 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
StarWars
Common Sense Media says
Far from the Dark Side, but some violence, ads.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this nicely designed site plays homage to the stellar movies of the same name. Like the films, there's plenty of sci-fi violence shown through video clips, games, action figures armed with weapons for sale, and in some of the info about the making of the art and special effects of the movies. Wars between characters, guns, lightsabers, grenades, and tons of battling can all be found. However, the amount of advertising -- animated banner ads, commercials running before video snippets and lots of Target store tie-ins -- was a little surprising. If your kids stumble across the Star Wars online store, hide your wallet as there are many movie-related goodies to be purchased. There's also a link to join the official Star Wars fan club ($14.95 a year). Like the films, the site is also very creative: Kids can practice drawing, learn to make videos, and figure out how characters are related.
What's it about?
May the force be with you...and your kids. Fans of the films can find character descriptions, data about the movies and its makers, downloadable goodies, and of course, merchandise for sale. Registering with the site (with name, email and password, birthday, and zip code) is free and allows access to MashUp (a video making tool), the newsletter, message boards, and blogs.
Is it any good?
The Star Wars films are popular for a reason and STARWARS.COM seems like a good vehicle to further the franchises' reputation. Fans will get lost in the more than 10,000 pages filled with spectacular graphics and fun things to see and do. But, like the movies, there's no escaping the force of sci-fi violence -- in the movie clips of combating foes, descriptive drawings of battleships, heroes holding weapons, and games that involve intense violence. And for a site aimed at tweens, the few games that involve players shooting enemies (one in particular has the player looking down the barrel of a gun shooting at moving, though not "live," targets) shouldn't be an option.
Violence aside, it's nice to see product-related site actually teaching kids something: The educational making of the animated Clone Wars, tutorials on how to draw comic strips or popular characters, and crew and artists discussions on how animated or other films are made and what types of people are involved in the creation of a film.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about how online advertising can have an impact on buying habits. Are there new products introduced on the site that your kids may have not heard about before, but may then think they suddenly need to have? What feeling and/or affect does the Target sign appearing over the red army in The Clone Wars video clip have? Will seeing the logo make a difference of where kids want to shop?
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Kid, 9 years old
August 29, 2009
AGE
really awesome with a lightsaber on top
If your a fan of star wars go on this website they talk about all star wars
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Kid, 11 years old
April 7, 2011
AGE
cyber super
LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!
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Kid, 9 years old
March 5, 2010
AGE
great website for star wars fans
The site is great!!! There is some violence, but nothing very bad. Most of it is in the games, but since it is geared to kids, there is nothing more than vechiles exploding and droids getting shot/and or sliced. You can watch season 2 of Star wars there and it is a little more violent than the game. You can register as a member for Free and you give VERY limited amounts of imformation and if you are under 13 your parents have to give the okay signal. There are quite a few adds, but they are easily ignored.
What other families should know:
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Kid, 10 years old
April 10, 2010
AGE
good
the site is alsome but you shoud check it ought with an adult.
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Teen, 14 years old
October 14, 2010
AGE
A great kids website.
I like this website because it always gives you the latest SW news. I've never run across anything innapropriate except some of the girls' outfits are skimpy in the webcomics section. There are lots of fun games to play and a really cool soundboard. I think, overall, this is a pretty nice website and completely appropriate for younger kids.
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Kid, 9 years old
September 14, 2010
AGE
nice site
cool site (sund bordes are a fav)
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Kid, 9 years old
November 6, 2010
AGE
I love star wars so violence is not a problem because it is a favorite for kids and parents and o on!
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Kid, 7 years old
November 26, 2011
AGE
Good game
Our family loves it
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