Media! Tech! Parenting!

acceptable use, cell phones, digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, parent child conversations, parents and technology

Parents and Electronic Devices: Taking Time Out?

Posted on February 1, 2011April 14, 2011 by Marti Weston

We’ve all seen them. Perhaps people have seen one of us. The temptation to use a phone or smart device, no matter where we are or what we are doing — even when we are with our kids — is way, way too strong.

I keep seeing children being pushed around by people (parents?) on telephones. Sometimes children are playing along in yards or parks, not watched over because the parents are tapping or merely talking on their smart phones. The trouble is, this used to be quality time – enjoyable and relaxed interaction — pointing out dogs, discovering leaves, and learning new words for all sorts of things.

Read Anybody: Parents are Ignoring their Children for their Blackberry in the February 1. 2011 Washington Post. Here’s a short quote, but check out the whole article. Continue reading “Parents and Electronic Devices: Taking Time Out?” →

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 January 27, 2011January 28, 2011 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.

cultural changes, online education, parent education, parents and technology

Online Education Moves into Our Lives

Posted on January 25, 2011January 25, 2011 by Marti Weston

If you haven’t read the article, GWU Launches Online Prep School, appearing in the January 22, 2011 Washington Post, check it out. The piece, by reporter Daniel de Vise describes the digital school, but he also explains how a dramatic shift — toward digital learning — is occurring world of education as more and more people take computer-based online learning courses. The article also examines whether online learning is a good learning tool in the world of adolescents. The jury is still out on this question, because of the strong organizational skills that are required to complete an online course. You can visit the GWU Online High School website and also the Stanford University Online High Schoo l website.

parents and technology, technology and health problems, technology in bedrooms

TV in Your Child’s Bedroom? Research to Consider

Posted on January 15, 2011March 3, 2015 by Marti Weston

Are you tempted to allow a television in your child’s bedroom?

Recently the journal Preventive Medicine published research that explores the potential impacts of placing a television in a child’s bedroom. By evaluating existing health survey data researchers sought to discover whether certain behavioral and social characteristics were especially associated with the presence of a television in a child’s bedroom (bedroom television or BTV). The article, TV’s in the Bedrooms of Children: Does it Impact Health and Behavior? (abstract), is not freely available on the web, but it can be purchased or read at a medical library.

To understand more about how BTV use might affect a child’s behavior the researchers used data from the 2007 U.S. National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), which gathered information through interviews of 46,687 family with children ages 6-17. As a part of the NSCH, parents were asked to estimate the amount of time their child spends watching television on an average weekday. Continue reading “TV in Your Child’s Bedroom? Research to Consider” →

digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, parents and technology, risky behavior, scams and fraud

Technology Scams: An Overview

Posted on January 11, 2011January 11, 2011 by Marti Weston

In the digital era, parents need basic knowledge of online scams that have the potential to cause mayhem on a family’s digital devices

A quick and easy-to-read overview of potential online scams, Social-Media Scams Abound but They Can be Avoided, appeared in the Washington Post on November 14, 2010. The Kiplinger Personal Finance article, by Casey Mysliwy, goes over three types of malicious behaviors that can trip-up even the most savvy digital media users. If you missed this description of potential digital problems, take some time to read the article as well as share it with family members who computers, the web, or smart phones. The three potential scams are:

Messages that involve money transfers and seek personal information;
Applications that offer a quiz, game, or other method that encourage you to share personal details; and
Shortened URL (web addresses) that hide a destination’s true identity because the address is simply a group of characters.

You can also check out 5 Social Media Scams at the Norton AntiVirus site and New Jersey Officials Warn Residents About Social Media Scams at the New Jersey Today website.

cell phones, digital devices and gadgets, electronics show, parents and technology, technology changes

CES – Consumer Electronics Show

Posted on January 8, 2011January 10, 2011 by Marti Weston

What’s a parent to do when an unrelenting parade of electronics gadgets and devices appears on the scene and especially on kids’ radars? How can we keep up, let alone be prepared and figure out a few things? To learn a bit, pay attention to the articles and blog posts coming out of the 2011 Consumer’s Electronic Show, occurring now and ending on January 9, 2010 — but the content will be timely for months. A good number of products, some on the cutting edges, debut at the show, though some are not available for purchase right this minute, and more than a few others may not even be in production yet. Most of the items, however, will be at your local or online vendor quite soon.

For instance… Need a gadget to help you take better pictures because yours are always blurry or bothered by too much light? Check out the Kodak easy-share camera at left, due out soon, a product that is supposed to figure out how to take a good picture even when you have no idea how to do it.

Continue reading “CES – Consumer Electronics Show” →