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Virtual World And Social Networking For Eight Year Olds by Sarah Gentili

I remember the good old days when kids were allowed to be kids. Toys required some imagination and birthdays did not break the bank. Sadly those days are dead and gone.

Mattel, a company known throughout the world for its line of Barbie Fashion Dolls has proudly followed other toy manufacturers into a new age of glossy technology with the launch of their online virtual world barbiegirls.com. According to one Mattel spokesperson, “It has a lot of the same attributes as Facebook (a popular social network for adults), but designed for eight year olds.”

The girls can go online and design their own character, called an avatar, with its unique hair style and fashion. Girls can also design their own rooms, go to a virtual mall, spend virtual money, try new fashions, play games, watch videos, send email and chat together. Mattel has done extensive programming to have word filters employed in the chat rooms and to block all personal information.

Curious, I went to their website with my 14 year niece, created an avatar and had a look around. On the surface it looked like a safe place for girls to meet other girls and form friendships. It did function like many of the other social networks online.

Besides the new website, Mattel is planning to launch merchandise that will tie in to the website. In July of 2007 Mattel will launch its Barbie/ MP3 combo doll which will have a doll and a built-in mp3 player. This will give girls access to VIP music libraries and hidden areas on the website. The mps3/doll will allow girls to unlock new features on barbiegirls.com and share music together. These new website features will only be available to girls that have spent the additional $50.00 on the mps3 player. By then I am sure Mattel will be making huge profits.

I cannot shake the feeling that 8 year old girls and social networks are a bad combination. How can it be a good thing? Let’s set aside the potential for predators using the site, which is possible even with the best security and look at the possible effects a “toy” like this has on a child. At eight years old children are still learning the fundamentals of social interaction. They are learning how to interact and behave in groups with other children and adults. So what happens when we start replacing time with real people with interaction online using avatars? What long-term effects does this have on a child’s social development? I’m not a specialist, but common sense tells me that there are enough long-term unknowns for me to say no to this new trend in the children’s toy market.

Parents, when your angels and princesses are bagging you to let them join their friends online, I implore you to use common sense and say no. It might tempt you. Your child is entertained and relatively quiet, giving you a some time to regroup, recharge, or take care of those things that have been on your to do list for weeks. You might ask yourself how is this different from letting your child watch television? There are similarities between the two with one clear difference. Your children don’t engage in two way interaction with the television. They know the difference between a television and a friend.

I work in a technical field and many of my adult coworkers talk fondly about their alter egos online and the personas they have created for themselves through social networks and massive online roleplaying games. They get a twinkle in their eyes and a small smile, and you can tell that they prefer their online life to their real life. They prefer the fantasy to their reality. In short, they are unhappy with there current life or not as fulfilled by it as they should be. The virtual world can easily turn into a form of escapism. Others would say that time spent in their virtual world is merely a diversion from their real world and nothing more than this. What do you think?

So if this is what happens to social networking adults, what is going to happen to social networking eight year olds? Eight year olds are not adults and are still going through developmental stages of life. We already know children have good imaginations, that is not the issue. What they must develop in childhood and adolescence are social interaction skills that are appropriate for their current age and they can carry with them into adulthood. As a parent, do not allow computers and social networking to thwart the social development of your child. There must be a balance between live interaction among kids and imaginative play.

Reference: Technology News, 4/27/07 - www.technewsworld.com/story/social-networking/57128.html

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