“Crystal’s Soapbox,” published each Thursday, is a column by conservative Texas mom Crystal Arcand who loves to rant about issues that relate to her kids….and yours.
Don’t get me wrong – the Internet is wonderful. In theory. It is a infinite resource of information, knowledge, and education. And a cesspool of all that is worst of society. Even kids can benefit immeasurably from the ‘Net – homeschooling has taken on new levels of possibilities with the incredible wealth of sites and networks online, and public school parents are discovering the same resources to enhance their kids’ education.
But there’s more for kids. Too much for kids. As adults, some of us snicker at those World of Warcraft zealots that play online for hours or days at a time. Do we snicker at the kids when they want to spend hours on the plethora of virtual worlds that have cropped up for them? No. We worry that they’ll end up Internet addicts like those “WoW Freaks.” You don’t think it’s that bad? How many virtual worlds can you list for adults? How many worlds for kids are there?
- Free Realms
- Pixie Hollow
- Webkinz World
- BarbieGirls.com
- Build-a-Bearville
- Handipoints
- Bella Sara
- Precious Girls Club
- Littlest Petshop Online
- Moshi Monsters
- Wizard 101
I had a list of 20 and still going strong, then I decided to just list the ones I’ve personally heard of or seen commercials for. That still left eleven! Open just about any toy for a kid between the ages of six and 13, and more than likely you’ll find a web access code to a virtual world. What happened to the days when a toy was just a toy and you played with it, using your imagination? And we wonder why our kids sit around and say they’re bored and we feel we have to entertain them? It’s because we’ve become such helicopter parents that we’ve even started imagining for our kids!
Parents – land the helicopter, turn off the computer, and send the kids outside to play to exercise their bodies and their minds.
Comments
Paul A
December 31st, 2009 - 12:36:29 PM
My son played Tribal Wars (not necessarily a kids game) and got me to look after his account. I was hooked, and after 2-3 months, I was spending up to 20 hours a day playing this game. After 4 months, I quit. I had to spend more time in the real world.
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Crystal Arcand
December 31st, 2009 - 1:44:06 PM
Thanks for your frank sharing, Paul! I'm glad you were able to break away.
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Paul A
December 31st, 2009 - 2:20:25 PM
A good example of kids using their imagination is the kids cartoon Jibber Jabber - have you seen it? :)
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Jennifer Hudock
January 4th, 2010 - 6:30:34 AM
My daughter was addicted to the youth social networking site, Meez, over the summer. I finally took the Internet away from her completely for about five months, and was pleased when she admitted about two months in that she actually didn't miss the Internet as much as she thought she would. She started spending more time reading, drawing and even wrote a few short stories. Here's hoping more parents can pry their kids off the 'net, before they forget there's a real world out there nothing like the virtual reality they play in every day.
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