Empowered by Play » video games

Empowered by Play endorses Screen-Free Week!

Geralyn — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:56:19 +0000

How hard would it be for your family to forgo screen entertainment for one week? That includes video games, television, social media and texting – the whole kit-and-caboodle. Have you ever tried it? Maybe the electricity went out for a day or two from an ice-storm (that happened in our area last winter) and you and the kids didn’t have an inkling how to entertain yourselves. Or maybe you did. Maybe you dusted off the board games, read books together, or played cards. Chances are you talked to each other more than usual.

Going unplugged today is harder than ever for many of us. Consider these quotes from a recent article, Social Media: A Great Uncontrolled Experiment on Kids published by Internal Medicine News. The article quotes many experts in the field, including Dr. Rich, director of the center on media and child health at Children’s Hospital Boston; Dr. Shifrin, a Bellevue, WA–based pediatrician who served as the American Academy of Pediatrics’ consultant to Microsoft when it developed a family safety setting for Windows XP; Dr. Susan Greenfield, a neuroscientist who directs the Institute for the Future of the Mind at the Oxford Martin School, Oxford University in England; and Dr. Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, a pediatrician and author of “CyberSafe: Protecting and Empowering Digital Kids in the World of Texting, Gaming, and Social Media“.

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According to a 2009 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, young people aged 8-18 years spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes each day with TV, video games, or computers, an increase of 1 hour and 17 minutes over the average in 2004. In addition, 66% of these youngsters own a cell phone (on which they text or talk for another 2 hours each day), 76% of them have an iPod or other media player, and 74% of kids in grades 7-12 say they have a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook.

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…social media eat into quality time together, said Dr. O’Keeffe, who has two teenage daughters and who authors a syndicated blog called “Dr. Gwenn Is In.”

“We’ve all been at restaurants where mom and dad are plugged into their Blackberries or iPhones and the kids have their game systems or their cell phones, and no one’s talking to one another,” she said. “We have a pretty strict rule at our house: no digital stuff or picking up the phone during family meals. When we go on vacation we lock the phones away. We go unplugged a few times a year. That teaches our kids that you can do it. Sometimes my 16-year-old will not turn on her computer for a few days in a row. I think you have to teach your kids when they’re young to resist the temptation. If they see you do it, they’ll do it.”

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Dr. Greenfield is concerned that children and adolescents who spend too much time on social media may be compromising the proper development of certain cognitive skills. “We know that people are getting good at processing information very quickly and efficiently – the kind of skills you have when you’re driving,” she said. “What we’re talking about is turning yourself into kind of a computer in a way: making efficient and fast responses as appropriate. This is very different from reading a book, which is very linear and slow. That’s what the brain needs to understand something usually; you don’t want to have it diluted and distracted, because the brain only has so much power. If it’s being employed in attending to lots of different things, it’s not going to be able to pursue a linear train of thought.”

The result, Dr. Greenfield offered, “could be an infantilizing of the brain, that we are going to create a generation of Peter Pans who live in a world that is a literal one, dominated by sensory content over cognitive significance, a world where what you see is what you get.”

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And here is my favorite, this quote is from Dr. O’Keefe:

Each generation that passes is going to be more digital. So while we still remember what an offline world is, if we can instill in the current teenagers and elementary school kids what it’s like to be unplugged, they’ll instill it in their kids, and it should pay forward.

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That idea of passing on the feeling of being unplugged to future generations is really an empowering idea for me. And it is what lead me to help organize a Turn-off Week at Mission Hill School where I worked in Boston. Now the event is called Screen-Free Week and it is being organized by our great friends at the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. We know the problems that a sedentary and screen-filled life can bring, and we know the benefits of getting outside; being creative; and playing and talking together. Since 1996 folks have been organizing screen-free weeks as a way to promote these ideas and to further the discussions about the choices for entertainment that we make as families and individuals.

Absolutely anyone can organize a Screen-Free week in their community: parents, teachers, librarians, clergy, activists, even kids. This year’s Screen-Free week is April 18 – 24th and for this event CCFC has created a new, improved Organizer’s Kit to walk you through the process; it includes suggestions for getting kids ready for the week by yours truly and my friend and TRUCE colleague Alexis Ladd, and all the activities and handouts you’ll need for a great Screen-Free Week—as well as 2 beautiful posters perfect for promoting. There are other materials you can purchase – such as t-shirts – and all of these purchases will help to spread the movement.

Time to turn off the screen and turn on the amazing world around us!

Club Penguin Quandary

Geralyn — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:34:16 +0000

I have a bit of a problem and I’m not sure what to do. A few weeks ago, one of my sons said, “You know what you could get me for Christmas, Mom? You could let me go on Club Penguin.” Club Penguin is an online social-network gaming website for kids. It’s been around for a few years, and I’ve always been opposed to even the idea of it. My sons know how I feel about this. I don’t like it because it encourages very young kids to play online with virtual friends instead of playing in real life with real friends. There is also money involved. To fully play the game, you must pay a monthly membership of about 6 dollars – per kid, per month. And, as you play the game, you accumulate coins which you can spend many different ways – such as buying virtual furniture and decorations for your igloo. And, last of all, it is owned by Disney, a company I have big problems with.

My son knows all these reasons – he’s heard them before, yet he still wants Club Penguin to be on his approved list of websites. To put this in perspective, he only is allowed 10 minutes online Fridays and Saturdays. So that means he only gets about 20 minutes online a week. Right now his favorite websites are 39 Clues and Hot Wheels. He also visits Highlights, Lego and Hooda Math. So, with only 20 minutes total a week, he isn’t on any one of them very long.

“Why do you want to go on Club Penguin?” I asked. “Persuade me why I should think about this some more.”

“Well,” he replied. “For one reason, a lot of our cousins go on it. And just about all of our cousins go on Club Penguin except for us. And it is fun and we really like it. They barely let us play it when we watch them.” Then his brother added, “One cool thing is Card-Jitsu, the on-line version. You can type in the codes. It’s fun to play it online because there is a waterfall and you have to beat the card in front of you.” So, as a family (my husband, the boys and myself) we agreed that: 1) we weren’t going to pay for anything, and 2) I would take some time to look at Club Penguin more closely and decide if the boys could put it on their list of approved websites.

This morning, I spent about 45 minutes touring the Club Penguin website. I imagined I was a child and tried to see the website through his or her eyes. To be fair to the website’s creators, the registration process requires a child who is creating a new account (to play the games) must also give a parent’s e-mail address. In signing up today, I pretended I was a child and gave my “mom’s” e-mail address (which, of course, was my own). I was impressed, as the “parent”, that I immediately received an e-mail to make sure I knew a Club Penguin profile was being set up for my “child”, and all the information she had shared came to me. This e-mail notice also included a link to activate the account – reinforcing the purpose of a parent authorizing the child’s access to the website.

Also, there were warnings about what can happen if you share your password (someone can take your coins, ruin your igloo, etc… This did happen to someone the boys know, and it was pretty sad.) I was able to choose the “Ultimate Safe Chat” mode, where only messages from a drop-down message list can be seen and written by my penguin. That was good, or so I thought.

After setting up my penguin profile, and as I began to play, I surprised myself and thought, “This might be ok. I might be able to say yes to this.” Then I started playing and immediately things got weird. The message from Club Penguin was: “Explore, meet friends, play games and so much more!” I entered a room and got a message, “Want to play Find Four?” I clicked yes and then started playing a virtual version Connect Four, a game I like a lot. Only there was no other kid next to me. Weird! I won, but the game and the kid disappeared so quickly that I didn’t even get to see how I won, or what his/her next move might’ve been. I only knew for sure that I’d won because I received 5 coins in my bank.

Next up: a penguin named Sausage0999 asked me to play. I did, but it just felt creepy and weird. Very uncomfortable. I had no idea who this person is, and they don’t know me. Was it a kid? Did they think I was a kid? The whole thing just gave me the willies. So I left the game area, and went to check out my igloo. It was quite drab and depressing. I had some coins in the bank, and decided I’d try to spiff it up. But guess what, you can only buy things with your coins if you have the paying membership. This was frustrating for me, and it would be for my sons. (I also don’t like the fact that this aspect of the site – children-shopping-from-virtual catalogs- adds tons of fuel to the consuming-culture we live in.)

So, I left the igloo-spiffing-up area and went back to the games. The next game I clicked on had to do with costumes and a theater. And guess what…you had to buy the costume you’d wear. Little price tags popped up all over the screen: “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”, “Buy”!! And since I couldn’t buy anything, I couldn’t play that game.

Conclusion: even though my sons truly believe you can play Club Penguin without a paying membership, and even though the website claims that anyone can play, it just isn’t true. And the virtual-friend aspect was even creepier than I had imagined. There is NO WAY I want my boys playing with people they can’t see and faces they can’t read. Not now – not for a loooooong, looooong time. I already know that one of my sons is wired to really be excited about this kind of thing – so I really have to keep this one at bay for as long as possible.

So that is my (our) dilemma. How can we deliver the “No Club Penguin” message in a way that doesn’t totally crush the boys? I’m trying think of something that will satisfy the boys, but is still acceptable to us. I’m thinking maybe I can give them a certificate that allows them to now have 15 minutes a day on weekends instead of 10 minutes a day – my husband agrees that might work. But really, on this one I’d love some ideas from other parents out there…and time is running out since tomorrow night is Christmas Eve.

Thanks!

And BTW…if you haven’t read our December Joyful news, please click here!

Milk Media Madness

Geralyn — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:38:18 +0000

Is it too much to ask that our school children eat a school lunch without being marketed to? I don’t think so. A few months ago, I wrote about Milk Media and their Milk Rocks! campaign. At that time I was upset about the Bakugan website advertised to my 5 year-old son on his school milk carton. Since then, both Milk Media and my local dairy have assured me that this won’t happen again. There won’t be a media character or a website advertised on their milk panels. Or, more accurately, there won’t be any website except for “Milk Rocks!”. Their website continues to be advertised to school children across the country every day.

Check out these images of some of their featured performers:

Every time I check out the Milk Rocks! website, I get more and more upset. The website features sexy singers (see above) and video games (some of them, such as 3 Foot Ninja II, are violent). They have trailers for all kinds of movies, including violent PG-13 movies such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Their contests and content are aimed at older children (13 -18) though their website appears on milk cartons for students of all ages - including kindergartners and elementary students. Now, when I look at the website, I see that kids are encouraged to “become a fan of Milk Rocks! on Facebook”. I am not naive. I know that there are 11 and 12 year-olds on Facebook, but should school milk cartons be encouraging that?

Why is this happening? How is Milk Media allowed to do this? Their website states proudly: “Milk Rocks! connects with students using milk carton side panels to lunchroom posters and book covers. Our Dairy partners make it all possible – their delivery personnel are in and out of every school every day — delivering cartons, checking posters, distributing book covers. We don’t just ship materials and hope for the best, we’re there every day.” Well, I have been trying to get in touch with my local dairy to ask more questions about this, but don’t have any answers yet. I truly do not believe that Milk Media should have such easy access to our children – especially when most parents do not even realize what is going on.

Milk Media and their Milk Rocks! campaign claim their aim is to increase low fat milk consumption (as opposed to sugary drinks), though healthy messages are only a tiny portion of all that the website has to offer. There is a bit of information about the health benefits of drinking low fat milk. There is also advertising from smallsteps.gov which encourages water drinking and exercise, however that ad popped up less often than the Facebook and Twitter ads when I browsed the website. Their motto, “Plug in. Drink up.” just doesn’t sit right with me either. Apparently, the motto refers to the electronic music and milk, but to me it sounds as if they are encouraging kids to play video games while drinking. Maybe that’s just me.

In my eyes, Milk Media continues to pull a fast one on parents (and schools) across the country. Enough already! If you think so, too, write to them at info@milkmedia.com or info@milkrocks.com. Find out if schools in your area are involved, and if so, contact your local dairy and let them know how you feel.

“The Brawl Begins” when Milk Media meets my son

Troublemakers and Peacemakers

The Power of Parenting

Geralyn — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:51:52 +0000

I’ve been thinking more about the new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the great deal of bad news it has about our kids. For example: “Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week).” The report adds that children who use the most media state they are getting lower grades, get in trouble a lot and are sad or unhappy, when compared to peers who are less plugged in.

So what is the good news? The good news is this: parent involvement makes a difference. “Only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer. But when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media: those with any media rules consume nearly 3 hours less media per day (2:52) than those with no rules.“ (emphasis added)

It is heartening know, that even as the media explosion has exposed our children to more and more influences from outside the home, parents can still make a positive impact. That’s huge news, and I’ve been pondering the potential positive effects of mobilizing more parents to set media limits in their homes. If the KFF is finding that only three in ten young people have rules about TV, video games and computer use, imagine what would happen if we increased that number to six, seven or even eight out of ten. That would have an enormous effect on our children and our family life.

I have friends who are parents of teenagers, and they shut off their wireless internet at 10:oo p.m. every evening. Other parents take away phones at bedtime so their kids won’t text through the night. Many families turn off the TV during meal times. Kids are apt to complain about these kinds of rules – that’s their job, isn’t it? But in the end, telling your kids why you are making the rules, and having family meetings to review and revise rules as needed, will show your kids that you care about them.

What media rules do you have at your house? Share your ideas here and with other parents. Let’s work together to increase the number of kids who have media rules at home! I am determined not to be depressed by the bad news brought to us by the KFF’s study. Instead I am energized to activate parents!

Plugging in your kids – a slippery slope

Geralyn — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:45:31 +0000

Yesterday’s NY Times featured a great article about kids and electronic media consumption – If Your Kids Are Awake They’re Probably Online. The researchers were amazed at the increase they found, thinking that we’d already reached a saturation point. Turns out kids are multi-media tasking at an astronomical rate, with smart phones, computers and more.

“Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones.

And because so many of them are multitasking — say, surfing the Internet while listening to music — they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours.”

That is more time than they spend in school! In the comment section after the article, many teachers wrote in and reported rampant texting during class time. So even when kids are in school, they are often still plugged-in.

One mom’s story in particular hit home for me:

In Kensington, Md., Kim Calinan let her baby son, Trey, watch Baby Einstein videos, and soon moved him on to “Dora the Explorer.”

“By the time he was 4, he had all these math and science DVDs, and he was clicking through by himself, and he learned to read and do math early,” she said. “So if we’d had the conversation then, I would have said they were great educational tools.”

But now that Trey is 9 and wild about video games, Ms. Calinan feels differently.

Last year, she sensed that video games were displacing other interests and narrowing his social interactions. After realizing that Trey did not want to sign up for any after-school activities that might cut into his game time, Ms. Calinan limited his screen time to an hour and half a day on weekends only.

So last Wednesday, Trey came home and read a book — but said he was looking forward to the weekend, when he could play his favorite video game.

As parents, we sometimes do not see the full ramifications of our decisions until it is too late. (I recently wrote about my regrets in letting my sons watch Star Wars.) But the times when we can see the writing on the wall, and make decisions now that will help our children later, are powerful. Setting media limits when kids are young makes it easier to keep things somewhat under control down the road.

We don’t have television at our house, but we do watch DVDs. I am strict about not watching DVDs on a school night. One of my sons occasionally complains about this rule, but we stick with it. I know that as they get older, and have more homework and after-school activities, the ground rules about DVDs will have already been set. However, as Kim Calinan reports, parents can make changes mid-stream, especially if they have conversations with their children about their concerns.

I highly recommend the NY Times article – and the wide range of comments posted. It is a good snapshot of where were are today, and how as individuals with a variety of viewpoints, we view our current electronic media-filled world.

Sad news about $esame $treet

Geralyn — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:17:00 +0000

Once again, Sesame Street is disappointing me. A few months ago, when many, many people were celebrating Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary, I wasn’t. Check out my post “When did Sesame Street become $esame $treet? “ for more about that.

At tomorrow’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, the world will be introduced to Nintendo DS gaming accessories from our dear friends at Sesame Workshop. The new line of Sesame branded products includes earbuds, ear phones and other completely unnecessary products that will lure young children and their families further into the plugged-in world and farther away from real human interactions. See today’s Kid Screen Daily for a bit more information about these new products.

It aggravates me to no end when companies that parents have trusted for years exploit that trust and sell products which replace healthy social and emotional connections and actually get in the way of quality play. Parenting is a hard enough job already. Shame on you, Sesame Street!

Empowered by Play update

Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin M.Ed. — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:57:00 +0000

Today I played the game “3 Foot Ninja” on the MilkRocks! website. This is the website advertised on school milk cartons in grades K-12 throughout the country. Well, I wasn’t too good at the game, and quickly died a gruesome death – with my red blood spilling out. Nice way to start the day.

I urge you to contact Milk Media, the company running the “Milk Rocks! Plug in. Drink up.” campaign in schools. You can email them at info@milkmedia.com or info@milkrocks.com. They claim to be concerned about children’s health and well-being, but their motivation seems unclear. Urging kids to go online and play video games isn’t in children’s best interests. To me, Milk Media is taking advantage of the trust that kids have in their schools and pulling a fast one on parents who don’t even realize their kids are being marketed to this way.

I also contacted my local dairy, which supplies my son’s school and heard back for them today. They are “no longer participating in national campaigns promoting websites, movies or any media venue.” Now that is the type of email that makes my day.

For related posts, see

"The Brawl Begins" when Milk Media meets my son

Geralyn — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:21:00 +0000

“THE BRAWL BEGINS AT WWW.BAKUGAN-VIDEOGAME.COM,” reads the enticing invitation. “WIN A BAKUGAN VIDEO GAME AND NINTENDO Wii!”

Driving in the car last week, one of my sons declared, “Mom, I learned about a new dot com today. Bakugan dot com. You can watch videos and play games.” I paused, then asked, “Where did you learn about it?” “On my milk at school,” he answered.

Whoa, now. On his milk carton at school?! I expected him to say from one of his friends or cousins. That would’ve been okay with me. But on his milk carton? That I wasn’t expecting. I know that commercialism in schools is a major problem in the US – with PEPSI sponsored scoreboards; Pizza Hut reading incentives; and millions of students subjected daily to the controversial Channel One programming (in exchange for audio/visual equipment). And I also know that my son’s school does a great job keeping the commercialism out. There are none of those alluring pop star/star athlete “Milk – it does a body good” ads that are so often in school cafeterias. And the boys don’t come home with lunch menus adorned with media-linked ads (as I’ve seen in some districts). Also, our PTA/PTO opted NOT to do fundraisers at McDonald’s or Chuck E. Cheese (where the costumed character visits classrooms to promote the event).

When I showed our principal the Bakugan ad, she immediately dialed the phone number of the head of nutrition for the district, and told him about it. The issue will be taken care of, she said, assuring me that our district pays for the milk and that our students do not need to be advertised to. I was thankful for her incredibly supportive response, and I will write a letter to the dairy company, too, so they can hear directly from a parent.

I will also contact Milk Media, the company responsible for the Bakugan milk carton ad. From their site:

“Welcome to Milk Media, connecting with kids to promote nutrition and healthy lifestyles! It began with milk carton side panels. Now we’ve taken it to a whole new level with Milk Rocks! Milk Rocks helps to make milk ‘cool for kids’ through three unique distribution channels: In schools! On the web! Through live concerts!”

On the Milk Rocks! website, there are multiple contests (such as the Bakugan contest mentioned above); many movie trailers (such as GI Joe the Rise of the Cobra) and “hot” music samples. Click on “Fun and Games” and you are brought to video games such as the violent Commando. The Milk Rocks motto is, “Plug in. Drink Up.” Here’s more: “Milk Rocks is a multi-tiered program with a simple overriding goal – to stop the decline in children’s nutritional status by promoting increased milk consumption and positive life-long eating habits. Targeted to teens and tweens but reaching all grave levels K-12, Milk Rocks features some of today’s most popular recording artists and emerging talent along with film and television stars, athletes (with an accent on x-treme sports idols!) and other influential role models to help us make the milk=cool association.”

So, I need help understanding how watching GI Joe the Rise of the Cobra, and playing Commando, promotes positive life-long eating habits? Admittedly, the ads are geared to older kids, but are sent to all ages. My son is 5 years old. The contest he was reading about is for 13-18 year-olds. There aren’t even any 13-18 year-olds at his school. (Not that I would condone these ads on anyone’s school milk – but the absurdity is magnified when the student reached is a kindergartener.) I – and many, many others – are working hard to get kids healthier by getting them “unplugged”. Nature and quality play are at the center. The Milk Rocks motto, “Plug In. Drink Up.” is downright irresponsible. And “influential role models” such as pop stars and movie stars already have enough hold on our kids. Do they really need more inroads into our children’s lives? The emphasis on “cool” bothers me, too. Yes, I want kids to stop drinking sugary beverages, but marketing “coolness” to kids is never a good idea. In fact in Canada it is illegal.

Here in the US, however, it happens all the time. Even in schools. A few weeks ago, when I was in Washington DC, I had a chance to talk to some folks from the Office of Communications and Outreach at the U.S. Department of Education. I told them of my concerns about marketing in schools, using my sons’ Bakugan.com story as an example. These US DOE folks were fascinated with the story and said they didn’t even realize that marketing in schools was a problem. Wow.

We have a long way to go in our country, and I hope others will join the fight. For more information on marketing in schools check out the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Click: the Twelfth Annual Report on Schoolhouse Commercialism Trends 2008-2009.