Moshi Monsters

alex73

Hi, I have child children 10 and 5 can they are beginning to spend hours on Moshi Monsters.

Are there other parents out there who have addicted kids to this?

Tayla

I have a 5 year old son who is moshi monsters mad, he will talk about them all day but he doesn't play it for too long. He's more interested in collecting the moshlings and sending messages to his friends on it rather than just playing it for hours.

He plays it in the morning and sometimes plays it for a little while in the evening aswell.

As I said he could talk about them all day or look at his Moshi books and keep pointing things out to me and I have had to tell him before that he was banned from going on and on about them!

Morag

Limit the time they can play, the parental controls are set up for this.

Lucyfur

I have an 8 year old lad, his latest obsession is Moshi Monsters. 2 months ago it was Club Penguin...As Sharrow said, limit the time. My boy gets an hour a day to use between the computer/ipod/playstation/DS. He has a little egg timer he sets himself, he's a good kid and I trust him not to take the piddle with it:)

GHOST MGG2

Exactly as lucyfur above said,my 7 yr old boy gets to play moshi monsters on the computer for 30 mins a day..a alarm clock is placed beside him so he knows when his time is up.
He was really into them 5 months ago but he seems to be reverting back to pokemon card collecting thank god:-)

MrTsSnickers

I'm very wary about letting my little fella (nearly 7) anywhere near social networking sites. Personally I don't think there's any need for internet time for kids, unless they need it for school. I give 15 mins xbox per day after dinner, dependent on behaviour but sometimes he gets more, if I miss the alarm or whatever. I don't think that the mods are strict enough on MM, a friends child (8) was being bullied via MM, the abuse was reported and nothing AT ALL happened. I'm just very skeptical of sites like this for kids.

Orion

My two 7 year olds play it. We don't have a hard and fast rule about time but use our judgement. If its lashing rain out they can play for a little longer. If it's sunny then they're kicked out of the house anyway. Either way we don't allow unlimited time on the computers but if we feel they're on too long we turn it off.

MrTsSnickers: I disagree with you about internet time. I don't think there's any harm and it can be very constructive and educational if managed correctly. MM is more a game than a social network although there are aspects of both. My girls also use the internet to research things their interested in. And always under supervision.
For a child of this age you are the primary moderator not the mods on the site. My girls know not to give out personal details because we've explained to them the dangers (in an age specific manner). If anyone looks for personal details they tell us. And if anyone is 'mean' to them they tell us also. Then we have a look ourselves. It's been purely precautionary so far but at least that trust is there that if they do get bullied or groomed we will know. That's the best moderation around.

MrTsSnickers

Orion wrote: »

MrTsSnickers: I disagree with you about internet time. I don't think there's any harm and it can be very constructive and educational if managed correctly. MM is more a game than a social network although there are aspects of both. My girls also use the internet to research things their interested in. And always under supervision.
For a child of this age you are the primary moderator not the mods on the site. My girls know not to give out personal details because we've explained to them the dangers (in an age specific manner). If anyone looks for personal details they tell us. And if anyone is 'mean' to them they tell us also. Then we have a look ourselves. It's been purely precautionary so far but at least that trust is there that if they do get bullied or groomed we will know. That's the best moderation around.

For educational reasons the internet is amazing! We love looking up the stuff that he is interested in. I think that supervision in any internet usage is key and absolutely necessary, obviously in an age appropriate way. What I meant to suggest was that, the moderators are not particularly useful in MM if anyone is not monitoring their kids MM usage.

Supervision of any of these things is key..I know one kid that's 11 y/o, he's allowed to play the likes of call of duty etc, that is just not in any way appropriate. It's a parents job to know what their kids are doing on either the internet or on any console etc. That kid swaps games with other friends with older brothers etc. Then again, I may not agree with it but each to their own and all that.

Orion

MrTsSnickers wrote: »

What I meant to suggest was that, the moderators are not particularly useful in MM if anyone is not monitoring their kids MM usage.

They're not there to take the place of parents to be honest. When signing up they ask for a parents email address and you get emailed their account details. There's only so much the site can do. They cannot be held responsible if a parents neglect their duty to supervise their own children.

littlebug

Mine both use it. I think the novelty wears off after a while. We haven't set time limits on it because we haven't had to but we do have rules. First and foremost they are only allowed be "friends" with people that they know in real life and absolutely no interaction with anyone outside of that circle. Though I see MM as harmless in itself I see this as introducing caution for online interaction in later years when we can't police it so well.

RedXIV

I've a 6yr in the house who's addicted to this and to be fair, I'd be a hypocrite if I started limited time etc since I've a vast collection of games consoles and other such entertainment. However I do agree with Orion in that if its nice and sunny outside, then they go outside, however if its miserable, He can use it.

To be honest, I'd prefer sooner rather than later that my kids became computer savvy, I was pretty good with them at a young age (I used to get asked to install printers and set up computer labs in PRIMARY school) and with the way technology is going, I think a decent foundation is going to be very beneficial as he grows up.

In saying that, sometimes I get an itch if he's been sitting on it for over an hour and tell him to go do something else.....So i think I'm more like Orion that I thought in having no set rules

LadyMayBelle

Ten year old sister and her classmates are huge into them....and club penguin before that... the good thing about MM, is that you can get the collector cards and file/swop them, and lots of the kid ar doing that..reducing internet time big time..a bit like pogs/callcards/sillybandaz I guess..

Wantobe

I have a 7 yo and a 5 yo- we don't have any ds or any kind of computer games and they just don't use the computer at all. I do wonder, fleetingly, if I should let them/teach them to use the computer but then I think I'm going to keep them away from it as long as I can- probably won't be much longer as neighbours children have Wiis and DS and so on so they will get to see them elsewhere.:o

What do others think?

RedXIV

Wantobe wrote: »

I have a 7 yo and a 5 yo- we don't have any ds or any kind of computer games and they just don't use the computer at all. I do wonder, fleetingly, if I should let them/teach them to use the computer but then I think I'm going to keep them away from it as long as I can- probably won't be much longer as neighbours children have Wiis and DS and so on so they will get to see them elsewhere.:o

What do others think?

The only reason I'm saying anything is because you asked for opinions, you obviously need to decide the best way to raise YOUR kids

Personally, I'd try and get my kids used to computers early. Nothing intense, they don't need to know how to program or anything but just so they are comfortable with how they work. More and more careers and aspects of our lives have technology integrated into them now and the more comfortable they are with computers, the more adaptable they will be. I've a 6yr old in the house and he knows the basics, how to use the mouse, open up a browser, he's comfortable with games consoles and understands (on a very general level) how optical media works.

My dad pretty much got me into computers from a young age (probably unintentionally) but it's been probably the handiest skill he's passed down to me so far. Been extremely useful throughout school and college. So in MY opinion, I would let your kids get used to computers, they are here to stay

silvo

Wantobe wrote: »

I have a 7 yo and a 5 yo- we don't have any ds or any kind of computer games and they just don't use the computer at all. I do wonder, fleetingly, if I should let them/teach them to use the computer but then I think I'm going to keep them away from it as long as I can- probably won't be much longer as neighbours children have Wiis and DS and so on so they will get to see them elsewhere.:o

What do others think?

I agree with RedXIV. Computers are used everywhere now, and I think that it is important that kids understand how a computer functions and have basic skills like mouse controls, internet navigation and keyboard skills. If you didn't want them to use Xbox's, Wii's or DS's, you could get them started with some more educational specific online games which can be useful for supplementing classroom learning.