A lot of us might think that parents today just don’t “get” the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s rating system. It certainly looks like it sometimes, what with the 10-year-olds who get access to games like Grand Theft Auto and God of War. Even with game store employees pointing out exactly why something receives a Mature rating, it seems that some parents just don’t know (or don’t care to know).

The results of a survey from developer/publisher Activision, however, seem to show that parents are more familiar than we might think, and that gamer kids themselves are also familiar with ratings.

As part of their “Ratings Are Not A Game” campaign, Activision and The Harrison Group conducted 1,201 online interviews with gamers and their parents. They found that 82% of parents and 75% of children were familiar with the ESRB’s ratings, and 76% of parents believe that video games were a part of their family life.

Activision’s ratings-awareness campaign is supplemented with videos featuring Grand Theft Childhood co-author Dr. Cheryl Olsen. Olsen is also the co-director for the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A video accompanied these survey results as well, which you can watch below.

How many parents do you think understand and use the ESRB ratings? Do you use them to determine what games are appropriate for your children, or are you more likely to do research about a game’s content before deciding that it is appropriate?

Related: “Ratings Are Not A Game”

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