All About Kids Website Club Penguin
85What is Club Penguin?
Club Penguin is a gaming and social networking site for kids started in October 2005 by two fathers in British Columbia, Canada. The target audience 8-14-year-olds create a virtual life online, earning coins to purchase clothes, toys, and play games. They also interact - including romantically. They initiate relationships and practice breakups all without setting eyes on the beloved as there are no pictures or other identifying information allowed.
Aside from the gaming aspect, the biggest difference between Penguin and its counterparts for older kids (i.e. MySpace) is the focus on safety. Other social networking sites are geared toward teens and young adults and encourage sharing personal details. Kids watch older siblings online and want to be just like them, so Penguin was created to give them a safe place to play.
Other sites are vying for your ‘tweens' attention. Kids can play on http://www.nicktropolis.com/, http://www.whyville.net/, and http://www.habbo.com/. One nice thing about Penguin compared to its competitor ‘tween gaming sites is that Penguin generates all its revenue from subscriptions, which means no advertising. Decide for yourself if it's worth shelling out the subscription fee, but when I checked out Habbo, a banner ad displayed across the top of the screen for a movie about a killer in suburbia! Good fun for kids.
Should I Let My Kid on Club Penguin?
If you decide Club Penguin is safe enough then you've got a different decision to make. It's not so different from PopTarts and Mario Brothers. You just have to decide how much is enough. There's only so much time in a day. After homework, a little exercise, a meal, and maybe some TV or video games, how much time is really left? Do our supposedly overscheduled children really need another time consuming (possibly addictive) activity? Only you can answer for your child.
Then again, it's a changing world. Online relationships are a new social reality and we may as well teach our kids to navigate them just as we guide their real life interactions. Because this is the new real life. At least for now.
Check out this Newsweek story for more information and examples of Club Penguin use.
Is Club Penguin Safe?
As far as the Internet goes, this is about as safe as it gets. Club Penguin developers have gone to great lengths creating sophisticated software to keep the bad guys out as well as prevent kids from giving out any kind personal information. In addition to the software safeguards, Penguin has a human moderator, who can be accessed if a player feels another player is inappropriate. However, I'm pretty sure those predators are sneaky enough to make a kid do anything but hit the ‘Help' button.
Added Bonus: Parents have a lot of control of what their kids can say and see on Penguin.
Club Penguin is being hailed as a good example of a safe place online for kids. And they have been awarded Good Housekeeping's kid's privacy seal of approval. However, there's always some element of risk. For example, kids could be invited/lured by their ‘friends' to other sites where less innocent chats are not so heavily monitored.
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I had to pull my kids off it..it wasnt right for us..and the kids (or whoever) do actually get away with saying alot of things that would be considered inappropriate at our house anyway
In theory it's a good idea -- if only parents actually would monitor their kids online activities. A much better and safer way to educate and entertain kids is to give them the freedom to listen to stories on mp3 audio books. There's been a lot of research and studies supporting that both music, sounds and words have a much greater impact on learning while retaining more of what was learned for a longer period of time. In other words kids have fun and get much better results, go to: http://www.audiobookgiftshop.com
Ok well im a kid and I have a club penguin named SandCrystal and if any of you people think Club Penguin is a bad website, you are SO wrong because I have been in contact with them. They say that they have an advanced word filter. Im 12 and I have had my penguin for 2 years and I have been on almost every day. Out of all those days I have not seen or heard of one bad thing. And if something slips, someone will report them because all you have to do is click on them and there is a button that says REPORT. And then a moderater WILL suspend them. Check it out your self before you say anything bad.
OMG I caant beleve you think club penguin is a bad website! I have been a member for almost 3 years and I"m only 10 and my mom aproves of it! And I email them all the time and they dont do anything!!!!!!! From A CHILD P.S. PARENTS LET YOUR CHILDREN GO ON CLUB PENGUIN!!! ITS SAFE AND FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG I totally beleve sammy I have been a member on club penguin for almost 3 years and I have not heard one bad thing! And if some one does say something me or rude or something like that YOU CAN EASLY JUST CLICK ON THEM and you will see this little M click it click the thing they did that was wrong and the people who work for club penguin will check it out and they will bannn them if they did something bad. From A CHILD PARENTS!!!!!! LET YOUR CHILDREN GO ON CLUB PENGUIN ITS SAFE AND FUN I EVEN FEEL SAFE LETTING MY 7 YEAR OLD ON IT!!!!
It sounds like parents really need to decide for themselves. However, looks like Penguin is among the safest websites.
I have published parenting tips on my hub:
http://hubpages.com/hub/parentingtips
Would you people like to take a looK?
it is about as safe as safe could be and im only 9.
Club Penguin is not all that. While my dtr were with a sitter a few weeks ago, she(8 yr old) signed up for club penguin. She used my mother's email address which was written on a sheet of paper and then got in my desk for my extra credit card. Although she used the wrong first name on the cc , CP still accepted payment and started a premium membership. I didn't like CP to start with and put a stop to it before I even found out about the credit card charges because the chat is too flexible.
If you are looking for a safe web site for your children, buy them a webkinz, each webkinz(between 9 and 15 dollars) comes with a years membership and great features. You can do safe chat with pre-written phrases or safe chat without numbers and proper names, states, etc.... Safest site I have found. I do allow my kids to play on build-a-bearville too.
I also like Webkinz.
I have heard alot of bad word on club penguin. I do not let my child play on it.
Thanks for pointing this out. Sounds like a terrific site.
look... club penguin and other online virtual games are really bad!!!
children believe that this is the real world!!!!
a fake world.instead of going out with other REAL childen and play sports that are good for there health.
thank you.
i agree with zach,sammy,and hector.
clubpenguin is a place to chill out after school and have some fun! i todally disagree with??????! im a kid just like zach, sammy, and hector.I BELIVE THAT CLUBPENGUIN IS SAFE!
CP is fine, when I've got the time, I'll tell you why in detail
i really like club peinguin...im 12 and i go on every chance i am allowed to(after homework,etc.)!
its good
club penguin is all about fun.I used to chat with my friends in club penguin when i m free and it is nice to have parties in cp.I WOULD SAY THAT IS NOT A BAD WEBSITE. ALL THE BAD THINGS TAKES PLACE IN CP BUT MOST OF THE PENGUINS WONT REVEAL THEIR PERSONAL INFORMATION SO I WOULD SAY THAT IT IS SAFE FOR GOOD CHILDREN. IF U DONT REVEAL UR PERSONAL THINGS U WILL FEEL THAT IT IS A VERY GOOD WEBSITE.MOSTLY THE PERSONAL THINGS U SAY TO OTHER PENGUINS WONT APPEAR ON THE SCREEN OF PERSON TO WHOM U R SPEAKING IN CP,SO NO PROBLEM TO BE A PART OF CP.SO PARENTS ALLOW UR CHILDREN TO JOIN CP AND ALLOW THEN TO ENJOY. BYE BYE
Hello Lela!
I haven't tried using Club Penguins, yet. I bet it will be an interesting site for kids. By the way, I have also a site--> http://www.manydressupgames.com
It's a collection of dress up games for kids! definitly fun and free. Hope you can visit some time!
working
riki says:
11 months ago
hi lol idk wut to say lov club penguin but hey im 11
hav you seen ross wow does he hava dirty mouth!!