Do your kids have an Xbox, Wii or Playstation? Then you should know about parental controls

Nope, we don't have any game consoles in our house though there's an old Nintendo (circa 1990) in the basement. We're more computer game people. Even so, I'm well aware that the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) gives ratings to video games.

The ratings are not to hard to find. If you go to Amazon's page for Halo 3 they list the ESRB rating as Mature right at the top of the page. Plus if you look at the box, you'll see the big M in the lower left hand corner.

The front of virtually every game box displays an ESRB rating symbol ranging from EC (Early Childhood 3+) to AO (Adults Only 18+).  On the back, next to the rating symbol, are content descriptors.  The ESRB's two-part rating system helps parents decide what games are best suited for their kids' age and maturity level. (Click here to see the entire list of symbols and ratings.)

But did you know that Parental Control features that are now available on video game consoles allow parents to configure the system to limit our children's access to video games based on their ESRB ratings? So even if they get hold of your hidden copy of BioShock, they still can't play it.

How cool is that?

This only applies to the new generation of game consoles - Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Sony PlayStation 3 - and helps ensure a fun, secure, and age-appropriate gaming experience for our kids. About time!

You can go to the ESRB website at www.esrb.org to find information on how to set up Parental Controls for your family's game systems. And I'm sure they'll show you how to override them so your husband can play Grand Theft Auto San Andreas after the kids are in bed.