Main actors in the Videogame sector join forces to best inform parents - PédaGoJeux website In December, a new website was born in France, to answer parents' and caregivers' needs for information in that domain and to raise public awareness about video gaming practice. The website was officially launched by the minister of digital economy and a representative of the ministry for the family on 15 December. The initiative is a good example of a successful partnership between stakeholders, economic players and organisations, that gathered to create this information website.

The website was born out of a recommendation of the players composing the work group of the November 2007 ‘Forum des droits sur l’internet’, which clearly expressed a need for more information on that subject. It gathers 9 actors: Forum des Droits sur Internet, Sell (national assocaition of videogame producers), Ministry for the Family, Delegation aux Usages de l’Internet, Internet Sans Crainte, Action Innocence, UNA, Microsoft, Jeuxonline, Bayard Presse. Internet Sans Crainte participated in this programme from the very start, focusing particularly on the online gaming security guidelines.

The objective of PédaGoJeux is clearly educational. It focuses on deciphering the world of video games, very popular among youngsters, with which parents used to be unfamiliar. This website gives answers to parents’ questions and concerns in order to better support their children when playing video games: what are the parents supposed to be keeping an eye on? What are the advantages of video games? How can they get information on the content of a game? Questions about addiction or time spent playing video games, there are answers to all of these questions on www.pedagojeux.fr. Core gamers are also taken into account, and they could find lots of useful information regarding the most specific aspects of the gaming world.

PédaGoJeux tackles all aspects of video games. A number of headings provide useful information, advice and experts’ opinions:

• Burning issues: gaming time spent…
• Game and social interactions: the game, parental authority issues…
• How to make the right choice for a game: the game and the gamer’s age…
• The various types of equipment
• Rights and duties: what you need to know…

A “Frequently Asked Questions” and educational resources section are available as well.