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Interested in "conservative moms' " thoughts on "Bella Sara"


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Good morning ! My 10-yo dd heard from a friend about this website: http://www.bellasara.com/index_bs.aspx

 

I would be grateful for any "conservative" moms' thoughts about this website.

 

My initial "take" is negative. Although we love many types of "fantasy books", there is wide variety among "fantasy."

 

My first "red flag" came from the site's self-description.

 

Bella Saraâ„¢ is a safe, fun-filled magical world of horses and other characters for children ages 5 and up to expand their imaginations. Originally launched in Denmark by Gitte Odder Braendgaard, Bella Sara inspires pro-social dialogue and inspirational thought with positive messages.[END QUOTE]

 

Also, this:

Bella Sara products come with positive messaging and a secret code that expands a child’s experience with a virtual online world.[END QUOTE]

 

Some marketer's content-choice for "inspirational thought", "positive messaging", and "pro-social dialogue" probably will not fit at all into my family's worldview.

 

On the social angle, I never have understood how "virtual worlds" contribute to healthy social, mental, and spiritual development.

 

The artwork is slightly "creepy" to me. Not horribly so (as in anime), but "tinged" with something creepy.

 

Despite my initial reactions, I do hope to hear from other parents who have knowledge of this website. I have not yet "slammed the door."

 

I also hope to hear of horse-themed websites, suitable for a 10-yo girl, which do not require communication with other online people, and which do not encourage a child to "live" in some private, unrealistic, "world."

 

Again, I have to reiterate that we do not at all oppose fantasy as a blanket reaction.

 

With sincere thanks,

 

Antonia

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Michelle,

 

You are right. I decided to ask for opinions, nonetheless, because I am so very conservative, compared with most other people, I have to leave the door open to my possibly being too rigid. Make sense? For example, when our eldest (now 19 and 22) were little boys, I "said no" to Ninja Turtles. Those toys sure look benign today, compared with what is sold ! :)

 

 

I know nothing about it, but my opinion is, if YOU feel it's inappropriate for your dc, then it is. If your gut says to turn your dd's focus onto something else, then do that. You're the best gauge for what's appropriate for your dc. :001_smile:
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I just checked it out. I think it looks harmless. I am conservative and restrict a lot of things. I would have to read into a book. I think maybe this "magic" may be just as imaginative play and not witchery. If i were you I would look into it more.

 

I like that it has parental controls.

 

I do think virtual world play is beneficial as our kids gain crucial computer skills while using their imagination and playing.

 

Again, that is just me. If you are not comfortable with it, draw your lines. :D

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Thank you, HeatherLynn.

 

I was thinking "New Age", actually. Especially given the phrases which I quoted from the website.

 

I'm distinguishing between "computer games" (which are just fine, with reasonable time-limits) and "virtual worlds" (which don't "feel" healthy to me).

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I wouldn't allow my daughter to participate in this website. I am concerned about any kind of website that seeks to lure my child in to spend very copious amounts of time in escapism. In our home, computers are tools, not toys.

 

ETA: We feed my daughter's love for horses in a different way. We work at a real barn with real horses in exchange for lessons. Our family goes all together to do carpentry, fences, cleaning stalls, and other tasks. The children learn skills and work ethic, they get to hang around horses, they have a more well-rounded understanding of what taking care of a horse involves, and they truly cherish their riding and vaulting lessons. I think this is much more healthy approach, although it is clearly more work in every way for us as a family.

Edited by WTMCassandra
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My 6 year old goes on almost every day for about 10 minutes. She likes to feed and clean her baby horse then put it down for a nap. So far it is harmless. The web-site stinks though and almost always crashes so it is frustrating for her. The world of BellaSara is what my daughters room would look like if she could make her imagination come to life.

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I saw the cards for this somewhere before, I think... haven't really checked out the site (I'm going to though, because if this is one of the 'next big things' a la webkinz and such, I want to know about it), but I did just see this:

 

At present, BellaSara.com is a private user experience and interaction with others online is not possible.

 

Since you mentioned not wanting communication with others, thought I'd point out that it says you can't. :)

 

Seems to me there was some horse game site we saw a ways back.. I can't remember what it was.. if I do, I'll link it.. I think it was a similar "play with a virtual pony" thing, but different than this...

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Both of my kids, ages 7 and 9, have enjoyed Bella Sara for quite a while now (at least a year). I've found it to be very benign.

 

You buy horse trading cards. There are thousands of horses to collect...that is the main attraction to Bella Sara. The artwork is very imaginary with the horses being different colors, styles, types. Some of them are very fantasy oriented in appearance (ie. look like a cross between on underwater dragon and horse, a luminescent white horse with a snake on it) but most are quite tame. You could always have an agreement with the kids that any you find unacceptable are yours.

 

The sayings that go with each horse aren't bad but some are kind of new age-y. Some examples are "Learn to trust the people who care about you", "Be wiling to forgive", "Look for the peace behind power and energy", "With me you will be safe and protected by heaven", "Do everything with joy. I love to see you happy", "We all have unique gifts we can share by working together." Again, you could have an agreement with the kids that you go through the pack first to remove any that aren't acceptable to you.

 

Once you buy the cards, you log into your account on Bella Sara and enter the code on the card. Once it is entered, you have that horse in your stable. You can then feed, groom, and play games with your horse. The games are single player games like running the horse and jumping over obstacles. Another game is a seahorse that you guide around obstacles trying to find treasure and shells that are worth points. There are no multi-player games, nor is there a chat feature of any kind.

 

As far as magic, my daughter tells me that Sarah, the queen of the horses lives in a tree and comes out of the tree with some sparkles. Some of the horses are seen as "magical" horses like pegasus and unicorns. The parts of the website I've watched/seen are so tame (feeding and brushing all of your horses) that I don't understand the draw.

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Hi, JoAnn !

 

Very helpful post -- thanks !

 

You mentioned "buying" cards. -- as with real money? How much does it cost for a child to have "enough" (whatever that means !) fun with the site? If it costs something, however, I'll have to (truthfully, too) plead "poverty" to dd.

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My dd (she's 12 now) outgrew this but really liked it about 1.5 years ago. She enjoyed having her own horses to groom and play with. I would say one small pack of cards (we found ours at K-mart) would be more than enough to enjoy the site. As they grow older they do outgrow these sites.:001_smile:

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I let my children play a bit on Webkinz, but I stopped letting my daughter play Bella Sera after a few days. It seemed fine at first, but some of the quotes on the cards were things that were "new age" religion type things, I can't remember specifics, but things like being your own God and finding your own inner happiness. There are only a few quotes like that, but they were bad enough that I told her she couldn't play it anymore or have her cards.

 

She loves horses and it was a fun website, so I was afraid she would take it poorly. I explained to her why she couldn't play anymore, and she took it very well, she didn't complain or whine at all. I think perhaps she understood why as well, she made a decision for Christ when she was 5.

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I've let my 2 girls play on this site for a couple of years. Basically you buy a pack of trading cards at the store and enter the code so you can play with the horse online. The cards do have somewhat "new-agey" messages on them - however, my girls couldn't care less about that part. They just enjoy the horses. On the website, you groom them, feed them, etc. It's fairly boring, in actuality. There is no communication with other players, so I would not be concerned safety-wise. My girls were pretty into it for a while, but they hardly visit any more. They like webkinz better, but even that seems to have lost some of its appeal over time.

 

Anyway, it's one of those things that could go either way. Overall I'd say it's pretty harmless, but I could see where the New Age tinge could turn some people off - I don't like it personally but the girls ignore that part of it, and I can't see that it's affected them at all. YMMV.

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"With me you will be safe and protected by heaven"

 

I'm just extra-cautious with stuff like this--and the above phrase sets off some warning bells. Maybe it's the Frank Peretti stuff I've read :D.

 

We don't do Webkinz, either--nothing bad about that, I guess it's just the idea there of doing fun stuff on line vs in real life. I'm pretty backward about it all-ymmv.

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Thank you so much, everyone ! I don't have many moms of hs kids to brainstorm with IRL.

 

With a bit of reluctance, I think I'll "say no" to the website and hope hard to find another horse place online.

 

I have had to "say no" several times already this year, and I really, really don't like to have to do that so close in succession. :sad: DD's ps-based cousin has tried to talk my dd into "Hannah Montana", "Camp Rock", and "High School Musical" -- all three which I read about, could not "square" with our preferences, and "said no". (Without anybody asking me, dd saw the "High School Musical" movie when visiting with her cousin. I did not get upset with dd; just explained that it was fine to watch it the one time, but that we had no need to buy it ourselves, or to buy any of the associated "stuff" for sale.)

 

I wanted to have more than one daughter. DD is still upset because baby sister died before birth; they would have been two years apart. DD has three older brothers, but that sure is "not the same thing." So we scrabble for "things to do" at home, when not at church or with friends.

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Like I said earlier, my daughter plays almost every day and I turn it on and log her in. The messages that people are talking about are on for about 3-5 seconds as you log in. They are corny and silly but I've NEVER seen anything about being your own god; I would have written to complain if I had. My daughter could care less about that and doesn't even read them; she just wants to see her horses.

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I find that when I am having to say no so many times in a row that my daughter is associating with someone who is not in sync with our overall values. Please don't feel guilty about not having a sister for your daughter. Your daughter has a right to be upset, but it doesn't logically follow that she *has* to be "tight" with her cousin. I recommend that you try to find other like-minded girls for your daughter to be close with.

 

My daughter only has one brother and no sisters and she continues to live ; ). Many space shuttles and cars have attended tea parties in our house, and many dolls have played games with cars.

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If you want a computer simulation where you can "groom" and "ride" horses, I would look instead at the computer games called "Horsez" or "Time to Ride". "Horsez" is easier for kids 7 and up to use. "Time to Ride" is best for older kids (10 and up). The "Time to Ride" story line takes more work - I didn't like it as well as "Horsez". One or two of the "Time to Ride" characters are a bit "mean".

 

I found both of these at the library.

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