February 2011 – Media! Tech! Parenting!

Talking to Children About the News

Posted on February 28, 2011February 28, 2011 by Marti Weston

News saturates our world. The electronic media makes small events large and dramatic events frightening. Moreover, with around-the-clock media coverage, many news stories feel like they will never end. Read Facts for Families: Children and the News, at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry website.

So what should parents do to help children process news, especially when a frightening or dramatic event is relentlessly covered in the media? Continue reading “Talking to Children About the News” →

digital parenting, family conversations, parents and technology, privacy

More on Facebook Privacy

Posted on February 26, 2011February 26, 2011 by Marti Weston

According to the LA Times Technology Blog, Facebook is again updating its privacy policies. The February 25, 2011 post, Facebook Rolls Out Test Version of Simplified Privacy Policy, describes how the company is testing a simplified, maybe even one-page version. The company will be seeking feedback from Facebook users.

Read the information about new privacy guidelines posted on Facebook’s site.

As soon as children begin using computers, parents can begin to introduce the concept of online privacy, and these conversations focusing on privacy and social networking should continue throughout a child’s pre-adolescent and teenage years. Ongoing discussions can help children understand the power of the digital footprints they leave as they engage in web-based work and play.

Other Places to Read about the Facebook Privacy Updates

Mashable
Wall Street Journal

cultural changes, digital citizenship, digital parenting, media literacy, parents and technology, research on the web

Virtual World Questions and Thoughtful Surmises

Posted on February 24, 2011February 24, 2011 by Marti Weston

Check out Is the Virtual World Good For the “Real” One? in the February 23, 2011 Huffington Post. The article, by Joseph Kahane, describes a longitudinal study focused on the amount of time that young people (age 18 – 29) spend online. Researchers wondered whether time in the virtual world may be keeping young people from paying enough attention to the tangible needs of the real world.

Kahane, who currently chairs the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics, describes some interesting findings and concludes, ” In short, the virtual world can be good for the “real” one. There are forms of online activity that can give youth civic and political engagement a much-needed boost. We need to fully tap this potential.”

Read the entire article.

digital parenting, great sites for students, Library of Congress, parents and technology, web research

Our Library of Congress: Knowledge Moves into the Digital World

Posted on February 23, 2011February 23, 2011 by Marti Weston

The LOC Reading Room - Picture taken from the entrance.

If you ever visit Washington, DC, save an afternoon or even a day to visit the Library of Congress (LOC). Filled with resources — primary and secondary, hands-on and digital — the Library is a delight for anyone who loves to learn. In my post , The Library of Congress: Go Exploring for Digital Resources, I wrote about a few LOC digital learning opportunities, and library website features many more. The digital learning resources are available no matter where a person lives, however there is much to see at the library itself, and a LOC library visit is fun for adults and children.

Last Monday, on the February holiday that honors Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, the Library of Congress, which was started with the book collection of another president, Thomas Jefferson, opened its main reading room to the public.

Continue reading “Our Library of Congress: Knowledge Moves into the Digital World” →

acceptable use, cyber-bullying, digital citizenship, digital parenting, family conversations, parents and technology

Trend Micro’s Family Internet Safety and Citizenship Site

Posted on February 18, 2011February 28, 2015 by Marti Weston

Trend Micro, a web security firm, devotes a part of the company’s website to Internet Safety for Families and Kids. The section is well-organized and topical so a visitor can quickly scan a list of subjects to find tips, links to organizations that support digital citizenship, and an internet safety and citizenship resources library that includes a wide range of documents available downloading and sharing. Topics include Safety Tips for Social Networking, three short videos on social networking, and A Safety Guide for Web Threats. These and other documents can be used as handouts for parent organizations and discussion groups, or just shared during those parent-child conversations that are so necessary in today’s digital world.

Continue reading “Trend Micro’s Family Internet Safety and Citizenship Site” →

acceptable use, digital citizenship, digital photography, parent child conversations, parents and technology, writing for the web

Conversations About Commenting

Posted on February 17, 2011March 20, 2019 by Marti Weston

If you have ever written a comment at the end of an article or blog posting, you have surely read more than a few inappropriate and sometimes distasteful remarks. Sometimes people leave these comments anonymously. Posted by folks who do not understand why websites invite visitors to share thoughts and ideas, many unfiltered remarks are permanently attached to websites — indiscretions waiting for the whole world to discover.

Read a short post and watch a video on newspaper comments, uploaded by the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard. Some newspapers sites, such as the Boston Globe, post a short and succinct comment policy.

Helping your child avoid public website blunders is one reason to discuss commenting etiquette. Often children don’t know or forget that their comments leave a digital footprint trail that will last much longer than their per-adolescent and even teenage years. Often confusion arises because many children first encounter commenting opportunities in places where adult supervision is scarce. As a result an impulsive idea can beat out good common sense even when a child knows better. Bottom line — response and commenting areas are not places to leave nasty, rude, and hateful conversation.

Continue reading “Conversations About Commenting” →

digital parenting, parents and technology, when kids make mistakes

My Kid’s Digital Blunders? How to React?

Posted on February 15, 2011September 26, 2011 by Marti Weston

updated 9-26-2011

At one time or another, most of us experience the protective parent surge, a not-my-child reaction, when someone lets us know that a son or daughter could be involved in some sort of digital misbehavior. Often a child’s digital blunder is public for many people, but not public enough for a parent to casually discover the problem, so the first alert may indeed come from another parent.

Especially if this information comes from someone who is not well-known, the protective parent energy surge can complicate an issue even further. I know because I’ve felt this powerful surge.

Ages ago I heard a presentation that described how to react when one parent tells another parent that a child may be involved in a problem. I don’t remember when or where, but here are the seven rules I subsequently made for myself. Continue reading “My Kid’s Digital Blunders? How to React?” →