Club Penguin: A Safe Place for Kids to Social Waddle

Tue Dec 5, 2006 10:51PM EST

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Kids will find all kinds of games to play on the Internet, and it can be tough for parents to gauge if they're on web sites that are safe. My kids recently found their way to Club Penguin, where friends of theirs have been playing, and there really isn't anything not to like about it.

Club Penguin is a baby-steps introduction to social networking. Each kid has her own penguin, who moves around the club to outdoor and indoor fun games, such as sledding races, hockey games, and shops.

Picture a brightly colored, cutesy, oh-so-safe Second Life for kids between the ages of 8 and 14. It was created by parents who wanted a safe online gaming community for their kids. There's no advertising on the site. Kids can accept buddies and IM them, either with pre-written messages or in their own words. But my 9-year-old showed me, without my asking, ways kids can report if another member is divulging personal information or saying things that make them feel uncomfortable. No one ever does, my 13-year-old assured me.

This is what my kids like about it: It's a colorful, fun world that's easy to move around in and compete with other "penguins" in sledding races and other games, eat at a pizza parlor, and buy "puffles," fluffy pets to care for. 

You can hang out and play on the site for free, but for a $5.95-a-month subscription, kids get more options, including buying furniture to decorate igloos, buying clothes for their penguins, and "adopting" more puffles.

This is what I like about it: Last night as I was working, my girls were in the same room on computers on Club Penguin, meeting each other to race on a snow hill. They were smiling, laughing, and getting along—something that doesn't happen all the time for sisters four years apart, trust me. It was fun to watch.

Club Penguin has been awarded the "Editor's Choice" award by the Children's Technology Review Magazine and is a partner of NetSmartz. It's a fun place, requiring no downloads, for your kids to play games and learn how to social network in a safe, smart way.

Related links:

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Comments on Club Penguin: A Safe Place for Kids to Social Waddle

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  • 2 Posted by gbh1993 on Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:02AM EST Report Abuse

    I think it's a little bit stupid. I mean 13-14 year olds in a website like that?. Come on. It's like a 14 year old going on nickelodeon.com

  • 3 Posted by jtdude0 on Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:36PM EST Report Abuse

    Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. If you don't believe your 13 year old should be going on MySpace due to the "risks", then you haven't been doing a very good job as a parent teaching them what to do and what not to do. It's really just common sense...

  • 4 Posted by tennisgirl9000 on Mon Jan 1, 2007 1:59PM EST Report Abuse

    I think that it fun and safe. My mom is a BIG safe freak and she thinks that it is OK. MY opinion is that i love all of it except for the part that you have to pay. Why do people have to pay to just get penguin clothes and tencnolegy stuff on the computer like that??? Well i do love it and suposely MIGHT sign up to be a member just to get the extra stuff. Thank you for setting it up.

  • 5 Posted by afk94 on Tue Jan 2, 2007 11:59PM EST Report Abuse

    ok...when I was 12, I found Club Penguin on Miniclip once when I was really bored. I decided to check it out. It was ok for like 8-9 days, then it was unbelievably boring. I too agree with tennisgirl9000 on the membership payment. But incase ou think its porn-free, your wrong. It happens in a different way in Club Penguin. Behind the cute Penguin-ballerinas and pathetic attempts at tipping the iceberg over for '10000 coins', and the wierd igloos and puffles, is the dark side of Club Penguin. Anyway, it's not for people our age. Come on, it is sooooo boring. Sorry, but I have to disagree. Kids actually WASTE their time on club Pengin while they could be ddoing better stuff like Encarta or watching a nature documentry on TV. Its not boring, you know, its better than playing hopeless games like club Penguin. David

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