A brief description of each area is described below. Use
the following descriptions to learn how to use our KidScore
ratings.
Title, Industry Rating and Description —
Find the title, industry rating, and brief description
of the products here.
Platform (if a video/computer game)—
The type of platform the game is played on, for example,
Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, Sony Playstation, CD-ROM,
or Gameboy.
Summary
—
Overall summary of media product content displayed here.
Rater
—
Tells whether the ratings are that of Site Visitors or
our qualified panel of SuperRaters.
Ages — Viewing maturity levels are
divided into three age groups based on the American Academy
of Pediatrics standards.
Violence
Amount —
Actions intended to hurt someone or something. Things
such as, but not limited to biting, kicking, throwing
things, punching, using weapons, animated violence, and
all the way to extremely graphic violence such as sexual
violence would be included.
Violence
Portrayal —
If there is violence, this category measures how it is
portrayed. A green light means it is necessary for the
story and isn't exaggerated. A yellow or red light means
the violence is unnecessary exaggerated, trivialized,
and/or glamorized. There's a big difference, for example,
in the portrayal of violence in a film about the death
of Christ and violence in a film such as Die
Hard.
Fear
—
Parents want to know if a media product has the ability
to cause fear in children. Examples would include any
scenes which could cause fear in the viewer, such as gory
scenes, exaggerated scenes of pain and suffering, and
other scary scenes.
Illegal/Harmful
—
Does the media product encourage or display behavior which
is illegal, harmful, or dangerous if imitated by children?
A scene in the movie The
Program, for example, showed high school boys lying
in the middle of a busy highway to prove their bravery.
In the following week there were several deaths from teenagers
imitating the movie.
Language
—
This category captures name calling, disrespectfulness,
ethnic/gender slurs, crude or obscene language as well
as sexual innuendo or sexually explicit dialogue.
Nudity
—
Examples include provocative and/or revealing dress as
well as partial or full nudity.
Sexual
Content —
Sexual dialogue is picked up in the language category.
This category deals with sexual behavior.
