Parents concerned by children's video game use

Nearly 7.7 million parents are unaware of their children’s video game content, according to new research.

In a survey of 906 adults with children, games download site Metaboli and parenting information site Mumsnet found that playing computer games were also a source of family tension.

Nine in 10 parents said their children fight over getting their turn on games and 5 million parents said they had growing concerns over the time their children spent playing video games.

A further fifth said they would like more control over their children’s gaming, especially parents with children over the age of 13.

The research comes as Metaboli launches a tool that gives parents control of their children’s PC gaming.

The parental control feature, which comes free with the service, lets parents set up each child with their own account on Metaboli and pre-select the games their children can play by the age certification, genre or on a case-by-case basis.

Parents can also use the weekly calendar to specify when and for how long their children will be able to play to help allocate a fair playing time to each child, thereby minimising arguments.

Paul Howes, regional director for Metaboli, said: "The study with Mumsnet has shown a keen desire among parents for more control over their children’s computer games and we’ve developed this feature with today’s busy families in mind."

Carrie Longton, co-founder of Mumsnet, said: "We welcome the introduction by Metaboli of an easy-to-use parental control feature which will help parents have greater power over their children's gaming. Although many parents are already actively monitoring and supervising their children as they play PC games, this pack will make mums lives much easier."