Half of parents allow young kids to play 18+ games unsupervised

We recently surveyed more than 2,000 parents on our platform and found that more than half of parents allow their children to play video games for over 18s, without supervision or knowledge of the game beforehand. In contrast, just eighteen percent said they would let 10-14-year-olds watch an 18+ movie.

We also discovered that more than four fifths (86%) of parents admitted that they don’t follow age restrictions on video games, compared to just a quarter (23%) who said they didn’t follow age restrictions on films.

Nearly half (43%) of parents have seen a negative change in their child’s behaviour since playing games aimed at adults, and almost a quarter (22%) of the 2,171 respondents said their kids now understand and use negative or offensive language since playing these games.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of respondents were mothers and those surveyed were parents of children from the ages of 5-16, with 53% boys and 47% girls.

More than four fifths (86%) of parents don’t believe that games will impact their child’s behaviour or outlook on life. However more than half (62%) admit they have tried to take the games away from their kids but gave them back soon after because of tantrums and nearly half (48%) fear that their child is addicted to video games.

Richard Conway, founder of Childcare.co.uk said,

“It’s difficult in this day and age to govern what your child is exposed to, because if your 10-year-old has friends who are playing Fortnite, which is rated 12, you want them to be included in the fun. However, it’s always worth looking into the game to see if it’s suitable rather than leaving them to their own devices.

“What’s interesting is that the majority of parents follow film age ratings, but when it comes to video games they maybe aren’t as strict. It’s important to remember how impressionable children are; if they see behaviour or language in a video game or movie, they may mimic it.”