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Feb 14, 2007 1:32 am US/Eastern
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Special Report: Pornography Portals
FAST FACTS: How to set parental controls on popular video game devices and music players
by Liv Davalos
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Kids all over South Florida put the Nintendo Wii or the Sony PlayStation 3 at the top of their wish list so they could play games with a realism not before seen on computer game consoles. But hidden among the abilities of these super gaming consoles is the ability to access a type of realism parents didn't expect.
When South Florida moms Marty Mata and Laurel Auerbacher bought the WII game console for their kids, they never thought that their children could access sexually-oriented web sites on the internet as well.
"Absolutely not," said Marty Mata. "I would have never imagined they could have accessed anything like pornography, or anything like that, absolutely. That's why we keep the computer in the family room where I can see them."
Auerbacher was especially concerned after she discovered that her son and some of his friends had found inappropriate web sites on the computer. She said she purchased the game console with the potential dangers of the home computer in mind.
"Kids were staring to be curious about pornography and adult websites, so I deal with it and then I hear about this, and I think great, one more thing to worry about," she said.
But Even though the game systems are not marketed as computers, that's what thy are; specialized computers optimized for graphics and sound, and with the new consoles, the ability to play with other gamers anywhere in the world, via a connection to the internet.
It's that connection, and the ingenuity of porn site operators, which have made adult images available to young eyes.
A study published in The February issue of Pediatrics Magazine claims more children and teens are being exposed to online porn. 42% of internet users between the ages of ages 10 and 17 told University of New Hampshire researchers they had seen online porn in a twelve month period.
Even if parents regulate access on the computer, computer-like devices which connect to the internet can, with a little youthful ingenuity, access porn sites. In 2005, parents learned of the dangers of porn on devices like the iPod, which allowed children to receive sexually oriented podcasts and video podcasts.
Now, the porn industry is advertising to target video game consoles. Some porn sites are advertising they are Wii friendly. Critics say their screens have been reconfigured to fit the Wii, which uses a version of the Opera internet browser, the Playstation 3, and devices like the Play Station Portable, which some in the know have dubbed the "Play Station Porn-able".
"That is horrible. That is just terrible," Mata said. "They're destroying these games for the kids. They're not going to be able to play unless someone's supervising, and it's going to make it so much…it's going to make it difficult."
Auerbacher added, "It's just one more added worry to being a parent."
Sgt. Eric Palmer with the Miami-Dade Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit believes porn is just one of the dangers these connected devices present to your children.
If you're plugged into the internet, he said, your child could be exposed to much more. He believes parents should just say no to the information highway.
Game console makers are unhappy with the connection between their products and raunchy images.
In a statement, Nintendo told CBS4 "Nintendo firmly believes that parents should be empowered to control what's right for their family and has provided a Parental Controls option as a standard feature of the Wii system. This setting allows parents to control access to games and online content enabled by the Wii system."
And, in fact, most devices do allow parents to exercise control over the content their children receive. The Microsoft Xbox allows parents to set access restrictions for the game console, no matter who uses it. The Wii, which allows users to download a special internet browser, also allows parents to control what it can be used for via parental settings, or even block its use altogether.
FAST FACTS: How to set parental controls on popular video game devices and music players
But not all parents investigate the parental settings available to them before giving the games to their child. Some simply don't understand the technology, or don't believe the consoles have so much ability.
Experts say the best way to protect your children is to make sure access to any computerized device, especially those which are web enabled, is done only when they are supervised, so parents know what they kids are seeing.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)