Fatherhood

The race for children social network dominance has a new challenger in the form of an old face: Barbie Girls. I try to stay up to date on this space and I have actually seen my oldest daughter spend a session or two on this site, but it’s now being reported that in its first 60 days of existence, Barbie Girls has signed up over three million members!

While it’s not entirely surprising to see Barbie jump out to such large numbers, the fact is that it is growing quicker than any of its predecessors and supports the theory that social networks are here to stay.  At least for now.

As parents, we need to accept this and come up with our own guidelines as to how we handle our children’s online usage.  Without these networks, it was easy to tell our kids there was nothing online for them.  Now, with many of their friends spending their time online, it’s increasingly difficult to make that point sincerely.  My daughter often spends time playing games on Club Penguin with a group of friends from class.

These networks will continue to grow and command more and more of our children’s time and attention.  Realistically, they can be looked at as training wheels for a lifetime of social networking.  Our parents played with Barbie dolls and my generation played video games, but our children are now in the midst of a virtual playground, one that will likely seep later into their lives than our we or our parents experienced.

Some more mega-popular social networks for kids include Habbo Hotel, Zwinky and Gaia Online.  With so many options and so many of their friends already online, it’s only a matter of time before your child expresses interest in joining one of these networks.

• Discussion Points:
  • Will you let your child join a social network for kids or have you already?
  • What are the good and bad side effects, if any, that you have noticed?
  • Do you think social networks are here to stay or just a passing fad?

Social networks seem to have invaded just about every demographic.  One of the fastest growing segments of the social networking phenomenon is social networks aimed at children.

While the perils for children on larger social networks like Myspace are well documented, what isn’t entirely understood yet are the affects of kiddie-networks on our children.  Like all things in life, there are pros and cons.  Let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of children using sites like Club Penguin, Webkinz, Nicktropolis and Millsberry.

Advantages

Safety Filters - Children are restricted in the language they can use on these sites.  Users are not allowed to type addresses, phone numbers or oftentimes, personal questions.   It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for predators to find out anything of importance from your child on one of these networks.

Computer Skills - While the sites are created for children, they still require the use of a computer.  Learning how to use a computer is an increasingly important skill in today’s world.  The earlier your child learns computer skills, the more fluid they will become in using them.

Promote Reading - Throughout these networks, children venture from room to room reading directions and taking part in surveys, quizzes and games.  By doing so, young children have a place to build their reading skills they really enjoy.

Typing - Most of the games are played with the keyboard and often require children to type their answers.  Interacting with others requires typing, as well, thereby improving your child’s understanding of the keyboard and ability to type.

Communicating - Despite the filters, children are encouraged to interact with each other in a variety of ways.  Those that don’t play nice are often banned or outcast.  Learning to move up in the social networking world requires good communication skills and fairness, good traits for anyone regardless of age.

Caring For Pets - Most of the kiddie-networks revolve around animals or allow yo to have a pet which you must take care of as if they were real.  This includes feeding, bathing and cleaning up after them.

Budgeting  - Many of the games on these networks offer rewards that can be collected and points that can be earned to save up for special items, teaching children how to budget and use virtual money.

Networking -  One of the most important skills for anyone to have in life is networking. It’s often said “it’s not what you know, but who you know”, and children learn that very quickly in kiddie-networks.

Disadvantages

Reduced Social Skills - Spending social time on virtual networks instead of playing with friends in real life can leave adults, as well as children, feeling less social in the real world.  Monitoring the amount of time your child spends on one of these sites is highly suggested.

Open Doors - Interacting with other children who may have less adult supervision can lead to your child finding out about other places on the net to visit.  Browsing around the internet opens door after door, many of which are unsuitable for children.

Internet Addiction - We are all susceptible to this.  Spending time on the internet often leads to spending lots more time on the internet.  Again, monitoring the amount of time your child spend online is very important.

Costs - Many of these new networks require users to pay monthly fees to gain higher access levels.  Like real life, children want to go and be where their friends are.  If their friends have higher access, your child is going to want to follow, which can turn into quite an investment of not only time, but money, as well.

The pros and cons of your child social networking online are endless, but with the above guidelines, you should have a firm grasp on what exactly is going on and how much time your child should be spending on these sites.  Every parent will have different thoughts and approaches as to how to handle this issue and should keep in mind that ultimately they are responsible for what their children see and do online.  I personally allow my two oldest daughters to spend no more than four hours a week online for fun as I’d much rather see them playing together or outside, and don’t think my youngest daughter should be online at all.

In any case, be proactive and participate in your child’s online life much like you would their real life.  As the internet continues to occupy more and more of our time, promoting responsible online usage will become an even more important role for all parents.

For more insight on social networks for children, check out the article “Sites let preteens network online”.

social networks, online usage, kids on the internet

These gifts would be great for Dads;

Flytech 4031 Radio Control DragonFly - Great Toy, can be used inside and out, really cool.

USB Turntable - Finally, an easy way to copy that vinyl on to your PC. Where’s my Mirrorball??!!

Action Camera - Capture a crash or jump from the riders seat. Great for those base jumpers among you…

Sharp Shootin’ Remote Control - I really like this. Fashioned to resemble a cowboy’s six-shooter this rootin’ tootin’ remote is ideal for all you sofa sheriffs who have a love/hate relationship with the magic rectangle. Simply point it at the telly and pull the trigger. Then before you can say ‘This town ain’t big enough for the both of us’ the channel changes up or down, depending on how you’ve set-up the pistol’s sensor.

tv gun, turntable, usb, dragonfly, fathers day

Fathers day is coming up on June 17th, and we in Europe share this day with you. I will be posting a series about gifts to give a Dad over the next few days. I thought a few days heads up would be good.

I’ll look at some of the new gadgets around. I’ll follow with cool stuff (and funny stuff). Lastly we’ll look at home made stuff you can make with your kids.

Can you really justify the cost of going to the Movies? If you add the cost of Popcorn, parking (if you’re in a City), and tickets you’re looking at a princely sum.

It is almost an unwritten rule that at the climax of the film, or when then have the best scene, your young dates will cry ‘We need the toilet!’.

Also, some kids, including my daughter, wont so much as flinch when some bug or monster comes on the TV screen, but in a theater where said beast is 40 foot tall, she’ll scream her lungs out!

I often let my daughter watch the extended trailers for new films on the Apple Quicktime movie trailers site. They are great quality, and give an idea of the sights and sounds of the films.

So if you can’t wait until the DVD comes out, then just try to be prepared;

Sort out some quiet snacks.
Take another adult so you can take turns for toilet trips.
Some theaters have a family show on Saturday morning, where it’s cheaper to get in.

A couple of films my family are looking forward to are;

Pirates Of The Caribbean - At World’s End - Preview

Ratatouille - Preview

Surf’s Up - Preview

movies, surfs up, ratatouille, pirates of the caribbean

With the increase in Social Networking sites like Myspace, teens spend much more time on the net than they used to. And with TV, music, other siblings, there are a lot of reasons teens don’t leave their rooms.

You have to strike a balance between giving enough independence, and ensuring that your kids spend an appropriate time with the rest of the family.

In our house, the computer is in the dining room, and everyone has to use it there. It means that we can monitor the kids using it, and us as well. I think that most technology today is designed for the individual, and can sometimes isolate people behind a wall of white headphones, bluetooth headsets, and doors.

It also goes without saying that you need to make your teen aware that they should be using an alias while online, so if they meet someone they don’t like online, they can cut the link.

myspace, fatherhood, teens, bedroom

I often sit aimlessly staring at the page (or screen), trying to break through the ‘writers’ block.

As an adult, I have reams of experiences and stories to tell, but I quite often find that my adult mind often puts the brakes on very early in any writing I attempt. It’s a form of self-censorship I suppose, and can be really frustrating.

As a teenager I didn’t have this block, and my mind was free to go off on endless tangents. No point, No meaning, sometimes I would write about anything for hours. I never struggled to get the words out, but rather down, as my handwriting couldn’t keep up and got progressively more messy as I got older. I just wish the had been the home PCs we have today in the Eighties, so others could have enjoyed my writing.

How do you write? Do your kids have the same problem with getting the words down? Or concentrating? I’ve found that what you need sometimes is an open mind and some focus.

Over at FictionScribe, JM posts a lot of articles about writing. Personally, I like the exercises best. One of the current series asks writers to do 200 words, and submit them to the site, if you dare, where the readers will comment and add some feedback.

creative writing, fatherhood, homework, school days

You know what it’s like, the game is about to start, your team will be in the playoffs if they win, and you walk into the living room, chips in a bowl and a cold beer, and you’re met with DORA THE EXPLORER.

Your kid has been watching the TV for hours, giving up food, taking toilet breaks during the commercials.

The episode has just started, Dora and Boots have to help a ‘poor purple burro’.

What do you do? Your options seem to be:

1. Send you kid away, crying, and settle down to watch the game.
2. Try, unsuccessfully, to persuade same kid that football is much more interesting than Dora. See 1.
3. Take your snacks and beer to a friends house.

But wait, there’s another option! PVR Dora!

If you get you child to learn how to use your personal video recorder (PVR), they can record their own shows, and watch them while its convenient to you. Instead of saying ‘thats it, turn it off, time to go to school’(or t-ball, or church, or whatever), you can say, ‘we need to go now, record that for later?’. I often use recorded programs while I’m getting the dinner ready. I know that the program will hold their interest and keep them occupied.

The best thing about the PVR is the time it can save. Instead of riding the sofa waiting to find a show to watch, you only have to spend a few minutes a week programming in your shows. You can avoid re-runs (just delete them), and keep up to date with a series, especially if it’s complicated story like 24, or Lost, or my current favorite, Heroes.

You can watch TV when YOU want to watch it, and skip the ads if you want to.

And lastly, if your kids are a bit sensitive, or you’re concerned about what they might be watching, you can exercise the control.

pvr, heroes, tv, remote, technology

If only Steve Jobs could build a real one… perhaps not,but I reckon Honda may build one first. Hey, it could even take kids round that museum it seems to like so much.

Yes, admit it, you probably bought the PS3 as much for yourself as for your kids, anyway, how many years allowance would it cost. With all the fantastic titles available, how do you monitor and ensure that you are the one to teach them about war, violence, and sex???

read more | digg story

ps3, gaming, sex, violence, fatherhood

NASCAR SpeedPark

A family favourite since its opening, the NASCAR SpeedPark is one of the area’s top tourist attractions offering five exciting go-kart tracks, kid-sized rides, NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway simulators, a SpeedDome arcade, Thunder Alley slot car racing, the Laser Tag arena, an indoor playground and a NASCAR merchandise and apparel gift shop.

Playdium

Into video games and simulators, then try Playdium in Mississauga. Over 40,000 square feet of simulators, rides, arcade games and more. Open from Midday most days.

CN Tower


Although I already mentioned the CN Tower in a previous post, I forgot to mention a few cool things about the visit to the CN Tower.

- Travel at 33 km/h, Glass Fronted, ears guaranteed to POP!

- Watch little kids scare the adults by jumping up and down on the glass floor, LOL! Its only 1122 feet straight down!

- You stand in a booth and get blasted with little jets of air, the Smiths Detectors can test for miniscule traces of explosive on persons or clothing. Reminded me a little of the corridor scene in Resident Evil , very sci-fi. (Insider note there, most of RE and its sequel were shot in Toronto, they even blew up City Hall in RE Apocalypse!).

Hockey Hall Of Fame

Great place to see Gretzky’s first skates and stick, lots of other memorabilia, and The Stanley Cup!, great shop, and best of all you can try out against Curtis Joseph! Its all at the Hockey Hall Of Fame

hockey hall of fame, cn tower, playdium, geekdad, fatherhood, entertainment, toronto

Who says kids don’t apply themselves these days? Steven Henderson, a 15-year-old in Britain, heard about global warming and climate change in school (where, he admits, he’s a “hopeless” student) and got his dad to buy him about $20,000 worth of biodiesel-making equipment. Now, he says, “I would like to be a really big oil producer.” Look out, Exxon

read more | digg story

technology, biodiesel, ecology, green

I spent a large part of my childhood tethered to a Nintendo. The only thing more depressing than the hours I wasted playing NES is eclipsed only by the hours I wasted, years later, with online role-playing games. Don’t get me wrong: I love video games. But marriage and fatherhood have drastically changed my priorities, and I can no longer justify the cost and time to play. It’s been so long, I no longer have even the urge.

So I’m mystified and terrified by the release of the PS3. The price alone makes me shudder: $600 for the console, and $60 per game. The father within me can’t fathom the waste. All I can see is health insurance, life insurance, mortgage, car payment, tuition, car insurance, natural gas bill…food. I’m certainly not willing to pay upwards of $600 to stand in line for several hours, risking theft, a punch in the face, or bullet in my chest, all for the chance to kill more realistic elves in surround sound.

What does this phenomenon teach our kids about perspective, instant gratification, and priorities? And it’s not as though this behavior is rare. Similar goings-on occurred last year, when IKEA launched a new store in London. Heck, I saw this two years ago on Black Friday, when Staples was selling folding tables for $5. Tables!

For now, Ian and I are happy playing Super Mario World and Tetris. And eating.

YUVA Studio is a simple, web-based drawing application that allows kids to create artwork by manipulating shapes. Kids can move, flip, stretch, color, and doodle:

‘YUVA consists of five activities: STAMP, PUNCH, PATCH, DOODLE and DRAW. The activities start out simple: choose a shape and stamp it on the canvas, punch it out of the canvas, or use a single shape to make mosaics. Then advance to doodling to add detail to the drawing. Some allow single-color drawings, others multiple. Some use single shapes, others use many. Each activity has been designed to develop different skills of composition and inventiveness.’

Kids can then send their drawings to family and friends via e-card.

YUVA offers a seven-day free trial, after which there’s a $30 license fee for one ‘Artist’. The service is still new, but eventually you’ll be able to purchase additional shapes, activities, and add storage space to your account.

I spent some time playing, and YUVA has promise. I had problems with the interface, and the response time seemed slow—never a good combination with impatient five-year-olds—but it’s simple enough for toddlers to use, and has more advanced tools for older children. My son loves playing on the computer, but similar online games offered by PBS Kids and Sprout are limited and repetitive.

(Via Lifehacker)