Last week someone called my ten year-old daughter a bitch, to her face, sort of. She wasn’t in the halls at school or in the playground; she was in the hottest destination around, where fake ID wasn’t necessary and her bright pink hair was all the rage. She was on WeeWorld.com, one of many virtual worlds where kids create avatars and engage in social activity with “friends.”
This is not the first time my daughter has come up against nasty behavior online. At ten years old both of my daughters have been actively participating in virtual worlds meant for kids for the past 4 years. They started on Webkinz and Club Penguin, then progressed to Moshi Monsters, Bearvilleand Fantage. They tend to bop between worlds, forgetting one for a while and then returning months later to rediscover the old and familiar while taking in the new. They have different friend lists –- some populated with real life friends –- and take their possessions and self-built environments very seriously. They have spent hours over the years decorating their virtual spaces, trading goods, earning and changing outfits, and caring for pets. These are not games for them, but in many ways an extension of their identities. And it’s just as fluid and evolving as their real world childhood identities.
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