Remember how recently the government started talking about looking into the affect gaming has on our children? Well it wasn’t just PR fluff due to a possible autumn election; a review on the influence of gaming and the internet is now underway by a clinical physchologist.

Headed by Dr Tanya Byron, the Byron report is as she puts it “about pulling together the shared responsibility we have as parents, society, government and industry to protect our children and young people from harm.” Hmm, sounds a bit worrying doesn’t it. Anyone ready for the witch hunt to begin? To be fair Byron has said that she will be engaging with “all the people who have a role in this in direct conversations with the industry and through focus groups with parents, children and young people”, and will issue a call for evidence that anyone with an interest in the topic can respond to. We just hope it is a fair and unbiased report, but we’re not feeling too positive about it at the moment. Oh, plus even if the report doesn persecute gaming as the devil’s entertainment, we’ll bet all the Jack Thompsons of this world will come out of the wood work once the report is released at the end of March next year.

Here’s what Byron said about her current challenge; “Helping parents and their children get the best from new technologies while protecting children from inappropriate or potentially harmful material is crucial in today's fast moving world. That's why, as a clinical psychologist with many years of experience working with children, young people and their families, I am very pleased to have been asked by the Government to conduct such an important review. The internet and video games have huge potential for children's play and learning. Parents welcome the benefits technologies can bring but they also want their children to be safe and many have concerns about what their children may come across online or whether the videogames they are using are appropriate.

“I hope to identify measures that help all parents feel confident that their children are using these great new opportunities in a way that's appropriate for their age and development. As part of my clinical experience I have had contact with very vulnerable and at risk children and young people, who can be more affected by harmful or inappropriate material in games or online. But I do not propose to focus the work of this review solely on those most extreme cases.”

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