to me how children get video games without parental consent. I was spoiled as all hell growing up, but my parents never let me loose with $60 in a gamestop.
 

GrinningManiac

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Jun 11, 2009
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I laugh, because I'm 17 and he's 57-or-something, and one day he'll be dead

Not that I wish death upon him, or that I think that would be the best outcome, but it pleases me that I one day I'll be on this planet without such a prick