Pros--
They do teach children some responsibility (they need to feed them and play with them and take care of them).
It does introduce children to social networking at a young age (as does Club Penguin).  I don't think this is a bad thing.  It has given me many opportunities to talk to my children (1st and 2nd graders) about keeping your username and password to yourself.  About not accepting invitations to be "friends" with people you dont' know.  Using proper netiquette.
My family hasn't witnessed any bullying and my 8 yr old was sitting next to me when I read this email and he said, "they can't die...they aren't real."   I think kids understand the online world as much as we help them to understand it and this seems to me like a good place to start since they are definitely interested in it and probably going to do it at a friends house.  I'd rather them have the lessons on how to behave with me!
All of this is done under a lot of supervision by me and my husband.  I think like all things it needs to be done in moderation so like TV, we limit the amount of time they can spend on there.  But I don't see the harm in it.

Cons--
Once a child has one, they want to get more and more.  But I make my kids save up their allowance and buy their own, so we get another lesson in value (is it really worth what it takes to save the money?)

Kim Overstreet
7th grade math and language arts teacher
Monarch team
Jessie Clark Middle School

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