My daughter wants to start using club penguin, I don't know much about it and have not researched it yet. Do you let your kids use it? Do you feel it's safe? I am skeptical about it because my understanding is you can "make friends" and chat with them. I am very on top of what my daughter does online, she is 9, and can only use the computer with permission. The computer is in the family room so I can see what she is doing at all times. TIA
My granddaughter played on Club Penquin for several years. She never chatted with anyone. I suggest if you say nothing about chatting she will be unlikely to try it. The site doesn't push it. If she does you can monitor. Club Penquin is a safe place to start learning about Internet safety.
Very safe but they will nickel and dime you to death!
It is geared for kids.
It is safe.
There is "premade" text sentences, for example. Which the kids can use, IF they "chat." "Chatting is voluntary. Not a have to.
It is NOT like chatting, on adult social media.
It is free. There is a free version. But to access a lot of its content and doo-dads, you have to be a paid member.
HOWEVER, if you join and therefore pay for subscription, it costs money. Like most anything else. And the paid "membership" then grants the kid more doo-dads in the game etc.
And then you have to decide if you want to pay monthly for it. Because, sometimes within a month's time, a kid may not play it anymore, after the initial "honeymoon" stage wears off.
My kids played it when they were younger.
But we only had the free version.
And I told them I am not paying for it. It is not an essential thing and then to then "cancel" a subscription, is sometimes not easy.
Then the other thing is, IF or when you sign up your child for playing with it, do not put their REAL name or information in it, per the "account sign up" info. Just make something up. It doesn't matter if it is in their real name or not. And don't use their real name for their "screen" name, either.
And like anything else, if you want to see what the website/game is about... then play it, yourself. Then you will know, how it operates. Instead of just hearing about it 2nd hand from your kid.
That is what we do.
And even if you play the free version etc., you still have to create an account/account name. Although it is not a paid, account. It is just for sake of signing in etc. to the site to then play, it.
My 7yo son loves Club Penguin. It's a subscription service, so it's a little pricey, I think. But he loves it so much we just went with it. Start with a 1 month subscription and see what you and she think. If she ends up not playing it, make sure to cancel or they automatically bill you for the next month.
My mom got my son a 6 mos gift card.
He doesn't chat with others- he's too busy playing the games. So far, we have had no problems. Safe and fun.
Club Penguin has a restricted level of communication you can choose where players can only choose pre-programed text phrases like "Hi, how are you?" so they can chat but only in a very limited way.
I think it works very well.
It's been a few years since my daughters used it... but it's great. There's a couple different levels.... one with restricted speech/interaction and others with free speech. If your child is young, choose the restricted one... they can't communicate privately and it's censored. I like this, but it's been about 4 years since my daughters were huge fans of it and so, I don't know if it's changed much since then. They can build their own igloos, take care of pets, etc.. It's a safe site with parental control.
While kids can get around the premade text (like using dots for how old you are) we did not have problems when SD was into club penguin. We also had the computer in the main room, talked to her about the games, and rooms/igloos she was making etc. We were on top of what she did, and we had the password. If she changed the password to one we did not know anymore, she lost her account.
Yes, they can chat. Yes, she might chat with someone that isn't who they say they are.
I suggest you sit beside her and see what the game is all about. Our guys love that site, also Woozin World. Both are fun concepts for kids games.
My 9 yr old daughter uses it. It's safe. Like others have said, the texts are limited, pre-made sentences. Nat Geo Animal Jam is the same thing. Six years ago, WEBKINZ was the big hot game. But with that you had to buy a stuffed animal and get the code for the animal.
Start now with a 30 minute timer per day on the computer. Otherwise, she will stay on for much longer than that.
DUOLINGO - is a free, daily language learning program. See if she wants to learn another language. My friend's 10 yr old homeschooled daughter is learning French on it and loves it.
