If you don't have kids, you may not be familiar with Webkinz, which is a sort of combination of physical and virtual toys. You buy a stuffed animal (which costs about $15, way more than stuffed animals typically cost) and included with your purchase is a code that allows you to enter "Webkinz World" online. My kids are really into Webkinz right now, a fact about which I have mixed feelings.The site combines elements of MySpace (it includes a virtual community, in which you can communicate with your "friends") and Sims (your (physical) stuffed animal has a virtual avatar that looks like it, inhabits a "home" that you design, and interacts with others).
Mostly, though, Webkinz is about shopping: almost every activity involves either shopping or trying to earn or win money with which to go shopping. (The above image is the "Curio Shop," one of the places you can buy virtual stuff for your Webkinz pet. Don't you like Arte, the shaggy dog proprietor?)
My analysis of Webkinz is not especially profound, but it is a little disturbing: this is a toy that is designed to teach children how to be good consumers, that is, people for whom getting as much stuff as possible is life's primary purpose and occupation. That, in my opinion, is a bad thing. So why are my kids allowed to play? I haven't chosen this battle so far; my wife and I sometimes discourage toys that fail to match our values, and other times permit them, depending on the specifics of the case.* Cute little Webkinz seemed harmless enough at first (and we're in too deep to go back easily to a pre-Webkinz era), but the more I think about it, the more dubious I feel about them. Unfortunate, the kiddos seem to have developed minds of their own; I'll see if one of them can offer a rebuttal to what has turned out to be an anti-Webkinz analysis.
*My wife's response to the question of why we let them play Webkinz: "Because it keeps them quiet and makes them happy."
4 comments:
Well, they seem young enough that it wont be a problem. Since I don’t have kids I can’t really comment on the “is it good for them”. But, from my childhood I was taught the value of a dollar. My Dad is not just frugal, but more like Mr. Super Tightwad and cheapskate… to be nice about it. My parents still have a Kirby vacuum that was given to them as a wedding gift- like 28 years ago, its still works but it doesn’t suck very well, ironic yes. Also, we had a microwave that lasted 22 years, which I’m sure gave me some form of cancer. Haha… My dad was raised with basically nothing, so when he buys something its for life. He refuses to buy essentially anything new; consequently I understand what it takes to own nice things. I have a little bit of that frugal mind frame when it comes to big ticket items like cars, cell phones which we all know lost value the moment you buy it. I don’t think I will ever buy a new car, I think that is a giant waste of money. In fact, the radio in my car has been dead for three years and I’m to “frugal” to fix it. haha So hopefully your girls will understand that material goods come at a cost, and just because you want it you don’t really need it.
This kind of reminds me of some parent's opinions of the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) RuneScape. Some considered it as a good thing, teaching kids how to manage money and spend wisely. However, having played the game myself, I wouldn't consider it as anything really remotely educational. Perhaps this is the case with Webkinz as well.
I do not know anything about this game in particular, but I would say IF it is teaching children the value of a dollar it is a good thing. I personally had to buy my first car and I think that was a great learning experience for me. OF course I was mad that everyone else was given their cars or allowed to use their parents cars, it did teach me how to work for something you want.
I think that if the game is all about consumerism than the younger the child the worse it would be for them. It's important that children learn from an early age that money doesn't grow on trees and that they should save what they have to spend on useful stuff.
Growing up my parents never got themselves into any major debt but they had the attitude that if they had money, of any amount, that they could then go and freely spend it. After I got married my wife, who totally falls under the "cheap" category of consumer, had the hard task of changing my attitudes about money from "if I have it, spend it" to "lets save it in case we need it at some point". She has managed to change my attitudes but it took awhile and was the main cause of tension in our marriage for the first year or so.
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