Webkinzs: The Childrens Toy Some Parents Are Worried About

If you have kids you probably know about Webkinz. For those who don't they are stuffed animals with a modern twist to them. Originally released by the Ganz company in 2005 they are much like other stuffed toys but they have a technological aspect few others do. All Webkinzs come with a code on their tags that allow the purchaser to join in an online community called Webkinz World. In Webkinz World this code gives you access to a virtual version of the toy and provides a world where your child can interact. Webkinz are much like Beanie babies in that many of them are only available for a certain amount of time and this has caused a overpriced secondary market to spring up on popular auction sites and other avenues. Ganz claims to have sold more than two million of the toys since release and to have over one million users in the Webkinz World online community.

There are many different types of Webkinz ranging from domesticated pets to wild animals to imaginary made up creatures. Children can pick from animals such as cows, pigs, bears, lions, and elephants. For those with more exotic tastes there are Pegasus, kola bears, tiger snakes, and a leopard lizard.

There are plenty of things for children to do in the Webkinz online community. One interesting area of the community is the economy. The child can earn in game money called 'KinzCash' by doing daily activities like playing online games or answering questions. Most of these activities can be repeated every 8 hours allowing the participant to earn income 2 or 3 times a day if they have time. There are tons of ways to earn in this game and plenty of upgrades and additions to spend it on. Commercialism at its most base is rampant in this online community. Offline there are plenty of things that children can purchase too such as clothing, personal care accessories, purses, figurines, and Webkinzs even has a trading card game of sorts. Each offline product comes with a code the purchaser can type in at the online community and they receive a virtual item as well. Children can build a room or house for their pet with the items they purchase in and out of the game. There are also rumors of rare items available which you will find many of if you explore the Webkinz online community for yourself.

Some parents worry about the online community and I think with good reason. Internet addiction is becoming more and more common and it is almost universally true that children spend more time playing video games vs forms of physically active play. The chatting system in the game does not allow children to type, only to say a range of messages which in my opinion does not give enough freedom of expression in the community. An addition of a voice chatting option would make this much more child friendly in my opinion. Other are very concerned, and you should be too about the practice of the community advertising to your children through this avenue. It has been estimated that children see over 18000 advertisements in their first eighteen years of life and I for one think this is just another way of programming our future generations to be perfect consumers. See my article about the documentary entitled The Century of the Self for more information on the manipulative agenda of advertising. I have provided a link in the links section for your ease of access.

When your child grows up will you have happy memories of playing ball with them at the park, and swinging them on the swing? Or will your memories be dominated by video games and virtual worlds. To me the song 'Cats in the Cradle' by Cat Stevens comes to mind. Maybe you might want to listen to it for the first time, or again if its been decades since you heard it.