With holiday shopping season about to kick off, the state is launching a Public Service Announcement campaign to educate Nebraska parents about the video game rating system. State Attorney General Jon Bruning urges parents to check the Entertainment Software Rating Board rating symbol every time they buy or rent a video game to make sure it’s suitable for their children and family.
“Parents should be involved and take an active role in choosing games for their kids,” said Bruning. “The ESRB ratings are an effective tool every parent can use to pick video games that are age-appropriate and family-friendly. I use them when I buy games for my children. I hope Nebraskans do too.”
The PSAs are being delivered to radio and television stations and local cable TV operators in Nebraska this month as parents head to the stores to buy video games as holiday gifts. The PSAs can be viewed/heard on ESRB’s website.
The ESRB video game ratings employ a two-part system. Rating symbols on the front of virtually every game package sold provide an age recommendation, such as EC (Early Childhood 3+), E (Everyone 6+), E10+ (Everyone 10 and up), T (Teen 13+) and M (Mature 17+). On the back of each package, next to the rating, are content descriptors that provide information about what’s in the game that may have triggered the rating, or may be of interest or concern to parents.