Category: family conversations

Posted in cultural changes, digital citizenship, digital devices and gadgets, family conversations, parents and technology

5 Tech-Free Times for Families

Posted on by Marti Weston

I am reading Sherry Turkle’s book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Ourselves. Turkle is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Last Friday she was Ira Flatow’s guest on the NPR’s Science Friday program. Professor Turkle explained how she interviewed more than 300 children and teens who described feeling immense frustration when their parents use technology gadgets at the same time they are supposed to be interacting with their kids.

The Alone Together author, quoted in a January 31, 2011 Washington Post article, AnyBody: Parents are Ignoring their Children for their BlackBerry, points out, “It’s now children who are complaining about their parents’ habits…” During the Science Friday interview Turkle identified five times when children want their parents to put away their phones, Blackberries, and other gadgets and to pay attention. They include: Continue reading “5 Tech-Free Times for Families” →

Posted in answers to media questions, family conversations, media literacy, parents and technology

Talking to Children About the News

Posted on 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” →

Posted in digital parenting, family conversations, parents and technology, privacy

More on Facebook Privacy

Posted on 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

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

Trend Micro’s Family Internet Safety and Citizenship Site

Posted on 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” →

Posted in digital parenting, family conversations, parent child conversations, parents and technology, social networking

Mrs. Obama Said No Facebook???

Posted on by Marti Weston

Preteens are savvy media consumers, and among the kids I know there is significant buzz about Michelle Obama’s views on Facebook. “Pre-teenagerdom” is such a difficult and challenging time for parents and for the kids themselves. Many children want to hurry up and become teens and joining into social networking activities is one way to make them feel older and even wiser. Feeling and sometimes believing that your parents simply don’t understand technology is another way. So it’s a bit of a blow when the First Lady and First Mom — a person many of them admire — tells their parents to slow things down.

A Few Other Reports

Posted in family conversations, healthy media images, media literacy, parent child conversations, parent education, resources to read, risky behavior

Conversations About Skins from Common Sense Media

Posted on by Marti Weston

As usual, Common Sense Media is right on top of the latest media/television family dilemma, and the website has published a short piece to help parents talk with their teenage children about the MTV program, Skins. In Tough Talk: How Parents Can Use MTV’S Skins As a Jumping Off Point, Liz Perle writes, “MTV’s teen drama Skins (a remake of the even edgier British series) showcases every behavior that keeps parents of teenagers up at night.” Perle suggests conversation pointers that can help parents begin conversations on these all too nerve-wracking topics. While these subjects keep parents in a perpetual state of jitters, teenagers confront many of the issues the issues on a daily basis — though honestly the show itself seems overly contrived. Check out the article.

The point is – and this is a Common Sense Media mantra (about page) — no matter how uncomfortable the topic may be, the most important thing is to work hard to keep the dialogue going throughout the challenging teenage years. The conversations, even if they don’t go as smoothly as a parent wishes, nevertheless help adolescent kids think about making better choices.

Posted in acceptable use, cell phones, digital citizenship, family conversations, parents and technology, teens and technology

Make a Digital Action Plan for Kids’ New Gadgets

Posted on by Marti Weston

 Any time a child receives a new digital device, parents need to update or introduce a digital gadget action plan — something akin to the rules-of-the road that are so critical to new teenage drivers. Flashy new smartphones, iPads, iPod Touches, music players, computers, laptops, notebooks, and video games — most connected in some way to the exciting, but rough and tumble world of the Internet — require parents to focus just as intently as they do on driving lessons. Sometime during the first week of gadget ownership, and especially before school vacation ends, sit down with your child and go over the expectations in your action plan.

My New iPad

Even as a youngster thrills to the capabilities of a new device, the potential for digital mistakes and judgment errors exists. A short, sarcastic comment or text can be perceived as cyber-bullying when it reaches its destination. A game can be played online with someone who is more interested in your child than the game. A couple of less than thoughtful words, sent to one person, can be forwarded easily and embarrassingly to many others. The right time to talk about acceptable use and intention versus consequence is when the device is new.

A digital action plan — an agreement, contract, or list of guidelines between you and your child — anticipates potential issues and lays out specific expectations that will arise when a youngster uses a digital device in the wider, less supervised, world.

A Few Points to Emphasize in Conversations With Your Child Continue reading “Make a Digital Action Plan for Kids’ New Gadgets” →