CommonSenseMedia

One problem in many families where children use the Internet extensively and parents don't is that the parents aren't engaged enough in monitoring what their kids are doing. I have always been surprised at the number of kids under 10 who are allowed to play video games with Teen or even Mature ratings and watch R rated movies at home. I've interviewed many children who have told me this and have also heard more examples through my sons. To me, it's just a time bomb for parents to not be involved in what media their children consume. SFGate has a story today about CommonSenseMedia.org is a website where people are trying to address this problem by rating movies, games, music, books and websites. Their recommendations for what age is appropriate are a little more realistic than the movie industry's -- for example, they say that the movie Blood Diamond, rated R, is okay for anyone older than 15. It's a good resource for parents and children.