SecretBuilders is a Safe, Virtual World for Children

SecretBuilders is a safe, virtual world for children 6 to 14 years old where they can explore virtual lands, undertake quests, play games, maintain a home, nurture a pet, and interact with their friends as well as famous real and fictional characters from history and the humanities. Children will also be able to publish and share their writings and artwork with each other and have tons of fun doing it all!

But, a reporter covering SecretBuilders put it best when he said SecretBuilders is "…one of the few games that wary parents would allow and even encourage their kids to play.."

Our Vision

Founded by a former teacher and developed by a core staff, the majority of who are parents themselves, our uncompromising vision for SecretBuilders is a positive, wholesome online outlet for children where they are actively engaged. Internet engagement is inevitable for this generation; turning into passive zombies is not. SecretBuilders will stimulate, educate and entertain through subtle immersion in cultural literacy. You can help us carry out this vision!

What Makes SecretBuilders Unique

SecretBuilders is unique because it is a win-win world for parents and kids. Kids want to be entertained while playing in a virtual world. Parents want a site they feel good about their kids being on. And as you know, the two do not necessarily mean being on the same page – no pun intended!
The result of SecretBuilders’ balance of entertainment and social interaction with education and culture is a site that both you and your kids want to be on!
These are some of the features that parents, teachers AND kids love:

Magazine: The Crooked Pencil, our online magazine allows children to publish their writings and comment on what others have written. Children love this validation!

Famous Characters from history: Players interact with famous characters such as Shakespeare, Galileo, and other great minds through conversation, mini-quizzes, quests, etc. When was the last time you talked to Copernicus?

Quests: Easy to challenging quests which take them into the world of classic literature, the arts and humanities. So fun that they don’t know they are learning something!

Charity and Fundraising: One For All allows students to raise money for their schools by answering questions (Math, English, Geography, etc). Correct answers generate cash for their school or charity and improve their own skills. Get your school involved!

BuildIt!: A unique SecretBuilders feature which allows kids to help build out this world with their ideas and perspectives. Much of what you see on SecretBuilders today was generated by a child’s imagination (and a little development help from us!).

Contests: Creativity, challenge and great prizes are the hallmarks of our contests. We have just launched the following contests: "Dear President Obama” where kids send a picture message to President Obama; the Kid Inventor Challenge where kids design a toy that will become a “real” toy in SecretBuilders; “Help the Kelp” in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to restore life to the Kelp Forest; and the Frank 'n Stein an Art Coloring Contest.

Social Interactions: Chat in Weird Brew Café, send and receive SecretBuilders Mail, leave a Chalkboard posting for a friend, make a multiplayer game challenge, start a club, host a party – meeting old friends and new is safe and fun on SecretBuilders. See you in Alice’s Tea House!

What Features Make SecretBuilders Safe?

Internet child safety is a top-level priority at SecretBuilders. We have in place the most advanced filtering mechanisms, live moderators and a stringent privacy policy. Specifically:

Zero availability of a child’s personal information – No one will be able to access your child’s real name, address, gender, email, school, phone number, picture or any other private information simply because we ourselves won’t have it. Registration and any payments required will be done through and by the parents email address (older children who have their own email address may register directly with SecretBuilders but will have to provide parental contact information). In certain instances of school specific contests and activities, no child will be identifiable individually. In all cases, children will be encouraged to use a screen name for their avatar rather than their real names.

Privacy – SecretBuilders employs concentric layers of privacy in all personal spaces (virtual home, online diary, etc.) from no visitors to virtual homes at all, to allowing parent approved buddy list members to visit or allowing visits to only certain parts of their home. A child’s virtual home will have no information on their real name, address, gender, email, school, phone number or picture.

Moderated postings in personal spaces – SecretBuilders has full moderation (i.e., manual checking of all comments before they are posted) – nothing will go online until it has been approved by our moderators. We will screen for language and content as well as personal information that may reveal a child’s identity.

Moderated postings in public spaces – As with personal spaces, all contributions to public spaces, whether their own submission or a comment on another’s work, will be checked before they are posted.
Public spaces include the online magazine as well as contests and activities where opportunities to comment are provided.

Restricted and free chat – In the restricted chat mode, users will be able to chat using a pre-defined menu of phrases/vocabulary. “Free” chat is available but is screened in real time by sophisticated software algorithms that look for inappropriate language and speech, including bullying, harassment, intimidation as well as revelation of any personal identity information. In addition, at the same time is preventing this chat being displayed in-world, moderators are alerted to attempts to use bad language, and users are subject to strict enforcement, including life-time bans.

SecretBuilders is committed to providing the safest Internet experience possible for children of all ages available to date. We will collaborate and communicate continuously with parents to keep them apprised of their children’s online activity. SecretBuilders complies fully with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Safe Harbor Principles.