Keep Your Kids Safe in a Screen Filled World

IN A NUTSHELL..

In our tech-driven world 🌐, protecting our children from inappropriate digital content is a pressing concern.

As parents, vigilance is our first line of defense 🛡 – but it’s not always enough.
Common Sense Media and Children and Media Australia are here to help.
They provide reviews and age-based ratings for movies, games, TV shows, and apps.

Take advantage of these sites to make informed decisions and navigate the digital maze more effectively.

For personal stories and pro tips – more details below.
There are no affiliate links or sponsored products on this page.

Age Inappropriate Content

In the digital age, ensuring our children consume age-appropriate content is a growing concern for many parents. As my boys are growing up, this is something I often think about.

I’ve heard of horror stories of inappropriate content sneaking into kids’ videos, even on platforms like YouTube Kids. It’s terrifying, but it’s a reality parents must face.

The first line of defense is vigilance. We need to keep an eye on what our kids are watching.

But what about other digital media like TV shows, movies, and games? How can we keep up with the constant flood of content? I’ve found two invaluable resources to help modern parents like us keep up:

Common Sense Media and
Children and Media Australia.

The Impact Of Content On Our Children

In a Nutshell:

Studies show that exposure to age inappropriate content can result in:

Aggression and behavioral issues – when exposed to violence
Distorted understanding of relationships and sexuality – when exposed to sexualized content
Mental Health Problems – when exposed to disturbing content

Before diving into these two resources, it’s important to understand why we as parents, should care about what our children are consuming.

Research papers published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and Institute for Family Studies both discuss the negative effects of exposing children to inappropriate content:

Aggression and Behavioral Issues:

Exposure to violent content can lead to increased aggression in children.
Children who view violent media are more likely to see violence as an acceptable way to solve problems.

Distorted Understanding of Relationships and Sexuality:

Exposure to sexualized content shifts attitudes about sex and gender
Earlier progression to sexual activities, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases amongst adolescents.

Mental Health Problems:

Encountering disturbing content can cause anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances.
The Institute for Family Studies reports that prolonged exposure to sexual and violent content can desensitize children and reduce their willingness to help others in need.

Links to these articles at the end of this post if you want to read into them in more detail.

It’s clear that as parents: monitoring and guiding our children’s media consumption is essential to safeguarding their psychological and emotional well-being.

By implementing age restrictions, using parental controls, and leveraging reliable resources, we can protect our kids.

Digital Media Organizations

In a Nutshell:

Two organizations that help parents find suitable content for your child’s age:

Commonsense Media (USA)
Children and Media (Australia)

I recently bought myself a retro handheld to reminisce the old games I use to play as a child – games like Sonic, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk.

My eldest son was just as excited as I was to unbox it when it finally arrived. This got me thinking – what games are suitable for a 5-6-year-old?

So I did some searching, and found two very useful websites that not only reviewed the appropriateness of games for children, but also movies, TV shows and books. These sites are:

Commonsense Media (USA), and
Children and Media (Australia)

Both sites offer age-based media ratings, with relatively minor differences in recommendations (for movies that I searched anyway).

For instance, the movie “Sonic 3” have slightly different age suggestions on each site.

Common Sense Media (above) and Children and Media Australia (below).

Note: I did notice a larger gap when looking at video games, with the Australian site being more conservative.

PROTIP #1

Consider using both platforms
Since the two countries have relatively consistent ratings for movies, there’s no harm in using both systems. You’ll come to find that one may be better than the other for some aspects, making it a better choice for some search options.

My Insights

Common Sense Media

What I liked:

You can sort for age-appropriate content and apply additional filters such as violence level, language, drugs & alcohol etc. It even saves your preferences for that child’s profile.
Offers educational resources and family tech planners to parents and educators.
Modern and clean interface for navigation.

Drawbacks:

Many reviews are behind a subscription paywall.
‘Parents’ Guides’ are also behind a subscription paywall.
Limited details in the free reviews.

Example Image of a the curated list for your child

Children and Media Australia

What I liked:

Easy sorting of content by age group.
Free access to detailed reviews explaining suitability. Reviews go into specific scenes that may scare/disturb young children.
Comprehensive parent guides for free. They range from answering questions about digital media through to providing information on various media topics to raise awareness.

Drawbacks

Limited filtering options. i.e violence, drug & alcohol levels etc.
Only covers movies and apps (no games, podcasts or books)
Can’t save your search preferences which can be useful for larger families.
Fewer movies listed compared to Common Sense Media

Example screenshots of the review for the movie Angry Birds below.

Conclusion

Navigating the digital world with kids is like walking a tightrope—balance is key. Common Sense Media and Children and Media Australia are your safety nets.

While Common Sense Media has a modern interface, it can be frustrating to navigate without a subscription.

On the other hand, Children and Media Australia offers all content for free but covers fewer media types.

Ultimately, using both resources can help you fill in the gaps when one site doesn’t have what you need.

Why it matters:

Exposure to inappropriate content can fuel aggression,
Warp kids’ understanding of relationships,
Harm mental health.

Staying vigilant with age ratings, parental controls, and these resources helps shield their innocence (for a while longer).

Both sites are great resources for parents and there’s no harm in using both. When your preferred site doesn’t have the information you need, just switch to the other one!

Links to the two sites are below:

Link to the research papers briefly discussed above

Let me know if this post is useful and if there are any other sites that you would like me to cover to help other parents. If you uncover any tips and tricks when using these sites, please share them with the rest of us below!