Dangers of Metaverse for kids

[mommyoffive]

The Dangers Of Virtual Reality For Young Children (today.com)

 

I saw this today and just had to pass it along as a PSA for parents.  I kept hearing the metaverse talked about and had no clue as to what it was.  This was eye opening.  

[Farrar]

My kid who has been using VR for awhile now posits that it's going to be way less addictive than other screens, just because of how encompassing it is. That sounds more dangerous in some ways because it can get engrossing, but it's a lot harder to drop in than picking up your phone and surfing Tiktok for ten minutes. Like, it takes effort and intention on a level that most social media doesn't. No one is going to surreptitiously head into VR in the middle of a boring class or between classes or when you think they're writing a paper because you can see them at the computer. Like, you need a headset and to move your arms with the controllers some. 

The p*rn stuff and inappropriate content is super true. I mean, it's exactly the same as any other corner of the internet. As it gets a little more with it (supposedly a lot of Meta has just been pretty empty - it's clearly a work in progress right now) it will get harder to accidentally wander into the bad stuff. But the minute you go looking - just like any other part of the internet. It's there. It's been there for decades and will keep being there forever. So I don't see that as a new issue, just an ongoing one that parents are naive about if they think somehow it went away with a new technology.

[JustEm]

It is like anything else we let our children consume, we should understand it fully before introducing it to them and monitor it closely.  We have a VR headset that the kids use.  I know every app they use within it, it is only used in communal space, and all notifications for it go to my phone. They have come across people cursing in some of the games they play but nothing worse than what they'd hear from some of the neighbor kids. And if it got worse then they can easily report the user, who gets banned for varying amounts of time.

I have not found it to be any more addictive than other video games but it is certainly more of a workout. My kids are always drenched in sweat after playing a half hour of gorilla tag.