E-Safety

National Online Safety:

Information on Age Ratings

E-Safety Awareness:

We have compiled a list of our top 5 tips for writing a family set of E-Safety rules:

  • Ensure your child or children feel they are a part of the process—do it together and share ideas
  • Make the rules positive eg.

X Don’t go on the Internet after 7pm

PI will use the Internet during my set times, 5pm—6pm on weekdays

  • Keep the number of rules manageable. Limiting them to 5 means they are more likely to remember!
  • Include a rule which reassures your child or children that they can tell you if something they see upsets them—conversation is key to keeping safe
  • Write the rules down on paper then ask the children to design a poster to put up in a family space or in their bedroom

If you are happy to share them with us, we would love to see the results!

For more information, go to:

Internet Matters

Childnet:

Wallisdean Junior School is committed to keeping our children safe and to promote the safe, responsible use of technology.

PEGI Ratings:

PEGI Ratings

The PEGI system has been effectively incorporated into UK law and video games will be age rated at one or other of the following age levels; which you will find on video game sleeves. Ratings do not denote the difficulty or the enjoyment level of a game, but that it contains content suitable for a certain age group and above. The PEGI age ratings will enable parents and carers to make an informed choice when buying a game for their children.

It is important to note that age ratings 12, 16 and 18 are mandatory and that it is illegal for a retailer to supply any game with any of these ratings to anyone below the specified age. The age ratings 3 and 7 are advisory only. An 18 rated game is applied when the level of violence reaches a stage where it becomes gross violence, or the level of sexual activity is explicit, or where the use of real life drugs is glamorised.

Content Indicators:

PEGI Content Indicators

In addition to age ratings, video games will include indicators of the type of content and activities that the game includes in it. The descriptors are fairly self-explanatory but should be read in conjunction with the age rating given for a video game.

Parental Responsibility:

  • The PEGI ratings system helps you make informed decisions about which video games to choose for your family
  • A PEGI rating gives the suggested minimum age that you must be to play a game due to the suitability of the content
  • As parents, you can take direct control of what games your children play at home, how they play them and for how long, through parental controls on video game systems such as the Xbox or PlayStation
  • Choosing and playing video games as a family is the best way to understand and enjoy them together
  • The stories, worlds and characters in video games offer playful ways to engage with a wide range of subjects and fuels creativity, interests and imagination
  • The askaboutgames.com website provides further information about video games ratings and offers real family stories and suggestions on how video games can be creative and collaborative experience for all the family
  • We also recommend that all parents visit the CEOP Think U Know website for more information on keeping your child safe online www.thunkuknow.co.uk