This year, we enrolled our kids into Coding class. It's not really coding - like with C++ or Java. It's more graphical based.... and the kids follow instructions to make little games for themselves. SW loves it, cuz he gets to play games. NN loves it cuz her friends are there...and they use a program similar to MS Paint to create pictures and art.
The other day... I stopped by early to see what they're doing and to my astonishment, the app they're using is very much like social media. NN was showing me her account... and the fact she has 11 followers. (FOLLOWERS?!?!) She mentions that we can create more accounts to follow herself... already, at 9, she's thinking that more equals to more popular equals to "better."
Then she showed me this game that someone else created. I asked, "How did you get to that game?" It turns out, this app is a lot like open source... you can play other people's games and modify other people's code. The game was a Harry Potter Sorting Hat game... where they asked you a series of questions. Today... it's asking you, "If you're an animal, what would you be?" Tomorrow, the questions can be "Are you lonely?" or "Is anyone home with you?"
After seeing all this... I gave another parent this concerned look like, "Are you hearing this??? Is it must me???"
To which she game me a sympathetic look.... then texted me, "Make sure you look over their setting. Scary world."
It's not just me.... I knew this day would come. I didn't expect it to come at ages 9 and 7.
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