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A Momologue by Julie: Are Webkinz educational or harmful?
For Christmas, my two kids (ages 4 and 6) received Webkinz from
their faraway cousins. Instantly, they were hooked on the online world
they created for their furry friends, and spent hours over the holiday
earning online currency by playing arcade games and answering trivia
questions. They then used that "cash" to buy their Webkinz things like
a pink bathtub and a flat-screen TV. So, I read with particular
interest "Web Playgrounds of the Very Young," a New York Times
piece that focused on sites like Club Penguin and Webkinz, which cater
to the under-7 set. I learned that my kids are apparently a little late
to the Webkinz party: More than 6 million unique visitors logged on to
Webkinz in November 2007, up 342% from November 2006. Fans of the site
say the games are educational. But some critics, like Susan Linn, a Boston
psychologist and the director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood, a nonprofit group that has complained of ads for movies on
Webkinz.com, disagree. “We cannot allow the media and marketing
industries to construct a childhood that is all screens, all the time,”
Linn told the New York Times.
I don't like the idea of my kids being marketed to, but unfortunately that happens every time they log on to the computer, turn on the TV or radio, or open up a magazine. I personally believe Webkinz is fine in moderation—I limit my kids' computer time to 30 minutes per day. But I think if kids are on the site for hours and hours at a time, it's a problem. I'd love to hear from other Moms whose kids are obsessed with Webkinz. Any pointers for a newbie like me?
Comments (4)
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ML OBSESSION |
COUPONS & SALES
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I think that 30 minutes each day is a great start for computer time for the ages your children are. My children are 11 and 9, and I allow them each about 1 hour per day of computer time. Webkinz is great site in that the games are kept short and the activities can each be done in under 5 minutes.
Kids don’t need hours inside Webkinz to feel they have made some cash, played with their pet, and gone shopping. The collecting in the game is also quick and easy. The classes your pets can take are short and sweet. Everything about Webkinz is meant to retain their audience and keep the kids collecting pets each year (your account runs out after one year, but you can buy a new pet to get a code to continue and your information and previous virtual pets are not lost), but the actual website is not meant to pull you in for hours at a time.
Having a virtual world which requires minimal amounts of time inside is something that I greatly appreciate, both as a mother of Webkinz fans and as a Webkinz fan myself!
agree
My sister-in-law’s kids are so into these things that they can’t leave home without them or there are major breakdowns. My friend’s daughter sits in front of the computer for like 4 hours a day playing with her Webkinz dolls. Everything in moderation though, right?
agree
MY daughter has the Webkinz too,and I love the webkinz,it teaches them to care for there webkinz,by feeding them and taking them to the doctor, working to get kenz cash to build there house and it also has a post office to send gifts to someone that may need help in feeding or building there house,I feel it teaches them responibilty,my daughter checks on her webkiz once aday for 1/2 hour.Kelly
agree
Heh, noted that you requested Moms to comment. I’m a “Webkinz Dad” who monitors his daughter’s use and have two other male friends who perform that role in their families!
I think the key thing like any child’s activities is to have some involvement and awareness. Friends kidded me that I spent a lot of time on Webkinz right after my daughter first signed up but I was exploring it for two reasons: 1. To understand what it offered to my daughter, and 2. To help my daughter understand the site. (The site’s help section is pretty useless but kids seem to manage by learning from each other.)
So, is my daughter obsessed? At first, she spent a lot of time on it. But her interest waned; she spends about 20 minutes every other day. She didn’t get dis-interested though—instead, it fits into her portfolio of regular activities. If she had neglected that portfolio to mostly spend time on Webkinz, then I would have been concerned.
Mostly, I think it’s like a virtual doll house for her. The presence of ads doesn’t bother me but we discuss ad awareness in general with our daughter, anyway. Children are inundated with ads just riding down a street.
There are some valuable aspects to the site with respect to some games that aid learning, particularly math, language and logic. It took her a while to discover these features and now they are her favorite—I think they are more interesting (less boring) to her.
I’ve read that the average time on the site is 12 minutes per day. That seems too low and I’m guessing includes days when no time is spent at all.
The site also provides my daughter an increased awareness of budget constraints—she can’t spend freely. But she’s a frugal person anyway.
What I really wish is that the site would balance its pro-spending approach with banking, savings and/or investment opportunities. Our culture is replete with messages that promote the pleasure of spending; there is a dearth of messages that teach the value of saving.
In all respects, each child probably engages with the site differently and so the pluses and minuses likewise vary. As I said at the outset, the best thing to do is monitor how a child engages and whether there’s a deficit in other aspects of the child’s life.
agree