Buying a Video Game Console for Your Kids This Holiday Season? Here are a Few Simple Rules to Stay in Control of the Content They are Exposed To

Since it's the holiday season most kids would likely ask for a PS4, Xbox One, or Wii U from their parents. However, if you buy one of these new games consoles for your children, you should not just hand it over immediately to them.

There are certain settings you need to tinker with first to make sure that your kids' gaming experience would be appropriate for their age. The most important of these settings are the parental controls. This is the first setting you should modify once you get the chance to do so.

Parental controls allow you to block content, including games and movies, with an age rating deemed inappropriate for your children. You should do this as soon as possible because, as the Guardian states, "If one of your kids registers as the master account, they have all the power."

As a parent, you should also be able to understand the PEGI rating system. How else would you know which games contain suitable content for your child? Since most video games these days contain a considerable amount of violence, you definitely need to understand this video game rating system to make sure they are not exposed to this type of unfitting content. In fact, according to an article on Internet Matters, 59% of the games released in 2013 were deemed violent by the PEGI rating board.

You should also prevent your child from making unnecessary or accidental in-game purchases. If you do not, these purchases could add up and leave you with a large bill to pay. Luckily, a number of consoles have a preventative measure against in-game purchases as a default option. Others can be set in the aforementioned parental controls.

Once you hand over the controller to your child, you should still set playtime limits. No parent would want their child to just play video games all day. This is why you must set a limit for the time your child can play video games.

You should also place the new video game console in a social space. Newer consoles can actually play DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, which is a feature all members of the family could enjoy. If you can, you can also join in on playing video games. As long as you keep these things in mind, you and your children will have an enjoyable experience with your new video game console.