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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 9, age appropriate for kids over 13; suggested age 14.
  • Is it any good?

    2.0
  • Common Sense says

    MTV project links teens to volunteer opportunities.

On this site kids can:   find volunteer opportunities, join a cause, watch videos

Why We Rated This on for Ages 14 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Not an issue.
  • User-created content:

    Not an issue.
  • Messages:

    Gives teens an easy way to find volunteer opportunities. PSAs from celebs underscore the value of community service.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Not an issue.
  • Sex:

    Not an issue.
  • Language:

    Not an issue.
  • Consumerism:

    The project's home page doesn't have any ads, but if you click through to the videos page, there are ads for junk food, candy, and soda.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

How safe is it?

  • Personal privacy:

    Teens don't have to register to access content that's specific to Serve, but other parts of the MTV site have social networking and other interactive features.
  • Online interaction:

    Not an issue.
  • Parental controls:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Serve.MTV

Parents need to know that MTV.com launched this project to help support President Obama's "United We Serve" initiative, which encourages people to get involved in community service. Serve.MTV is basically just a page on MTV.com that sends teens to other sites -- all of which are safe and reputable -- where they can search for volunteer opportunities and learn how to start their own service projects. There are also some PSA videos from celebs like Cameron Diaz and the Black Eyed Peas' wil.i.am.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the importance of volunteering. What’s a good age to start volunteering? How would you choose which organization you’d like to help out?
  • Volunteering has changed a lot with the growth of social networking sites. How can you stay safe while using the Web to find volunteer opportunities and connect with other civic-minded teens?

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