Setting Parental Controls on the Xbox 360

In addition to playing games, the Xbox 360 provides your child with access to the Internet, media downloads, online games and other activities which make parental control responsibilities more difficult. Thanks to the parental controls that are provided by with the unit, controlling your child's access is made easier.

Xbox 360 Family Settings

Many games contain violent and inappropriate content. The Xbox 360 contains family settings which can be customized to control what games your child can play both on the Internet and offline, as well as media downloads, and access to Xbox LIVE. You can lock and unlock these settings via a password to prevent your child from viewing inappropriate content.

The Xbox family settings include being able to select the games that your child can play by setting the game ratings which range from early childhood to mature. The settings also identify ratings for movies, television shows, and other media.

If you want to control the amount of time your child spends playing games, there is a family timer that you set for daily or weekly activity. The pass code allows adults to unlock the timer whenever they want to use the console.

Xbox LIVE

In addition to blocking your child's access to inappropriate game content offline, it is important to program the family settings for Xbox LIVE. Xbox LIVE is a service that is integrated with Xbox and allows access to television shows, movies, arcade games, and game downloads from the online marketplace. The service also allows your child to compete with other gamers on the Internet.

Xbox LIVE Family Settings allow you to control access to content in the online environment and set different levels of access for playing online games, friend's list sharing, online communications, and content downloads from the Xbox LIVE marketplace.

The Family Settings for Xbox LIVE are connected to your child's profile and gamertag. When the account is set up it will request the person's age, which will determine whether or not it will apply Family Settings to the account. Once the Family Settings are applied to your child's account, you can control them through your Windows Live ID. Your Windows Live ID is connected to your child's account and prevents your child from changing the settings.

Friend's List Sharing

Friend's List Sharing is another element of Xbox that you should be aware of. This is a way for your child to interact with their friends and the list can be viewed by other people who are online. You can change these settings so only friends can view the list or you can block it altogether. You can also change the settings to control who your child associates with online. Before a person is added to their friend's list you can set the controls so the request has to be approved by you.

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What you may not know is that same Internet connection that makes it possible to check your email from the comfort of your bed also makes it easier for hackers to access your personal information.

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