Family Tech Blog

Tag: internet safety

  • A Parents’ Guide to Among Us

    A Parents’ Guide to Among Us

    This is a Parents’ Guide to Among Us
    This guide is intended to inform parents to help them make quality decisions for their families. The rating is based on my opinion of playing Among Us and viewing others playing the game as well.

    The rating below is based on the game content. Online interactions will always increase the risk of unwanted content.

    Violence – 3
    Language – 4
    Sexual Content – 5
    Positive Message – 2
    Monetization -2

    Total Score – 16  out of 25
    (The higher the rating, the safer the game is for kids.)

    ESRB Rating – Among Us has an ESRB rating of 10+. It is rated 9+ in the app stores and Common Sense Media gives it a rating of 10+.

    About the Game

    Among Us is an online multiplayer game of social deduction, teamwork, and betrayal. You play as crewmates on a space ship or space station who are trying to prepare the ship for take off. You have tasks that you all must complete to win the game. The catch is that there is an imposter Among Us. This (or these) imposter(s) can sabotage your efforts to prepare your ship, they can also kill you or your crewmates. When a dead body is found, a meeting is called. The entire crew discusses what has happened and what they’ve seen that could give hints as to who the imposter is. They then all vote and if someone gets a majority of votes, they are ejected from the ship. If that person was an imposter, the crew wins, otherwise, it’s back to the ship to complete your tasks and hope the imposter doesn’t get to you first.

    This game has a little bit of everything. There are simple puzzles, social interactions, mystery, and even some opportunity to be a little dark by killing your friends in-game. The graphics are simple and a bit silly, but the gameplay is so fun that it doesn’t matter. This is truly a social game and cannot be played on your own. There is a “freeplay” mode in which you can explore the map and get familiar with puzzles but it is really just for preparing to play online multiplayer.

    Violence

    One of the key themes in Among Us is murder. The imposter is trying to sabotage the ship by whatever means necessary. This usually includes killing crew members. You kill by simply tapping or clicking an icon when you’re close enough to a crewmate. There is then a short animation of your murder. Sometimes you slice them in half, sometimes your small companion (in-game purchase) will shoot them, and sometimes a spear-like tongue will come from you and pierce them in the face. While the animations are a bit graphic, they aren’t really bloody or gory, and they very cartoon/silly. The characters don’t look like humans, they are better described as colorful walking spacesuits so when they are killed, there isn’t much realism.

    Language

    There is no dialog or narration in Among Us. This means that there is no adult language in the game itself. This is a game, however, that is meant to be played with other people over the internet. When you play a multiplayer game online you are always opening yourself up to unsavory language. In Among Us, this happens in the chat which is used to discuss murders and vote out crewmates. There is a censor mode that is on by default. This censor will use symbols to block out adult language and other inappropriate comments. This doesn’t mean that players don’t use these words. You’ll often see sentences with words asterisked out and most of us can tell by the number of symbols and the context of the sentence what words were meant. It is nice that a censor is included and on by default, it is simple to deactivate with one click/tap and is not password protected.

    Sexual Content

    Again, there is no sexual content in Among Us. The style of the game doesn’t lend itself to that kind of material. This is another issue, however, that is greatly impacted by online play. While the censor mentioned above will block some sexual comments, most make it through. While playing the game I saw many players with suggestive usernames. Nothing obvious but definitely innuendo. When these names were commented on in chat, however, they were mostly met with annoyance by other players who just wanted to play the game and were therefore not amused.

    In other words, there will always be people who think their immature sexual jokes and comments are funny but in such a social game you’ll also find a majority of players who aren’t interested in that kind of humor. These players usually kick out or shut down the inappropriate players pretty quickly.

    Positive Message

    I guess we can talk about teamwork and trust here but in reality, this game is just all about having fun. There is no real moral to Among Us, it is intended to be a clone of the classic party game Mafia but set in space. Playing with friends is easy through their local or private game settings and this allows for kids to have fun with friends even though we can’t be around each other all of the time these days. I think this is what made Among Us the breakout game of 2020 even though it has already been released for two years.

    Monetization

    Among Us does have in-game purchases but they aren’t game-changing. You can buy packs of costumes, skins, and even pets. The prices are between $1 and $3 per pack and the game is definitely playable without spending more than the $4.99 it cost on the PC. The mobile version (free for Apple and Android) has ads that can be removed for $1.99. I recommend removing these ads because some of the games advertised should, in my opinion, be rated for adults only.

    What Parents Should Know

    Among Us is a game that I have been playing quite often lately. It is easy to pop in and do a ten or fifteen minute round and then log off. I have played in public rooms with friends as well, that was quite fun as we were able to work together (trying not to cheat) to complete tasks and win. It can be a time drainer as you always want to play another round. I find myself saying “one more round” a few times before I actually quit the game. Like Fortnite or other online multiplayer games, kids aren’t going to want to drop out in the middle of a game so giving them a warning about getting off their screen will be better than saying, “Put it away, now!” Trust me, you’ll have less conflict if you say “Be finished after this round, alright?” and then hold them to that.

    The only real danger in this game is from strangers online. While that is always a concern with online multiplayer games, rounds are so short and fast-paced in Among Us that there isn’t much time for “grooming” or bullying especially since there is no private or direct messaging. You can stay in the same “Lobby” to play with the same people but it is so easy to back out and go into another game if you need to that I wouldn’t expect too much trouble from people in chat in Among Us.

    As with most games, my recommendation is that parents understand Among Us, how it works, and what their kids like about it. Know who they are playing with online and if they are playing with strangers, be sure they feel comfortable coming to you if they see something that makes them feel strange. This game is simple enough and quick enough that many parents should be able to play along with their kids some as well. Do this. It would be really fun for you to get into their world a little bit, plus you may just enjoy the game yourself.

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  • We Bought Four Amazon Echo Dots!

    We Bought Four Amazon Echo Dots!

    Well, it is Prime Day and as usual, there are some deeply discounted items available on Amazon. My family usually looks but doesn’t buy on Prime Day, hoping to be able to predict the discounts we may see on Cyber Monday or Black Friday in a few weeks. We especially avoid any smart speaker or digital assistant hardware since we have always had (well informed) privacy issues and concerns. This year it has been different. We caved and bought Amazon Echo Dots for the whole family. Here’s why.

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    They’ll Be Perfect for Our New Home

    Our forever family home is being built and we are planning a move-in just a few months from now. We are going to have more space for the six of us than we have ever had, especially in the kids’ rooms, the master suite, and the kitchen/dining great room. We’ll be a bit more spread out than we’ve ever been and the Echo has some great options for communicating throughout your home without having to scream up the stairs or down the hallway. The intercom feature was a deal sealer for both my wife and myself. The kids are pretty excited too.

    Digital Homeschool Help

    More of us are homeschooling than ever now and with four kids, all doing school work nearly every day, we need help sometimes. YouTube can be great to present some complicated concepts in helpful ways (7th-grade math, anyone) but my kids looking at screens and using a Google Search for spelling or calculator solutions isn’t the safest proposition. Alexa (the Virtual Assistant on Amazon Echo) will answer your spelling, language arts, science, and math questions with no risky search results or screen use at all. It is more important for my kids to know how to get information than it is that they know the info when they pass a grade. Alexa and other Virtual Assistants are the new waves of information access and they aren’t going away. They’re only getting smarter and faster.

    Less Screen Time

    My kids, like all kids, love to sit around and look at a phone or tablet. We are constantly having to get on to them about their obsessive behavior. We try to set better examples, we don’t always succeed, but giving them alternatives is very helpful. The Echo Dot is a smart speaker without a screen. At night, when the kids want to listen to a podcast or music for bedtime they can ask Alexa to play it for them instead of having their screens in their faces right up to when they fall asleep. Studies have shown this isn’t good for their sleep and can actually very detrimental to their development. With parental controls on the subscription services we use and on Alexa itself, we can ensure that our kids aren’t looking at their screens and are only listening to music and podcasts we’ve approved of.

    Safety and Security Upgrades

    All of this is great but digital safety and data security are always an issue. Especially with artificial intelligence that is designed to learn about you in order to be more useful to you. There is an obvious trade-off. You’re giving it information in exchange for convenience. I believe most of us consider that an acceptable exchange, considering Alexa and Google Home have been some of the fastest tech product to be integrated into people’s homes. The truth is that we have been making this exchange for a long time without really thinking about it. Every post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, every search on Google, and every purchase or browsing session on Amazon has been used to build a database of advertising information about you. This can be scary to many but in all honesty, that ship has sailed and you raised the sails for it to do so.

    When you use these sites, you allow them access to your information. Alexa is no different and my family has considered the risks and decided it’s worth it. First of all, we already get targeted ads because we do so much of our shopping on Amazon and searching on Google. Secondly, the latest models of Amazon Echo Dot have added features like a hardware button to turn off the microphone that makes us feel like we can avoid being listened to when we don’t want to be listened to.

    Risk/Reward

    When you narrow it down it is a consideration of opportunity cost. You have an opportunity for convenience but it will cost some of your info. At a $19.99 price point, the Echo Dot is a great deal right now on Prime Day so we bought four of them. They’ll be here in a couple of days and I’ll set one up and let you know how it all goes. Stay tuned for my (late but in-depth) review of the Amazon Echo Dot as a tool for controlling kids’ screen time.

    If you shop the Amazon Prime Day today, consider using http://smile.amazon.com and signing up to support our non-profit, Four Point Families. You’ll have to search for Four Point Families and select it as the organization you’d like to partner with. Then Amazon will send .5% of your purchase our way to help us continue to protect families. Thanks.

     

  • Tik Tok Parental Controls | What You Need to Know

    Tik Tok Parental Controls | What You Need to Know

    TikTok is the biggest app right now in every app store with over 2billion downloads. They have added some parental controls. This video and podcast episode outline some things you should know while setting these controls up. Below is a link to a great step by step for using these parental controls.

    Bark App Management: TikTok

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    The parental controls on TikTok allow you to lock privacy settings, keeping strangers from making friend requests, sending messages, and even seeing videos. You must use your child’s account to give yourself permission to set up parental controls. This means you must have a TikTok account yourself if you’re going to use the parental control settings. Previously your child’s account could be set to private, but they could change the settings per video and post publically regardless of your settings.

    Do TikTok Parental Controls Allow you to be Hands Off?

    No parental control is a substitute for parental involvement in their child’s online experience. Be sure they know they can come to you to discuss things that make them feel uncomfortable or go against your rules. Should your kids use TikTok? If they are under 13 no. If they are under 16, maybe yes but with parental controls. If they are over 16, then you should be discussing their digital health with them and trusting them to make quality decisions as they grow into adults.

    Thanks for checking out this article. You can visit BecauseFamily.org/partnership to support our work to protect children and teenagers by bridging the technology gap between them and their parents. You can donate, support our affiliates, or just share our ministry with your friends. Thank You.

  • Snapchat to Offer Mental Health Support to Users

    Snapchat to Offer Mental Health Support to Users

    The post on Snapchat’s blog says they are trying to “create a safer internet.” Snapchat will offer mental health support to their users through a feature called “Here for You.” This feature will provide mental health resources and other information as a result of searches within the app that involve mental health topics. 

    “Here For You, which will roll out in the coming months, will show safety resources from local experts when Snapchatters search for certain topics, including those related to anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts, and bullying.” Snapchat Blog

    They are also adding features that promote a healthy mental state, with lenses, creative tools, filters, and a quiz. Snap claims to have always had their users privacy and security at the forefront of the design of their platform. The addition of “Here for You” is another step to promote safety and security for their users.

    What Parents Should Know

    What would cause Snapchat to offer mental health support to their users? Could it possibly be the outcry about social media being terrible for your mental health? Comparing yourselves to others, being called out for your own faults, bullying, and many other issues have caused our young people to be more susceptible to depression and negative self image. Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, with their story features have allowed people to post with a false sense of ephemerality. This is the belief that what you post is temporary and therefore you’re safe to post what you want. Ephemerality is a myth on the internet and social media. When you post something online, it is forever. Snap Inc. is touting themselves as a pioneer of privacy and safety in Social Media but truthfully, they’ve created an ecosystem that allows more bullying, sexting, and bad advice than ever before.

    Pointing users in the direction of professional mental health advice is a very good step in the right direction. In my opinion, however, it is just an attempt to cover themselves for a problem they’ve caused. It’s like a mechanic taking a part out of your car accidentally and then telling you they decided to replace it for you for free. You didn’t have as much of a problem until they caused it in the first place. Shouldn’t we expect that they would do whatever they can to make it right?

    It’s Up to Us!

    We, as parents, are the only ones truly looking out for the safety of our children. Every one of these tech companies has a fiscal reason to provide “solutions” to mental health problems. They all have shareholders screaming at them to keep their company out of the news except for the right reasons. Hearing that depressive symptoms is linked to social media is the kind of thing that will cause stock prices to drop. It makes sense that they would scramble to provide some kind of “band aid” for that issue. Be smarter than the average consumer and protect your own and your children’s mental health by keeping them from overuse of social media. Make your plan, set your limits and don’t be afraid to have the hard conversations with your kids.

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  • The Worst Thing About CES2020!

    The Worst Thing About CES2020!

    I spent five days walking around the show room floor and attending conference sessions at CES2020. It is the largest trade show in the world. I saw all kinds of technology from smart cars, smart homes, and toys and ed products for kids. These people are why I am at CES. I’m there to learn how their products can benefit our kids in the future. Tech is super helpful and useful as a tool for education, entertainment, and development. Many kids are learning in ways they couldn’t before, children are getting opportunities they didn’t have before because of vr and ar classrooms. Technology is and always will be a part of our lives. The world is getting more and more tech-centric. The worst thing about CES2020 seems to be that parent’s concerns about the amount of tech in their kids’ lives are being ignored.

    The Worst Thing about CES2020

    I heard a lot of mixed messages at CES this year. Especially at the Living at Digital Times “Family Tech Summit.” It has become increasingly frustrating to listen to software developers and hardware engineers talk about how their new technology is going to change the world. While much of this technology is very neat, and as mentioned, can be helpful. There are also a small percentage of people on the stages at CES warning us that our kids are becoming too dependent on this technology. Parents and teachers are getting concerned because they feel like technology is moving far faster than they can keep up. The experts at CES don’t seem to understand the anxiety caused by new, “world changing,” technology being announced every single year.

    Most technology being announced at CES is a new take on the same thing we’ve had for the past ten years. I am walking in to the Family Tech Summit expecting to hear about what new products will be best for our kids. Instead I am hearing what will be best for these developers and companies. How to market and close sales with their new products. I did hear from a few people about ways to protect our kids on the technology we allow them to use.

    Unfortunately they were given a small amount of time. They were followed by someone who just got on stage to celebrate the latest voice control tech. This “expert” explained how great it is for our kids. He marginalized parents’ concerns by calling them misguided. then he touted the fact that parents seem to be concerned but don’t take action to protect their kids. He ignored the fact that companies make their products and advertise them as safe. They build in parental controls that are weak and hard to set up. Then they wonder why they show up in the news when a kid comes across adult content on a smart speaker or is visited by a stranger on their in-room nanny cam.

    It wasn’t all bad.

    There were highlights at CES2020, though. Dr Amanda Gummer with the Good Toy Guide, spoke of using tech to encourage kids to play and learn. Sean Herman, author of “Screen Captured,” shared about his own kids and how their attention to screens caused him to start Kinzoo. Kinzoo is a messenger app that “turns screen time into family time.” I met Carrol Titus, founder of GoldenPoppy Inc. who is making augmented reality games to teach physics, programming, and positive self awareness. I enjoyed speaking with Ahren Hoffman and Sue Warfield from the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association, “ASTRA.” We talked about the lack of attention to giving parents tools to learn and use tech wisely and the benefits of kids playing off of screens. Especially young children.

    Everyone can say what they want about screen time and the benefits or risks. The truth I see is ‘that technology should enhance our play and education. It shouldn’t replace it. Parents aren’t freaking out because their kids are spending too much time watching educational videos. They’re not concerned about them playing apps that teach them to read or do math. The concern is the unstoppable flow of entertainment that comes flying at our children at toy stores and app stores. Entertainment that has no intention of teaching anything, just using up your child’s time and attention to show them ads or sell them access to more entertainment. I understand that many want to see tech become the new norm for education, recreation, entertainment, and everything else.

    The issue is that we currently aren’t promoting balance. Surely not at CES2020, definitely not in our app stores or on the shelves of our retailers. Once again, it falls to us as parents to take the step towards a healthy attitude toward s tech. Digital wellness is our responsibility and the more I hear from app developers and toy makers, the more I am sure they won’t be taking it seriously, not really, so we have to.

    If you’re concerned about what your kids are doing online, be sure to check out Accountable2You.com. This software is my favorite accountability software and will help you keep a close eye on the websites your kids view.

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  • The Family Tech CES2020 Preview

    The Family Tech CES2020 Preview

    Every year at CES, tens of thousands of people gather to see the latest that technology has to offer. Every tech media outlet covers CES. They’ll be talking about everything from virtual reality to massage chairs. This is your Family Tech CES2020 preview. There are a lot of interesting topics being covered at CES this year. Here are some that I think are the most interesting and some that are specifically important for families like yours.

    TV Talk

    Welcome to the age of the 8K television. That’s right, we’ve skipped from 4k resolution to the mind bendingly clear 8k quality. Some say that the human eye can’t even discern that kind of clarity but it sure would be fun to find our for ourselves. The 8k tvs from LG, Samsung, and Sony tout such amazing tech that you need a screen larger that 65 inches to even get the full benefit.

    Voice-Enabled Digital Assistants on Everything

    Voice assistants are in everything. It’s in your car, your TV remote, even your toilet and shower. That is going to continue at CES 2020. Look to find voice activated technology in more and more gadgets this year. Even our kids are being offered toys and gadgets with voice command tech built in. Voice Assistants aren’t new but seeing them integrated into everything else only proves that this concept is here to stay.

    foldable phones family tech ces2020 preview

    Crazy New Gadgets

    There is always some crazy stuff at CES. Some is pretty unimportant but interesting. Some things are said to be the new face of technology but just seem strange to me. Foldable phones fit into that category, so do many of the robot offerings at the conference. Either way I’ll be looking for the most amusing and interesting gadgets to show you at this year’s CES.

    5G Technology

    5G is a bit of a buzz phrase these days but there is some actual technology behind the term. This fast, “over the air,” data connection is finally starting to spread for real. Many major cities are adding 5G to their infrastructure. It’s expensive and coverage is spotty but wherever it works, it’s lightning fast. The reason 5G is so critical is the role it will play in the roll out of self driving car technology. The connection speed that 5G offers is critical to the success of the self driving revolution.

    Self Driving Car Technology

    Self Driving Cars are always the bell of the ball at CES. This year will be no different with more and more companies finding ways to implement the improving technology. Not only are the cars themselves a big deal but the tech around mapping, connection speed, and entertainment inside your self driving car is becoming a major reality as well. It isn’t easy to hitch a ride in one of these vehicles at CES but I’m going to try my hardest this year.

    What Parents Should Know

    The future of technology is always going to include products to entice our children. Coding toys, games, gadgets, and safety tech are all being highlighted at CES2020 and I’ll be there to show you what to look out for and what to look forward to. As I look toward this year’s conference, here is a family tech preview of CES2020.

    Ed-Tech

    As highlighted last year, education technology is a going to be all over the show floor at CES. I’ll show your new coding games and toys as well as virtual and augmented reality classrooms. Robots will play a major role in training students for future technology jobs as well. Keep your browser open to the Family Tech Blog to see more as the conference starts up next week.

    pet tech family tech ces2020 preview

    Pet-Tech

    The furry members of our family have a place at CES as well. Dog toilets, cat toys that move across the ground, connected leashes, and even fenceless boundaries highlight the pet tech industry at CES. You’d be surprised how much tech can help people care for their pets and help pets care for their people. You probably wouldn’t be surprised, however, at some of the goofy pet tech that shows up at CES as well.

    Smart-home/ Home Security

    Everyone’s homes are becoming smarter and smarter, even if the way we use the technology isn’t so wise. Technology that can keep our home network and connected devices safe is crucial and thus, a major factor at CES. I’ll be spending quite a bit of time chatting with developers about their products intended to keep your data secure. Some even offer new parental control solutions as well.

    Connected Toys

    So many of our toys are connected to the internet now. Games, robots, even racetracks are finding ways to connect your tablet or smartphone. You are given an online account in order to fully play with these toys. This is introducing our kids to use of the internet earlier and earlier. What products are coming up that feature connected toys? I’ll gave updated information for you from CES next week.

    Avast All-in-One Security and Safety – Omni

    I’m very excited to test out one specific piece of family safety technology. Avast’s Omni device is an all-in-one way to protect your network from hackers, malware, spyware, viruses, and even set up parental controls and GPS alerts. I’m excited to have a hands on look at Omni while I visit their booth at CES. I’ll also be able to hear from their VP of Product Deliver as she shares at the Family Tech Summit on Thursday of the conference.

    A Long Six Days

    Hope you enjoyed this family tech CES2020 preview. This event is a lot of work and makes for long days. It is, however, some of the most useful and rewarding work I do all year. The new tech, updates on the latest trends, and marketing strategy research gives me such great information to pass along to you, parents. Thank you to those who have partnered with BecauseFamily for this trip to Las Vegas. If you would like to partner with our organization just visit our Partnership page. You can follow every detail of my adventure to CES2020 on our Facebook Page, our Instagram, and on YouTube. Thank you again, see you soon, from Vegas!

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  • Be S.A.F.E. Online During the Holidays

    Be S.A.F.E. Online During the Holidays

    **This post is an updated version of an article from 2017. 

    The Holidays are a time of fun, family, faith, and food. Everyone coming together can be super fun for the entire family. There can also be some struggles here and there, especially when it comes to what shows up on the screens in the house. Your younger kids could end up seeing too much social media on their teenage cousin’s smartphone. Uncle so and so can show Youtube videos to some family with adult language and content not noticing the children in the room. Heres a few tips to try and keep your Holiday internet safe and family friendly.

    Protect Your Kids

    Encourage a host home internet filter.

    Ask the family member or friend who’s hosting your festivities if they have some sort of content filter on their wifi. Many routers have a basic filter and some folks may even have another filter system in place. If there isn’t an option, recommend one like Circle. If they don’t have kids or aren’t interested in filtering their wifi long term you can recommend a free trial with something like Mobicip or NetNanny. This usually allows you to use the filter for seven days to a month at no cost. Offer to help them set it up and then you can breathe a little easier when your kids are using their wifi.

    Keep devices with screens in a common area.

    Intentional poor behavior will happen in private. If you keep the screens around everyone else you’re much less likely to have an incident. Make a rule that screens should be kept in the most common area of your Thanksgiving meeting place. The living room full of people or the dining room around a busy table is a great place to let kids spend whatever time on screens you’ve allowed while adult eyes can glance down to see what’s being viewed. This will also keep sneaky cousins from pulling up something age appropriate for their younger family members.

    Talk to your kids.

    Your kids need a safe place. They need to know that if they see something inappropriate online they can come to you and receive no judgment or criticism.  It’s critical that they are allowed to explain what they saw and how it made them feel. Discuss your screen boundaries ahead of time, your kids should know what you expect even if you aren’t able to get the whole extended family onboard with your plan. Tell them if you want them staying off screens completely. Let them know not to look at older kid’s phones or tablets while they play. Think ahead of the likelihood of your kid seeing something they shouldn’t and try to head that off at the pass. Accidents happen but if you and your kids are on guard, you should be able to have fun without too much worry.

    Protect Your Privacy

    Turn off camera location settings.

    Your camera defaults to save your location every time you take a photo. This tags those photos with where you were when you snapped that pic. Then, when you share the image on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat your location is uploaded with the image. This means that with the right software your location can be extracted from that photo and used for unseemly reasons. 

    • Go into your settings app and access your “location” settings.
    • Go to the camera app settings under “location” and tell your phone never to use “location” while using your camera.

    Changing these settings will keep your location data off of your pictures.

    Advise family members not to tag their location on their Holiday posts.

    Finally, you’ll want to be careful not to tag your location on your photos. Yes, pictures of the pie, stuffing, turkey, and gravy boat have become as much a part of the holiday tradition as the cornucopia, but when you share it you’ll want to leave the address of the host off of your status update. Sharing your address with public social media posts is never a good idea. This can lead to all kinds of dangers. Imagine the images of all the neat and expensive stuff in the host home. Now imagine you’re a local who likes to break and enter to take things every now and then. What better way to identify a target than creep Instagram holiday posts for the people with the coolest stuff. Then, find the posts with their address tagged on the photo and off you go. Share away, but share with wisdom.

    The holidays should be a time of rejoicing and happiness. We should stuff ourselves with food and enjoy being together. Following these steps can help you stay safe and help keep your holiday party guests safe as well. 

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  • Call of Duty Modern Warfare | A Parent’s Guide

    Call of Duty Modern Warfare | A Parent’s Guide

    Call of Duty Modern Warfare Parent’s Guide

    The rating below is based on the game content. Online interactions will always increase the risk of unwanted content.

    Violence – 1
    Language – 1
    Sexual Content – 4
    Positive Message – 1

    Total Score – 7  out of 20
    (The higher the rating, the safer the game is for kids.)

    ESRB Rating – M for Mature [for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, and Use of Drugs]

    The Game

    Call of Duty has set the standard for realistic first person shooter gaming for more than 15 years. 2019’s Modern Warfare seems to be a  tribute to the original games in that the story of the latest release is as good as any in every other CoD game to date. The campaign mode takes you through the story through the eyes of British, American, and Middle Eastern soldiers and insurgents who are fighting to free a country from a Russian general and his armies. The story is rich and the characters include soldiers you’ve fought with in different games, giving an instant buy in and causing you to care about these characters from early in the story. While the game does ask you to make some pretty difficult decisions, the realism is unlike any other FPS game I’ve ever played, mostly because of the gruesome situations you are put in during the campaign. Overall, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, as much as the campaign is concerned, is one of the best games of 2019. I recommend it for those mature enough to play as long as you have a strong constitution.

    Violence [1]

    Violence is intense in this game. Explosions blow people apart, every bullet hit causes a spray of blood that can be seen from far away. The rag doll effect is used to increase realism causing enemies to fall limply to the ground and fly through the sky when an explosion takes place nearby. Like many of the most recent Call of Duty games there is an option to disable gore effects but this option is in the settings and not password protected. If you set the gore settings to off they can be easily turned back on without any trouble.

    Language [1]

    CoD Modern Warfare is full of profanity. Every mature word in the book is used in the game and in every mode of the game. Commentary from non-player characters contains extreme language and obviously online multiplayer modes is likely to contain adult language from other users as well. The gore/content filter will turn off language from characters in the game but, again, it isn’t password protection and online play is not affected by these settings. 

    Sexual Content [4]

    There isn’t any obvious sexual content in CoD Modern Warfare. Early in the campaign you interrupt a man who is abusing a woman, it is hinted that he was possibly going to abuse her sexually. You kill him before anything happens. There are some character models/outfits that could be considered revealing, especially with cleavage in the multiplayer modes.

    Positive Message [1]

    Modern Warfare is honest about the cruelty and awful things that happen in modern war. It sets up the Russians as enemies and the US and the UK as the heroes. The campaign story is very dark in places and, while intriguing and well performed, is intended for adult audiences. This game puts players through situations that those who experience PTSD from actual combat often describe as what gave them their condition. Kids who experience anxiety and anxiousness could be seriously harmed by the extreme situations in Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

    You could argue that the cruelty shown in this game can be a commentary on how awful war can be but the fact that you spend 99% of your time in the game participating in combat would likely overshadow any lesson the game is trying to teach.

    What Parents Should Know

    The most important information about this specific game is already mentioned above. I would like to address something I see often when discussing violent video games and first person shooters. There are different schools of thought on the dangers of violent first and third person shooter video games. Obviously there are some who think they are bad for everyone, decreasing sensitivity to violence, and causing people to act out. There is little actual evidence to back up this opinion but there are those who will always feel this way. Another group feels that these games are no big deal. They believe that playing games with violence and blood and gore can help kids understand the true danger of gun violence and lower the risk they they themselves become violent. Many will compare games like Call of Duty to other shooters like Fortnite by saying that Fortnite is too tongue in cheek and puts our kids at risk because it doesn’t take combat seriously enough. As the first opinion there is little to no evidence supporting these ideas either.

    The only statements about violent video games that can be backed up by viable research is that they can cause increased anxiety and adrenaline in children, can exacerbate attention problems in children who already have those issues,  and that there is far too little research to outline the true effects these games have on our children. It may be difficult for parents to be alright with the fact that there is no obvious bad or good answer for video games like Modern Warfare. The truth is that you have to know your child and their maturity level. You should watch their behavior and pay attention to signs like grades, relationships, diet, and exercise to be sure your child has a healthy balance between life and time on their screens.

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  • Family Link’s New Features are Great but Still Not Good Enough

    Family Link’s New Features are Great but Still Not Good Enough

    Android has updated their Family Link parental controls feature. The above video will take you though what they’ve done and give you some questions to ask yourself about using the service.

    Make sure your device is compatible.

    The site is very clear that Family Link is only compatible with newer android devices. Go into the settings on your kid’s device and tap the ABOUT button in the menu to see if your software version is 7.0 or newer. If it isn’t your child may not be able to install Family Link which will mean you can’t use the software to set limits and restrictions.

    Double check their privacy policies.

    COPPA regulates the collection of children’s data without parent permission. You have to create an account for your child to use Family Link and to do that you must give permission for Google to collect some of their data. The video explores a bit more of what information they can collect and what they do with that data.

    Be aware that your kids get full control at 13.

    If you are one that wants to be able to see what your older child is doing on their device you’ll have to use the child’s phone to adjust parental control settings with Family Link as control is shifted to the child at age 13.

    Do your homework!

    As I mention in the video above and the podcast episode below, you need to familiarize yourself with the benefits and limitations of Google’s Family Link software. Visit families.google.com to see their information about it and check out our other articles and videos about Family Link as well. You can never be too informed.

     

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  • How “Kids Games” Give Predators Unmonitored Access to Children

    How “Kids Games” Give Predators Unmonitored Access to Children

    I was contacted this week by a parent who was shocked to find that adults had been chatting with her young son in Disney Heroes, Battle Mode, an app rated 9+ in the Apple App store. She sent me screen shots in which players were asking her son if he was a boy or girl. They asked how old he was and where he was from. One of them even confessed, “I am not a kid. LOL.”  Obviously, when his mother found these messages she was extremely concerned, she removed access to that game and set some limits for their whole family for a while. Then, just a few hours later I received a link from a concerned parent about an app in which people are posing as employees of the game company and asking children to send pictures “without a shirt on” to prove their age. She asked if this was true and my response was that yes, these things are happening every single day. Here’s why these predators can gain such easy access to our kids.

    Disney Heroes Battle Mode

    After hearing about the trouble with Disney Heroes Battle Mode I downloaded the app to see what it was all about. After a short cenimatic and then playing through the tutorial you get a notification that the app has purchases built-in and that you shouldn’t be under 13 (app is rated 9+ in the app store. if you want to play. I simply tapped continue and moved right past the warning. No age verification, no password, no face id, nothing. Once in the app I started looking through the settings. I did find controls for the chat feature, including a password protected on/off toggle for chat access. This was good to see, especially since the issue I was researching had to do with chatting.

    The problem is that apps like Disney Heroes give parents a false sense of security. The app is made by Disney, the company’s name on anything makes many parents think that the product is made with their kids’ health in mind. This could not be further from the truth. Disney is out for exactly what every other major corporation is out for, their financial bottom line. We have to remember that data is big money and apps that are made for kids collect just as much data as any other app. Data that is personalized to a user is worth more money which means app developers need users to make an account to sort and identify their data more easily. The easiest way to convince app users to create an account is by making it the only way they can chat with friends in the game.

    What Parents Should Know

    I recommend taking a look at the game your kids play on their pones or tablets. Just because the game features cartoon characters doesn’t mean there aren’t adults playing the game. If the game has a social feature like chat or friend-mode you can be sure that your kids will be contacted by strangers. Look in the settings, preferences, or options of the games to see if there is a way to turn off chat mode. If they don’t allow you to disable social features, I would uninstall the game and encourage your child to find a different game to play.

    We must remember that the companies that make these games offer them for free because their money comes from in-app purchases and advertising. In order to make money they have to keep people playing the games as long as possible. Research shows that there is no better way to keep someone in your app than social engagement. People will be sure to keep coming back if they have friends in the game to play with or against. This means that they will continue to put these social features in their games and while app stores may rate these games as safe for younger children, my rule is that if it has a social element it should be for kids older than 13. Even then you should ensure that you child understands what they should do if they are approached online by a stranger and encourage them to tell you if someone makes them uncomfortable in any social engagement online. We can do our best to protect them from this software but nothing is more affective in preventing these dangerous encounters than teaching them how to recognize them and end the conversations immediately.

     

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