Club Penguin

Have you heard of Club Penguin? If you have kids, you should have. The site, located at www.clubpenguin.com, was created by New Horizon Interactive in 2005.

Clubpenguin.com is a virtual world, for internet chatting, designed specifically for kids. Of course, New Horizon Interactive kept kids' safety in mind throughout the process of creating the site, and stayed away from blunt marketing appearing to kids.

Creators say on the site they consulted parents, law enforcement representatives and educators, as well as completed research on online safety before releasing clubpenguin.com to the public in October 2005.

Since clubpenguin.com's introduction, it has become the number one game on Miniclip. Club Penguin is partnered with BBB Online, as well as NetSmartz, which is a partnership of both the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Club Penguin has also received the 2006 Editor's Choice award from Children's Technology Review Magazine.

The world of Club Penguin is updated weekly, and 80% of staff consists of moderators and safety personnel (many are parents, too). Clubpenguin.com is not funded by advertising revenue - it is funded entirely by subscriptions. Subscriptions are $5.95 a month.

Buying a membership allows a kid to dress up their penguin in different outfits, decorate their igloo, host parties in their igloo, and adopt pets called "puffles".

As part of the site's commitment to kids' safety, posting personal information is discouraged. Club Penguin conforms to the Canadian Code of Practice and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Safe Harbor Principles.

Club Penguin is geared towards 8-14 year olds, but is available to kids of all ages. Two types of chat are available: ultimate safe chat and standard safe chat. The ultimate chat limits users to a menu of questions and statements they can "say" to another user. Ultimate users only see other ultimate chats. The standard chat works like a traditional chat, where users can type in any comment. A filter is applied to each message, blocking inappropriate content. The filter can focus on phonetics, blocking codes someone might use. Even phone numbers can be blocked from being sent.

Club Penguin has an informative parents' guide, giving information on the site and internet safety in general. Clubpenguin.com even has a gift shop, with a few toys and some clothing items.

Overall clubpenguin.com seems to be fairly unique - not many virtual worlds are designed and safe for kids. Not to mention it looks pretty fun.