Thing #10 Virtual Worlds

I really do love technology and all it has to offer both in the classroom and personally, and I've been thinking myself kind of hip because of my adept computer skills and knowledge of the web, but after completing Thing 10, I'm beginning to think I might be a bit of an old fuddy-duddy. While it does look pretty cool, Second Life seems like a colossal waste of time to me. I can envision kids spending endless hours perfecting their avatars and visiting virtual worlds instead of completing their homework, and I know of few teachers that could devote much time to creating a virtual world to use in their classrooms. I also found the avatars a bit annoying, too "Anime" for me. I like my cartoon characters with more fur and floppy ears, maybe a cold nose too. And why are the avatars in Second Life all SO skinny? Does anyone ever create fat avatars? I guess I just don't get the whole virtual world/escape thing. Does that make me (gasp!) OLD???