Games and your child

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There was a time when parents got worried about how their children kept the right company; mixed with the right people, had the right habits. Now, all that concern has gone to a new level after the internet and the explosion in advanced graphic gaming. Children can now access games which have extreme amounts of gore or sexually explicit images or story lines. One of the biggest stunners in this genre has been Rapelay- A bold japanese game which goes on to test your raping skills.

The game, created by a Japanese firm, Illusion, has become a hotpick in the grey market. The game is freely available in the grey markets of Chennai and also Delhi, including the infamous Palika Bazar.

The copies are mostly pirated, which are made from original, which is smuggled in from Japan or purchased online. Most popular online stores had made it a point to have it removed from their online shelves, after concerns were raised on it.

Most of these games come under the category of hentai(japanese porn) which can be mostly downloaded from the internet.To quote Narayana Reddy, an eminent sexologist, “”Young people addicted to these games may start seeing violence as an integral part of sex. While films make children emulate characters, such games where the player is the character can make them act it out.”

Strangely enought, the authorities dont seem to be taking a stock of the situation. The central crime branch police says that they are yet to come across such games in raids.

Cert-In(Computer Emergency Reaction Team of the IT ministry) senior director BJ Srinath says “Our primary job is to prevent cyber crimes that threaten the national security. When such offensive websites are hosted in other countries, there is little we can do.”

This makes the families take charge themselves and they have to place their trust in parent control softwares installed in their computers.

If charge is not taken now to take steps to curb the menace, this might have effects which might end up being beyond control. A few directives that one, as a parent can follow are:

• use software, that helps you monitor the time spent by your kid on various sites.
• kid safe browsers like kidzui and kidrocket can also help.
• make sure everyone can see the monitor all the time.
• find out your child’s monitoring at browsing centres which end up becoming the homing ground for such games and adult material.

The best approach is being subtle, yet stern about the issue. Using too much force might make your child want to indulge in these things without your knowledge. Use your judgement to the best of your abilities.