In exchange for providing them with an impartial test drive of their online product, Animal Jam graciously agreed to make a donation to the World Wildlife Fund on behalf of this blog.
Among "Parenting Bloggers", I would classify myself among the more overprotective of my children's online identities. My reasons for guarding their profiles are born more out of respect for them than they are out of any real fear harm will come to them through the divulging of their names or images.
Logically, I feel it is unlikely posting their photos or using their names online will trigger unpleasant interactions with strangers.
Rather, I feel their images are their own to do with what they will, when they are ready to do so. They certainly don't need their father getting a 10-year head start on divulging capsules of their personal life that they will then have to attempt to modify and sanitize when their friends or future employers start Googling them.
However, my fear has been piqued within the past year two as both my kids - aged 7 and 9 - have begun to participate in online activities where interaction with others is possible.
Yes, I could simply deny them the right to logon, but, with more and more of their peers becoming part of the online community, I am cognisant of not stigmatizing them as outsiders.
I first met the Animal Jam (created in partnership with National Geographic) crew in February of this year at the Dad 2.0 Summit in New Orleans. Like all the brands who present themselves to Dad 2.0, they were energetic, friendly and eager. The one thing I remembered from the interaction was how they explained that all of the online interactions on their site are monitored by real people. When your child logged onto Animal Jam, there was a daycare in the cloud.
In the company's own words:
Animal Jam is a safe and exciting online playground for kids who love animals and the outdoors. Players create and customize their own animal characters and dens, chat with friends, adopt pets, team up for adventures, and feed their curiosity about animals and the natural world around them.
Players can collect fun facts in their Journey Books, learn about Animal Conservation in Kimbara Outback, and ask real scientists questions, like herpetologist Dr. Brady Barr and marine biologist Tierney Thys.
I thanked them, told them I thought that was really interesting, accepted two small stuffed animals and two logon cards for my kids, and enjoyed the rest of the conference.
I never encouraged my kids to use the cards; I was still uncomfortable introducing my children to online interactions.
Last month, Animal Jam reached out again.
My children were already playing Minecraft, and also learning how to scroll through app stores without my knowledge. Okay, I thought, monitored play? Let's give it a try.
With my kids looking over my shoulder, I created an account for each of them. This, with help from the online guidance provided through Animal Jam, turned into a lesson about guarding one's real identity.
At each step, the site requires a parent's email address, and explains the terms 'Username' and 'Password', as well as the importance of privacy, in kid-friendly language. In 2014 these are steps so many of us adults take for granted. My children had heard the terms, but the game reminded me to explain their meaning.
My kids immediately loved the game. I occasionally hung over their shoulders to see what they were up to, but after a day or so, I let them be. It was only yesterday I realized the level of control I was able to have over my children's gaming experience (and had yet to take advantage it) when I received this email:
Just a quick note from National Geographic Animal Jam! Last week we notified you that your child recently used your email as their parent email address to created a free National Geographic Animal Jam account. The account is restricted so they can not share their personal information.We want to keep you apprised of your child's activities as well as how we are using the information.
Username: (******)
We care deeply about maintaining a safe and fun environment for all our players, including your child. Because of this, we have separate accounts for you and your child - they play, you manage their play. You can manage your child's chat access and more in the Parent Dashboard.
Hmm. Parent Dashboard?
Once logged on I now had the ability to view my child's login history, modify their ability to chat - with or without restrictions or not at all - as well as a host of other controls at my disposal.
This, for me, was a where so many other games are lacking.
As parents we become too complacent once our children are occupied and quiet. The Animal Jam team was making sure I remained plugged in.
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A single blog post is - ironically, considering the internet's limitless space - a forum too restrictive (impatient?) to review all that my kids like about the game.
For now, it suffices to say, it seems they are always discovering new corners and activities. Thanks to a second laptop in our house, they also search for each other in this online world.
There is plenty of free content at the The Animal Jam Academy. There is also a host of offline activities, including experiments, home DIY projects, and even instructions on how to build a marshmallow tower.
It's up to a parent to decide how much online content their children consume, and how much screen time they're comfortable with. It made me much more comfortable knowing that, when they are online, that community provides education and supervision, and also reports back to mom and dad.
