A Mom's Perspective on Social Networking Sites for Young Kids

As a Tech Savvy Family, one of the things we need to be aware of is social networking sites for young kids. Kids are social by nature, and companies are working very hard to encourage and even entice kids to get involved with their social networking websites at an early age (usually starting at age 6 and going through age 15 before the kids then switch to the Facebook and MySpace platforms of social networking sites).

What do social networking sites provide? These sites allow kids to blog, chat, listen to music, post pictures and play games with others online, and they all claim to be "ultra safe" (underscore the word "claim," make sure you check for yourself thoroughly before allowing your child to participate in any social networking environment).

Examples of websites designed for kids include (but are not limited to):
      ClubPenguin.com, where when you sign up, you adopt an animated penguin to chat to friends, play games, explore, collect coins and even personalize your very own igloo (it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
     Poptropica.com, where your child creates an avatar and moves from island to island, changing costumes and collecting a special medal every time you complete a quest (again, it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).
     MoshiMonsters.com, where you adopt a monster and roam around Monstro City interacting with other monsters (here you have to sign "adoption papers" before participating, giving the site your name, then create a password and provide an email account for confirmation purposes. It is free, but again, to get the most out of it you're going to have to pay for a membership.
     Finally, Webosaurs.com, at this site, you get to choose which dinosaur you want to be and interact with other dinosaurs, play games, watch videos and chat with your dino friends (again, it is free, but to get the most out of it, you have to pay for a membership).

As you can see, all of these sites are basically the same, and they are all geared toward kids ages 6 - 15. So, whether you are a penguin, kid avatar, monster or dinosaur your child can interact with other children online for a price.

As a mom, however, my main concern is the "chatting" aspect of each of the sites. Reason being, you really do not know who you are sharing your information with, and kids are very free with their personal information. It does not take much to have a child share their name, what school they go to, where they live, their age, the names of their siblings, the names of their parents, where their parents work and what they do, you just have to ask in just the right way. It is always best to make sure you establish rules with your child as to what is ok and not ok to post online. It is also a good idea to keep an eye on them while they are visiting these various social networking sites and teach them how to report abuse of the site to the site administrator.