|
|
|
Social networking, kiddie style
Published Thursday, April 24, 2008 in
share this post
It rained a lot on the first few days of our spring break in Florida, so my kids spent more time than I liked borrowing my laptop to play games. But what can you do when it rains on vacation? At one point, to kill her boredom, Amy (age 10) came to me and asked if she could sign up on Club Penguin, a Disney-operated social networking site for children her age.
Our rule is no new web sites without an OK from mom or dad, so in keeping with protocol, she sought out my stamp of approval. The problem? The only purpose of Club Penguin is to "waddle around and make friends" online.
I said no.
To some, I may seem strident on this point, but I think online social networking for children is a bad thing. Not only does it put kids at risk for running across creepy strangers (let's face it -- there MUST be sicko-adults lurking in Club Penguin pretending to be "Zack from Iowa"), but worse, networking sites for kids promote a rush to teenhood and all the social implications that teenhood implies.
This isn't just my suburban mom instict -- check out this article on the growing (alarming!) number of 8 to 11 year olds who lie about their ages in order to create social profiles on adult sites:
Study: Kids put profiles on older sites
When I told Amy she would have to find some other site for kids rather than Club Penguin, she pouted a bit and let me know she felt I was too strict about the internet. So be it. In my mind, too many parents are buying into the supposed safety of these sites and aren't appreciating that they create an appetite for even more social freedom on the net. We're already seeing some impact on our kids and on the culture.
Waddling around the internet for friends? What next?
| Comments |
 By
Suzette Standring @
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 6:36 PM
|
|
Too strict? I call it foresight that seems to be lacking among too many parents. Sure, waddling around with other penguins seems innocent enough, until kids start visiting other social sites and developing invisible friends - invisible to mom and dad, that is. Nip it in the (Unknown) bud(dies.)
|
|
|
|
By
Kathleen L @
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 7:11 PM
|
|
Too strict! Ha ha ha. If you are strict, then I'm a dictator of Stalin-like proportions. I look over the girls' shoulders when they are looking at messages from friends on the Webkinz site ... and our one and only computer is in the middle of the living room (sort of tastefully placed, but right where I can see it from my spot on the couch) and will stay there and there only for the next 20 years ... and they're only allowed to access 2 Internet sites at all (webkinz and primary games).
|
|
|
|
By
mark @
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 1:03 AM
|
|
Computer time is a poor time of development for young persons and this has been showed time and again in studies. The brain underdevelops with computer and TV time - again look for the studies, or read Carla Hannaford's book SMART MOVES (amoung others) which details how the brain develops. Parents assist their children's development when they help create limited TV and computer time and create habits of imaginative play.
|
|
|
|
By
Kristen @
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 2:37 AM
|
Smart move! Watch out for those games. My tweens talked me into letting them sign up for Pirates of the Caribbean, which has a free version and a paid version. Lots of these media companies are doing similar games, and I'm sure they are revenue winners for them, but the kids need to get outside and switch off the electrons.
I pulled the plug on Pirates after one month, sorry and smarter.
|
|
|
|
By
Peggy O'Brien @
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 1:41 AM
|
We make friends down the block or in the neighborhood or in school or at church or at soccer.
We make friends with who we can see face to face and know that they have families and participate in the local community.
Enough said.
|
|
|
|
By
Ed Roden @
Saturday, July 26, 2008 9:18 PM
|
I agree with holding of kids from the social networking. I would encourage all of you as parents to pop on to facebook and start to understand it. I thought it was a bit of a fad until I saw how a group of traveling soccer camp coaches use it to keep in touch with family and friends throughout the summer.
Check it out, it will make you more informed!
|
|
|
|
By
Beth Holmes @
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 3:48 PM
|
I'm a Mom and I have a Facebook account and my rule is that I only accept friend requests from people I actually know in real life. We've moved around a lot and I use it to quickly and easily keep in touch with friends who don't live nearby anymore. So, these sites can have utility too.
I have an 8 year old who is only allowed on WebKinz -- I have a WebKinz account too and have used it and feel comfortable with it (hey some of the games are fun!). She is allowed a few other sites too which are in a special bookmark list for her. I will have to start monitoring her more closely though since a few weeks ago she came to show me the Carrie Underwood lyrics she had downloaded from the web by searching Google, something I didn't know she knew anything about!
|
|
|
Click here to post a comment
|
|