Issue link: https://fredparent.uberflip.com/i/1469350
www.FredericksburgParent.NET 15 hope starts here. 540.373.3223 WWW.RAPPAHANNOCKAREACSB.ORG WORKING AT THE INTERSECTION OF HOPE AND HELP. RAPPAHANNOCK AREA COMMUNITY SERVICES BOARD Your son's information is then on social media whether you want it to be or not. Targeted ads are also woven into game play so your son will be subliminally exposed to advertising. Lastly, VR game play is very isolating. It is a one-person activity played in complete isolation. Even if your son has friends over to play, he won't even see the other people in the room while immersed in the game. In my opinion, the most important problem with VR headset and their games used to be the lack of parental controls. In the past, there had been no way for par- ents to limit what their child saw in the game or limit the amount of time their child played. Luckily, Meta/ Facebook (who manufactured Oculus) have already begun adding parental controls into their gaming plat- form. Beginning in April, Meta introduced the ability for people to use an unlock pattern to lock specific apps directly from VR. Once a given app is locked, you'll need to draw your unlock pattern to unlock and launch it. This will allow parents to prevent their teens from accessing games and experiences they feel aren't age appropriate. In May, they began to automatically block teens from downloading or purchasing IARC rated age inappropriate apps in the Quest Store. They also launched their initial suite of parental supervision tools, which includes the ability for parents to override those blocks on a case-by- case basis, according to the Meta website. The decision to get your son a VR headset or not is ultimately up to you. There are pros and cons to VR in general. As his parent, you know him better than any- one. If you feel that he is mature enough to handle the responsibility, and if you properly supervise him and set boundaries for its use, it could be an amazing gift. But if he is more on the immature side and is easily influ- enced, you might want to wait until he is a little older. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck with everything and Happy Birthday to your son! Targeted ads are also woven into game play so your son will be subliminally exposed to advertising. New lock controls ... will allow parents to pre- vent their teens from accessing games and experiences they feel aren't age appropriate. Ms. Lydia