I was really excited when I finally got the thumbs-up/thumbs-down voting implemented on the JokesByKids jokes. And so far, it’s been going okay, with a number of votes on the new jokes as they appear on the front page. My concern is that too many “older kids” will vote down all the jokes .. and really ruin the fun of voting for everyone.
But a friend of mine posed a different concern that I would like to pass on to you: Is voting on kid-submitted jokes wrong because it might hurt a child’s feelings?
Now, as far as the flow of publishing jokes goes at JokesByKids.com, most jokes do NOT make it pass our trusty joke editor Vicki. And those that do are often published several weeks after they are submitted. So in most cases, the child that submits the joke probably never returns to the site to see their joke “in print.” But I think it is a valid question. And so I ask you, dear reader, what do you think?
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9647 clean kids jokes, and growing every day! JokesByKids.com is published by me, Barbara J. Feldman: mom, wife, syndicated columnist, and founder of Surfnetkids.com.
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It is a part of life that not everyone is going to like everything you do. Children must learn that maybe their jokes aren’t that great but they can tell fantastic stories. They have to learn where their strengths lie and always trying not to hurt their feelings is not an accurate view of life and does not help them in the long run.
Competition is a way of life in our American society. The sooner children learn how to handle loses (and wins) the better. I have been a teacher for 26 years and when a child comes to me to tell me their sports team in undefeated I say, “That’s too bad.” When I see the quizzical face I respond, “Everyone needs to sometime learn how to be a good loser.” Then I ask them if they have been a good winner! I feel it is a lesson that actually needs to be taught to children.
Trying to protect a child from every little disappointment in life does not prepare them to handle the “big” disappointments that they are bound to face at some point in their lives. It would be kinder to help them develop a positive attitude about small “failures” as a stepping stone to greater successes.
In my opinion, I think that if a child takes the time to post a joke she/he will return to see if it has been published. However, in most cases they realize there are a lot of children in the world hoping to see their joke in print as well so I don’t think it will cause any harm or damage.
There is absolutely no harm in thumbs up or down voting on jokes submitted by kids. They are little people and it is just as important that they learn that everyone doesn’t have the same taste as it is that they learn to read. If they get their feelings overly hurt over something this simple it is high time someone dealt with that issue already. They can’t go through life expecting everyone to act like their doting Grandmother and breaking up over it when they don’t.
These jokes are all fun. Is it necessary to vote at all? I think a child can handle a vote of thumbs down, especially if s/he knows that’s part of the submission. However, I ask again, is it necessary?
I agree totally with Patsy, what’s the point of voting? If you have to vote, how about just vote for your favorite joke.
I think everyone has to learn how to deal with rejection, and what better time than when you have the people who love you the most near by to help you find your way.
i cant wait ether
Regarding voting on kids jokes: Look, learning to accept that everything you do is not “the best” or perfect is good to learn early and it saves a lot of heartache later on. I would let the child know that his/her joke might not be good enough (this time) to even make it on the site and that if it does he should be proud of that accomplishment. If it isn’t well accepted, discuss why that might be, but still celebrate that it made it to the site. Finally, discuss and laugh about the jokes that your child didn’t like and voted down so that he can see that it happens to everyone and that trying is what is important. I see this as an excellent opportunity to help your child overcome “hurt feelings” which are inevitable throughout life. From: A Kindergarten Teacher
no this is not right you need to stop this right now!
I have to say I LOVE this site!!! Thanks Barbara!
It depends, some kids think, if that they don’t like the joke, so maybe kids think they shouldn’t make more jokes .Some other kids, may think that their joke is “boring”, then they think that they could develop it to make it funny, So my opinion is if they really understand what’s the truth meaning of thumb-up and thumb-down. They could make a much bigger differences!