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Webkinz ... Does it lead children to more serious abuse of video games?
I feel that I should retaliate against my cousin for buying Lily a Webkinz bunny.
He asked me if she had one, and informed me that his kids love their Webkinz so much they
are on the computer every single day.
Even though he's one of my favorite cousins, I should have burned the bunny right then and there.
It's cute and all. But Webkinz is one of those stuffed animals that comes with a secret code. And it turns out the bunny can be tossed in the fire. Because as long as your child gets that secret code, he or she has access to a special website where a cyberversion of the bunny "lives.'' And apparently it's so much fun even for a six-year-old, that they will want to hog your computer every extra minute.
I thought we had all decided that people who live cyberlives online, who have "jobs'' and "earn money'' and "purchase things'' all in quote marks, online, are socially deficient and pretty weird. No?
Yet almost every day, I have to hear Lily ask, "Mommy, can I get on w-w-w-dot?'' And I let her.
On the company's website, they answer such questions as: "Are the wishing well and the Wheel of Wow gambling?'' And "Can Webkinz pets die?''
I'll leave you hanging on the answers.
The game is educational I suppose. But so is going to the library and checking out five books.
Should I be writing in her babybook that her first logon name was "crystal5pink'' and her first password "babydolly5''?
And now that you all know her secrets, will she get on the website to find that someone has broken into her bunny's "apartment" and stolen the "pink couch" out of his "bedroom"? Will you get her bunny fired from his "job" "painting fences"?
Please, parents, help me find that perfect Christmas gift for my cousin this year.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez loves to worry, or so her husband says...
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of three blonde, blue-eyed kids all under six years old.
Comments
If you are that against them you shouldn't let her play online, or limit her time.
Posted by: Webkinz | July 29, 2008 11:30 AM
The perfect retaliatory gift is another Webkinz right back at 'em. My son lobbied for one, coming short of a Powerpoint presentation, as to why he wasn't too old (9 at the time) or too male to have one. So he got his first macho Webkinz, a German shepherd, and now has about 10 of the furry things. But they're all very manly -- snake, lizard, tiger, frog, chicken, reindeer. But yeah, it's all about the code.
Posted by: Gail | July 29, 2008 4:24 PM
Nope, obviously her cousin doesn't have an issue with the webkins, so sending one back won't have an effect.
The best retaliatory gifts would be something LOUD - like guitar hero, drums, or a karaoke machine.
Posted by: Erin | July 30, 2008 10:14 AM
Yes, it does lead to video game abuse! It's like World of Warcraft for kids.
Posted by: Webkinz Game | August 9, 2008 4:36 PM
I love when parents complain about gamers playing.
Do WE forget that we are the ones that allowed them to get that addicted? Did we even try to set limits? Or was it that becuase they were behaving at the computer and not bugging us, yelling, and screaming. That it became a baby sitter.
Whats worse sitting at the TV or sitting at the computer.
Now for the webkinz part, if we were to have the child sit in front of the TV or in front of the computer playing webkinz which one will they learn more from, have more fun with?
I'm just a gamer, but I find it silly to blame the game when it is our own faults that we let the game be a babysitter.
Yea 5 books you can learn from but how much time with a young child spend reading and learning? How often in school did you read the assignment? or did you do like most other and do a cram quickie last minute?
The game can hold the attention while teaching
http://www.online-games-your-way.com/webkinz.html
that link give more on the game in general and how it helps them learn and become MORE responsible.
Maybe we as parents need to learn this to. As for socially awkward this happens in schools becuase of clicks you don't fit here or there.
I'm sure you are picturing me in my mothers basement right now playing WOW.
Truth is I have my own apartment I work as a Part time web master and handyman/gardener.
I do play games but have time limits on them and know that they are not as important as other things.
That is the lesson to teach the kid that if they miss a day, week, or a month the game is still there.
Does it lead to more serious gaming? Does watching g rated movies automatically lead to watching r rated or worse movies? Set a limit on the gaming. 1-2 hours a day after the chores and homework is done.
Ok final thought here you know you could have taken the code off the bunny and never used the code. The toys are pretty cute.
So who is at fault the game or us?
Posted by: Online Gamer Richie | January 14, 2009 12:45 PM
I love when parents complain about gamers playing.
Do WE forget that we are the ones that allowed them to get that addicted? Did we even try to set limits? Or was it that because they were behaving at the computer and not bugging us, yelling, and screaming. That it became a baby sitter.
Whats worse, sitting at the TV or sitting at the computer?
Now for the webkinz part, if we were to have the child sit in front of the TV or in front of the computer playing webkinz which one will they learn more from, have more fun with?
I'm just a gamer, but I find it silly to blame the game when it is our own faults that we let the game be a babysitter.
Yea 5 books you can learn from but how much time with a young child spend reading and learning? How often in school did you read the assignment? or did you do like most other and do a cram quickie last minute?
The game can hold the attention while teaching
http://www.online-games-your-way.com/webkinz.html
that link give more on the game in general and how it helps them learn and become MORE responsible.
Maybe we as parents need to learn this to. As for socially awkward this happens in schools becuase of clicks you don't fit here or there.
I'm sure you are picturing me in my mothers basement right now playing WOW.
Truth is I have my own apartment I work as a Part time web master and handyman/gardener.
I do play games but have time limits on them and know that they are not as important as other things.
That is the lesson to teach the kid that if they miss a day, week, or a month the game is still there.
Does it lead to more serious gaming? Does watching g rated movies automatically lead to watching r rated or worse movies? Set a limit on the gaming. 1-2 hours a day after the chores and homework is done.
Ok final thought here you know you could have taken the code off the bunny and never used the code. The toys are pretty cute.
So who is at fault the game or us?
Posted by: Online Gamer Richie | January 14, 2009 12:47 PM
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