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| Yes | 44% | 125 votes | Total: 284 votes | |
| No | 56% | 159 votes |
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Add to FavoritesAll online doll sites are not equal. As with most activities, whether or not a site is appropriate for young girls depends on the site, as well as the age of the girl.
My daughter (now in early twenties) introduced me to online doll-makers when she was a teenager. Like me, she had always been a girl who loved dolls and paper dolls. Like me, she loved drawing and often drew "fashion girls". She was in her early teens when we resurrected a "real-life" doll-making machine, which gave my teen daughter and her middle-aged mother hours of fun, pouring "goop" into molds, cooking it, and creating little dolls. It was our "doll-making phase"; and even though we both felt a little silly, we enjoyed our stretch of doll-making immensely. So, having discovered a great online doll site, my daughter thought I may enjoy "making girls" too. She was right.
The site was one that had cute doll bases, which came in the usual mix of ethnicities. It was an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop, doll-maker with clothes that looked like the clothes young women in their teens or early twenties would wear. My daughter demonstrated the fine art of creating one's own fashions for the doll bases, as well. I had a ball, creating dolls for all occasions, and over time my doll-making turned into something in which I'd engage whenever I wanted to take a break and do something fun online.
Once, when I had some "flu-like" illness, I actually created a whole dance recital, complete with classes of little dancing dolls of all ages; a stage, spotlights, and the occasional fallen-off head piece or preschooler's tap shoe. After creating this "great" dance recital, I actually put the whole thing on a disk so I could share it with some real-life, little, girls I know.
After the dance recital, I created, "The Beauty Pageant". Following the "The Beauty Pageant" was the entire production of "Swan Lake" (also copied to disk for sharing). Having gotten a little tired of the same doll-maker, I began to branch out and look for others. I discovered there are doll-makers with babies, historical figures, girls of all kinds, princesses, guys, celebrities, and just about any other type of person one could imagine. That's when I discovered, too, that all doll-makers are not alike.
Some doll-makers are clearly aimed at young girls. They have sweet-faced doll bases, often wearing something like pretty underwear or a swim suit. As with "real-life" dolls, some bases have nothing on but are simply skin-tone bases that should be of no concern to the parent of a little girl who changes her "real-life" doll's clothes.
Some offer options for changing facial features or make-up. Some offer backgrounds and accessories. While some sites seem to offer dolls that may be right for younger girls, some offer dolls that would seem more appropriate for girls over ten.
There are, however, some sites that offer more realistic looking dolls; and some of those sites can offer some fairly sophisticated fashions and poses. This type of site is not the kind I would call "appropriate" for girls who aren't in high school (and, yes, high school girls make dolls). In addition to the more realistic-looking/so phisticated doll-making sites, there are sites that may not have realistic-looking dolls but that do have fashions, poses, and a general "flavor" that many parents would not find particularly appropriate for young girls.
Since the littlest of girls shouldn't be spending much time on the computer at all, and since parents are usually nearby when little children use computers, I would suggest parents find their littler daughters one of the sites that is absolutely appropriate for girls under seven or eight. The right doll-making site (one which offers lots of fashions) should keep very young girls entertained without their having much need to find other sites too frequently.
Since parents should keep an eye on what their older pre-teens are doing on the computer anyway, paying attention to any doll-maker sites their daughter finds should be part of that parental vigilance.
The right doll-making site could be said to be "today's paper dolls". The difference is that doll-making sites can offer lots of opportunity for even more imagination and creativity; and - if nothing else - they can offer a girl (or former girl) something to do on a "rainy day".
As for my own doll-making efforts, having long ago abandoned my loftier creations, I have found a "build a princess" site with cute, cartoon-like, girls and a great selection of bizarre gowns, hair-dos, and crowns. My little collection of cartoon-girl princesses may not compare to my dance recital, beauty pageant, and "Swan Lake" productions; but the backgrounds the "build-a-princess" site offers are magical.
Online doll-making sites are great fun for girls of all ages. Parents just need to make sure that the site on which their daughter spends her time is one that is appropriate for her age. A simple look at the bases, the faces, the positions, and the fashions is generally all a parent would need to be able to judge.
Learn more about this author, Lisa H Warren.
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No
When is enough ever enough? We have seen the shows on television where girls and guys are hooked to video games and cyber surfing, but where will we ever cut or limit their use. There are parents who do not even monitor their children's online use or care as to what they are viewing. For young children, unless they are in school online like homeschooling, they should not be online under ten. If you are one of those parents who would not mind letting your child be online with supervision for educational purposes go for it. Keep in mind supervision is the key. We already know that when kids go to school, they are influenced by their peers one hundred percent of the time. The main influence should be the parents. Kids get most of their reasoning and common sense from parents setting boundaries and making rules that they should always follow. Make no exceptions for certain things and I think online play dolls are one of those things that you just should not buy into. Buying your children doll babies and little barbies are fine if that is what you like. I think when you open your young kids to the Internet at such a young age it is harmful by the time they are in middle and high school. They will try to sneak on your computer or a friends computer. The difference between them finding something they are not supposed to is that you have taught them how to use it. It is fine when they are teens to get them into software and learning how to do stuff that will benefit them in life. I do not think it is fine to cut out their play time when they should be playing Barbie's with their friends outside to play with dolls online. I think it is a waste of time and energy when they could be running around playing. They could be learning something valuable to carry them on in life instead of spend all their time glued to the computer screen.
This Principal can also go for boys with their video games. Prime example, there are grown men who spend all day playing video games day in and day out. I am not saying that men who play video games are childish, but at some point in life it is like grow up! If you want to do that periodically more power to you, but at the age of thirty something or fifty something, I think it is time for you to get a different hobby. Go build something! Then you have grown women the age of fifty or so still playing with Barbie's. Granted there are people who collect them and sorts for profit or the sheer enjoyment of them. However, if you are way past the age of eighteen, you have no little children in sight, and you are sitting there combing and talking to a doll it might be time to get a hobby. I think that it ultimately boils down to what values you want your child to carry to adulthood. If you do something like let your kids play with dolls or trucks whatever it might be let it be in moderation. At some point in most young girls they put their dolls away and find more mature toys to play with. I do not know many people or have even heard of many young children who continued to play with these dolls or sorts online also. It is very time consuming maintaining a doll online due to the fact that you have to learn how to do so. Also, you would need to be able to access your doll at all times that you would like to play with it. What should happen the one day that mommy forgets to pay the cable or phone bill, your Internet is off for either hours or a few days until it is paid. What do you do then? The little girl is going to be throwing a tantrum because it is three o'clock and she has not changed her dolls clothes or taken her for a stroll since yesterday! I know this seems a bit outrageous, but these are things that can really happen with little girls. They can be real fickle when it comes to their stuff and want something right now. I think it is about setting yourself up for failure when you get your children hooked onto these online games and dolls. It is a recipe for disaster.
Learn more about this author, Cassandra Baker.
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