My kids are hung up on Club Penguin. They love it. It’s interactive. There are games to play. There are other people to interact with (to a certain extent).
My oldest is the one that plays it the most and she’s seven. My youngest, of course, wants to do what her big sister is doing. As a result, I succumbed to pressure this morning and got her an account to the tune of 60 bucks for the year.
Now they are both happy, doing their own thing on Club Penguin, but I have to ask myself, is it too much? Should I limit their computer time or let them explore the digital world as much as possible? It’s a tough call because I’m a gear head and love technology. But there’s something to be said about playing and using your imagination?
How do you limit your kid’s technology in-take?
Don Martelli is just a dad, moonlighting as a PR exec, photographer and civilian journalist. Known on the social web as “The Big Guy,” Don is a former journalist for the Boston Globe, long-time PR executive, co-founder of Every Other Thursday and the lead digital strategy writer for the PR Finish Line, the blog for his agency, MSL Boston. Connect with him at www.donmartelli.com or @BigGuyD via Twitter.
We never limited our kids computer time. It doesn’t seem to have impacted their ability to enjoy life away from the Interwebs. Today as teens, both are competitive athletes, both are fine academically, and both are fine socially. Well, my son is a bit of the stereotyped sci-fi geek, but I don’t have any problem with that!