PS4's Weak Parental Controls Put Kids At Risk

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Consumer Reports is warning parents that weak parental controls on the PS4 puts children at risk of being exposed to violent and obscene streaming content.

Do you know everything your kids are seeing on the Sony PlayStation 4? You may be surprised to learn that live-streamed broadcasts containing adults-only content are readily available for viewing—even if you ramp up the console's parental controls. You can even turn off Internet access, but live-streamed broadcasts remain viewable on the console.
 
Should be lack of parenting skills puts kids at risk to things parents that care enough to know better wouldn't expose their kids to in the first place.
 
God forbid parents should have to keep track of their own kids' gaming habits. This is such a load of crap. My sisters don't rely on console "parental controls." They do it the old fashioned way: keep an eye on what they kids are doing and keeping in touch with their kids on a day to day basis.
 
Oh no, the risk! The terrible, deadly risk! Just think of all of the poor children who might... hear a bad word or something!
 
Well thank god they can't see worse things on the news every day.
Hypocrisy anyone?
 
They can watch people being tortured, assassinated, dismembered and disfigured; but the moment someone says "fuck" or "shit" or pops a titty out the whole goddamn country loses it's fucking mind.
 
They can watch people being tortured, assassinated, dismembered and disfigured; but the moment someone says "fuck" or "shit" or pops a titty out the whole goddamn country loses it's fucking mind.

This..This..all day. And I say that as a parent of two young children. I emphasize "Parent" because I actually teach my children things. There are Zero parental controls enabled on my stuff.
 
Pretty sure I've got a solution to this.

Step 1: Hook up Playstation in primary living area
Step 2: Keep eye on what your kids are doing
 
Dear god the kids are worse at cursing and swearing than the adults!
Seriously!
Worse part is, they wont even shut their f#cking mouths for a second!
They just ramble on and on and on and on and on and on and on......
My nephew I used to raise stayed the weekend and played Call of Daycare for 14 straight hours and I swear to god I don't think he breathed in once, it was just talk talk talk talk and various curses thrown in.
There's a reason I don't play XBL.
 
I understand the need to supervise kids when playing games and monitoring their activities, but compared to last gen there's a lot more they can be exposed to. There are twitch ps4 streams with people making porn that are easily accessible from the ps4. I wouldn't be surprised if the xbox one app update that enables streaming gets delayed even longer to address this concern, since every owner has access to the kinect camera.
 
I think the replies here are showing that people are just thinking of the typical Twitch game stream and not about what actually happened during the PS4's launch. People were taking advantage of the system to stream things that had nothing to do with gaming, including some sexual content. I believe the main concern would be to block access to the most offending content.

But also do respect those parents who would like to control the way content is exposed to their children in either a gradual manner or not at all. We can't watch our children 24/7, and that is what parental controls were made for. However, this in no way excuses those parents who never monitor what their children do, and I do realize there are parents out there who will think systems like this are a replacement for actual parenting.

Granted these parents should do their research on how to control the content on their children's video consoles before letting them use it. But the console itself doesn't have any documentation with good detail on these features and how to use them.
 
But also do respect those parents who would like to control the way content is exposed to their children in either a gradual manner or not at all. We can't watch our children 24/7, and that is what parental controls were made for. However, this in no way excuses those parents who never monitor what their children do, and I do realize there are parents out there who will think systems like this are a replacement for actual parenting.

No. That's where parenting kicks in. Because a smart kid can defeat parential controls and most counter-measures with minimal effort. Then what do you have.
 
No. That's where parenting kicks in. Because a smart kid can defeat parential controls and most counter-measures with minimal effort. Then what do you have.

Exactly. I always had a fear of getting caught, guess that's unacceptable these days...
 
No. That's where parenting kicks in. Because a smart kid can defeat parential controls and most counter-measures with minimal effort. Then what do you have.
Exactly. I always had a fear of getting caught, guess that's unacceptable these days...
Then you take the console away when you're not home, simple as that. There is no system to defeat when there is no system. However, I am an optimist and would like to think most families out there can trust each other. If there is no trust or respect then the family has more serious problems going on than what happens on a video game console. Which comes back around to the problem of doing some actual parenting.
 
The playstation live streams make youtube comments seem tame.
I watched some of them on new years eve and wanted to kill my television.
 
Parents are the one paying for the PS4 and games... Don't want your child being exposed to violence and obscenity, then don't buy those game or allow them into your home. Time to remove your child king from his throne and make him understand the number one rule in life... He who control the purse, control the god damned gaming system privilege.
 
People are ignoring the change in how households are ran in the US these days. It is SIGNIFICANTLY more common to find either single parents raising kids having to work full time due to divorces deaths etc, or with both parents in the house hold having to work beyond the hours when their children get home from school.

The fact is when both parents are away like this its impossible for them to keep an eye 100% on what their children are viewing, and they as parents, have a right to criticize the fact that a Gaming console, even with internet access disabled allows the content to get through.
 
This kind of bullshit is why the new Robocop is PG-13 lol

There is nothing wrong with exposing young children to violence, it's a part of the real world.
 
It's funny being a tech savvy parent myself. I thought I'd have ALL the parental controls and lockdowns and every move tracked to the nth degree with my kids.

And then they grew up a little, and I realized it was FAR FAR FAR easier to just keep en eye on what they are up to, and you know, talk to em and stuff =\

After 10 years of being a parent - you KNOW when they are getting into trouble when you have no probable cause. Just that look on their face and the silence ;)
 
My 14 is still begging to play GTA5. The answer is still no. His friends play it. He plays some other games (CoD and such) that can get violent and mouthy. But, GTA is a bit more. That's where I've drawn the line and haven't budged. It's not that difficult to say "NO". I don't expect the Xbox or PS to say no for me. That's my job. If I don't want them playing a certain game, or I hear him abusing the system (taunting players like the stereotypical 14 year old), he's not using the Xbox or PS.

You don't have time to be a parent? Remove those questionable items. They don't HAVE to own a PS4. They don't have to play it (take the power cable). I can't supervise my kids 100%, but I set limits and they stay within them. If they don't, the limit is very very small. They really can't do much at all...
 
Even if the child's own household restricts him or her from playing violent games at home, there is a 140% chance he will play the game in it's full gory glory at a friend's house anyways; at least in Russia.

It's like saying underage drinking was never a problem because of manditory ID checks at the point of sale. If there is a will, there is a way.
 
Even if the child's own household restricts him or her from playing violent games at home, there is a 140% chance he will play the game in it's full gory glory at a friend's house anyways; at least in Russia.

It's like saying underage drinking was never a problem because of manditory ID checks at the point of sale. If there is a will, there is a way.

This is true. And expected. What kid didn't do things like that. You can't protect them 100%, but you can teach them right from wrong. If you REALLY don't want them to play, don't let them play with other kids that parents have more slack on what their kids do. I won't let my kids play with some kids (lucky, too, as one kids day blew up a dog when his son was having another kid over...). Most of the time, it's good though. I trust him. If he had the chance, he'd play GTA5. I'd expect him to, and I wouldn't be mad. I can control what I have in my house. Not what is in others. He can make his decisions. I'm just not going to let him play it all the time at home. I did give him a hint, though - kill the hooker and get your money back. :D
 
God forbid parents should have to keep track of their own kids' gaming habits. This is such a load of crap. My sisters don't rely on console "parental controls." They do it the old fashioned way: keep an eye on what they kids are doing and keeping in touch with their kids on a day to day basis.

Amen brother. My sister also does the same. Games are played in full view of her watchful eye in the living room, and "gadget time" in general is limited to just a couple of hours each day.

I suppose this applies to the parents who use gadgets to baby sit their kids, but those people honestly shouldn't be having kids anyway. I will never completely grow up, so I have wisely chosen to forgo the whole kids thing.
 
Hmm you can always have more kids!
But honestly parents should monitor their kids, to make sure they stay safe. Don't put your faith in parental controls, put your faith in yourself. In the end parents are the best solution.
 
People are ignoring the change in how households are ran in the US these days. It is SIGNIFICANTLY more common to find either single parents raising kids having to work full time due to divorces deaths etc, or with both parents in the house hold having to work beyond the hours when their children get home from school.

The fact is when both parents are away like this its impossible for them to keep an eye 100% on what their children are viewing, and they as parents, have a right to criticize the fact that a Gaming console, even with internet access disabled allows the content to get through.

Then don't buy a videogame console. Millions of family raise their kids without one in the world, they can do it too...

Hell, video games didn't even exist when I was a kid and I still had fun. I got more time to spend with my neighbor daughter... :D
 
Then don't buy a videogame console. Millions of family raise their kids without one in the world, they can do it too...

Hell, video games didn't even exist when I was a kid and I still had fun. I got more time to spend with my neighbor daughter... :D

Yup. I remember getting off the bus as a kid, running in the house to put on my "play clothes", and then not going home until the street lights kicked on. There were seriously no obese or even kinda fat kids in my crowd of friends. We spent way too much time playing sports, playing army in the woods, etc.

It wouldn't kill this generation to get off their lazy asses and move once in a while.
 
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