Kids and the Internet

We've all heard the horror stories, about kids and the internet. It's a hunting ground for pedophiles. There's all sorts of horrible language, explicit material, and god only knows what else, just hiding out there in cyber space waiting to target unsuspecting kids.

So how does the average parent figure out what the popular games are really all about? How do you know if your child really is playing safe?

Well, I might not know much about kids, but I do know computer games. As an adult gamer, I see the world of video games in a totally different way.

Here's what I think about some of the more common web-based computer games:

1) Runescape.

Of all the online games, this is probably one of the safest for kids to be playing. Jagex, the maker of the game, is extremely particular about child safety. They have a massively comprehensive chat filter, in-game moderators, both player mods and Jagex mods, and a "report abuse" function, which allows anyone to report players for bad behaviour. And Jagex has very strict banning policies for rule-breakers. If a player does something like swear at your child, they're either muted (unable to "speak" to others), or kicked out of the game entirely. End of Story.

Plus, there's a fair number of responsible adults, like me, who play. From what I've seen over the past two years, the adult gamers are very quick to intervene if they see a conversation or situation starting to get out of hand.

There's two ways to play Runescape-you can either set up a free account, or pay a monthly fee for a membership, which will run you about $5 Canadian per month.

There are some great benefits to having a membership, but the game is just as much fun on a free account. This means that your child has the option to play for a while, and see if the game is something that they're interested in or not.

Butthere is one downside to this game. It is entirely possible for your child to leave the Runescape website and surf the web at any time. Because it's a browser based program, the internet address bar is right there at the top of the screen, easily accessible to curious-minded kids. If you don't have the parental controls set, your child could very easily end up surfing somewhere they shouldn't be.

2) World of Warcraft.

Personally, I love this game. It's one of the top MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) ever to be created. And there's a reason-it's really an incredible

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