What goes on in this game???

[Zandy595]

Everytime I walk into my DS9's room, when he is playing VMK, he shuts the site down or covers it up with another window. I've let it go because I couldn't believe anything bad would be happening, but I finally sat him down to talk about it. He admitted that there is stuff being said that is not appropriate for him to see. I think he's too embarrassed to tell me what it is. This is making me very nervous. Please be truthful with me and tell me what's going on on VMK. He's very upset because he loves this game and I told him if I find out there is something bad going on I won't let him play it anymore.

 

[Maleficent2]

Well I have not seen it. All I see is good clean fun. But then I do not frequent the Girlfriend/boyfriend rooms...Maybe more of us adults should and watch for any inapproiate behavior.

I am not going to say that it does not happen, every once in awhile a "bad seed" enters into the game and tries to be what they preceive as "cool" but they are not in the Kingdom long before they are reported and ban from the game for a period of time or forever.

Mal

 

[DarkSideMoon]

personally, i have witnessed more and more bad things heppening on vmk, and re report and report amd report theses ppl and nothing is ever done, i suggest writing an email or letter to vmk, because they need to do something about it.

 

[Zandy595]

I just went to a VMK forum site, but didn't really find any info. For my DS to be this upset, I KNOW there is something bad going on. I did read something about a "Springer Live" room, but they didn't say what was being said in it. Can't be good though.

 

[Zandy595]

personally, i have witnessed more and more bad things heppening on vmk, and re report and report amd report theses ppl and nothing is ever done, i suggest writing an email or letter to vmk, because they need to do something about it.

I haven't seen any of these things myself and DS is too upset to tell me what's going on. I have no idea what is happening so I wouldn't be able to email anyone with a complaint.

Without saying anything inappropriate here, could you give me the gist of what you have witnessed.

 

[DarkSideMoon]

I haven't seen any of these things myself and DS is too upset to tell me what's going on. I have no idea what is happening so I wouldn't be able to email anyone with a complaint.

Without saying anything inappropriate here, could you give me the gist of what you have witnessed.

ill pm you.

 

[Fairy Dust]

I don't go in the rooms like the one you mentioned but stuff does go on that is not suitable for a Disney site, let alone kids.

I saw two girls talking about whether they slept with their boyfriend in the Music Game today.

 

[DarkSideMoon]

I haven't seen any of these things myself and DS is too upset to tell me what's going on. I have no idea what is happening so I wouldn't be able to email anyone with a complaint.

Without saying anything inappropriate here, could you give me the gist of what you have witnessed.

you need to delete a message in your pm box.

 

[Zandy595]

you need to delete a message in your pm box.

I didn't get a PM.

edit: Oh, do you mean there isn't enough room for you to send me a PM? I'll do that right now.

 

[DarkSideMoon]

I didn't get a PM.

edit: Oh, do you mean there isn't enough room for you to send me a PM? I'll do that right now.

i think it just went through.

 

[blizzard]

I personally have not witnessed any scary behavior. Most of what I have seen are people asking to be boyfriend/girlfriend (which on VMK seems to mean that you will not talk to other boys/girls unless you get "permission" and will always come when called) While not being my favorite activity, it probably is not harmful. The worst I have seen are people who are intentionally annoying and boorish. I saw someone today calling people "as whole". They usually don't last long before they are reported and banned. While VMK does try to eliminate these kinds of things (name calling, rude room names, etc.) they only get rid of it when it is reported, so it will be out there for a little while.

I will not tell you how to parent, as you have to do what you are comfortable with, however if I were you (which I am not) and I were in your position (which I am not) I would lay the following ground rules:

1. You will not cover the screen when I want to watch - that will be an immediate "grounding" from the site

2. You will report to me immediately any time someone makes you feel uncomfortable. If I am not able to see immediately, you will note the persons name, the time, and log out of the game right away. (I would then ask VMK to review the logs to see what was going on)

3. You will not participate in any harassing behavior or any other behavior that you would not do in front of me.

I would also give my child tools to deal with situations that come up repeatedly. ie: if someone asks you to be their boyfriend, you can say that you don't play that game. if someone is asking for personal information, you can say that you are not allowed to give info in the game. Some people also give their children rules about trading to help avoid scammers (who are quite prevalent - but mostly seem to be 12-16 year olds)

As I said, I am not telling you how to parent. You need to decide what you feel comfortable with. It sounds like you are not comfortable with the current situation, and I would not be either. If your son is hiding something, something uncomfortable (at least for him) is probably going on. VMK is better than most of the internet, but it is not fool proof.

 

[Zandy595]

I personally have not witnessed any scary behavior. Most of what I have seen are people asking to be boyfriend/girlfriend (which on VMK seems to mean that you will not talk to other boys/girls unless you get "permission" and will always come when called) While not being my favorite activity, it probably is not harmful. The worst I have seen are people who are intentionally annoying and boorish. I saw someone today calling people "as whole". They usually don't last long before they are reported and banned. While VMK does try to eliminate these kinds of things (name calling, rude room names, etc.) they only get rid of it when it is reported, so it will be out there for a little while.

I will not tell you how to parent, as you have to do what you are comfortable with, however if I were you (which I am not) and I were in your position (which I am not) I would lay the following ground rules:

1. You will not cover the screen when I want to watch - that will be an immediate "grounding" from the site

2. You will report to me immediately any time someone makes you feel uncomfortable. If I am not able to see immediately, you will note the persons name, the time, and log out of the game right away. (I would then ask VMK to review the logs to see what was going on)

3. You will not participate in any harassing behavior or any other behavior that you would not do in front of me.

I would also give my child tools to deal with situations that come up repeatedly. ie: if someone asks you to be their boyfriend, you can say that you don't play that game. if someone is asking for personal information, you can say that you are not allowed to give info in the game. Some people also give their children rules about trading to help avoid scammers (who are quite prevalent - but mostly seem to be 12-16 year olds)

As I said, I am not telling you how to parent. You need to decide what you feel comfortable with. It sounds like you are not comfortable with the current situation, and I would not be either. If your son is hiding something, something uncomfortable (at least for him) is probably going on. VMK is better than most of the internet, but it is not fool proof.

Thank you for your advice. I was going to make him completely stop playing VMK. I've never played it myself so your suggestions are very helpful. I think I will give him the ground rules that you stated. I'll see how that works. If there are still problems, is there a way I can delete his VMK name so he can't use it anymore?

 

[polysisterchick]

I don't go in the rooms like the one you mentioned but stuff does go on that is not suitable for a Disney site, let alone kids.

I saw two girls talking about whether they slept with their boyfriend in the Music Game today.

You think that is bad? I was in the Central plaza and some random girl was going up to ppl and pretended to have *cough*sexual contact*cough* needless to say i reported her and a VMk staff member came.... i dunno wut happened because i left.

 

[Zandy595]

OMG! Are there any safe places on VMK where DS9 can play? If so, where are they? Should I sit with him every second he is playing to make sure he isn't exposed to that?

I wonder if Toon Town has that type of stuff going on too. I was going to let him play that, but now I don't know.

 

[blizzard]

If there are still problems, is there a way I can delete his VMK name so he can't use it anymore?

If your son used your email address when he signed up for Disney (which he was supposed to) you should have an email somewhere that give you information on his account and what to do if you would like it deleted. If you no longer have the email or he used a fake birthday to get his account you should be able to contact VMK using the VMK home page and explain the situation and tell them you would like the account deleted.

(note that you don't necessarily have to create a new disney account to play VMK - he may have signed up for one a long time ago for a different game or disney application)

 

[DarkSideMoon]

Thank you for your advice. I was going to make him completely stop playing VMK. I've never played it myself so your suggestions are very helpful. I think I will give him the ground rules that you stated. I'll see how that works. If there are still problems, is there a way I can delete his VMK name so he can't use it anymore?

i dont think so, but vmk for the most part is clean, but i would write letter to vmk ppl and tell about this.

 

[Maleficent2]

WOW I can not beleive what I am reading here....I have been playing VMK since day 1 of beta that is 4 months ago...I play everyday and am in the kingdom ALOT and I have never witness things like I have read here in this post.

I am not saying that they did not happen I am saying that they are not the norm and that when things like that do happen VMk takes care of it pretty much right away.


Mal

 

[bevgray]

There are a number of VMK Community Leaders on the DIS. Perhaps your son would be more comfortable if he added a couple to his friends list. That way if another guest was making him uncomfortable and you were not immediately available, he would have an alternative person, in the game, to go to.

I have a couple of guests, that I suspect are very young children, who do just that. They either send me a message for help or just enter the room I am in. If you go that route, keep in mind that you might want him to have several Community Leaders on his list since not all of us are on at all times.

 

[DarkSideMoon]

if you want to do what the poster above me said i could always use another buddy

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Tell the kids to find 'TrendyMeg' - that is my DD9 and she seems to have a great bunch of kids that she talks with and so on. We know a couple of them in real life, as they are friends in the next town over. I pop by and peek and she never attempts to cover the screen.....but I have noticed her hanging out with a boy a lot on there and wonder if she has a little boyfriend...hmmmmmm. Can anyone go spy on her for me? She knows my guest name. LOL.
Yesterday she was on there and someone gave her all his stuff because he was quitting VMK. She didn't know what to do and came running to me.....he just gave it all to her. Odd, but nice I guess. I was a bit worried with that one......she knows the rules though. Never give her msn name, hint about her age or hint her email addy.....she has been given 'the talk' many times!