75% of parents worried about games, says report

A survey of 4000 parents across the UK, France, Germany and Italy has concluded that 75 per cent of respondents were concerned about the content in videogames that their children played.

Additionally 43 per cent claimed they were unaware of any ratings system in place, despite the PEGI system in place across Europe, and the BBFC in the UK, while 44 per cent believed that time spent playing should be limited to one hour per day.

The survey, carried out on behalf of Microsoft, is the latest research to highlight concerns over the use of videogames by children, despite the number of 18-rated titles available only making up a small percentage of games released.

It also went on to find that an average of 63 per cent of children played games on their own, without any kind of supervision, although most parents claimed that they identified and selected the most appropriate games for their children to play.

ELSPA set up the Askaboutgames web site to try and better inform parents about the content of videogames, and how to judge whether or not a game is suitable.

And in the UK Dr Tanya Byron is currently leading a government review into the subject of how children relate to videogames and the internet, the findings of which are due in the first half of 2008.