Tag: cell phones

Posted in acceptable use, cell phones, digital citizenship, digital parenting, parents and technology, setting technology limits

Taming the Technology Gadget Obsession at Home

Posted on by Marti Weston

Today with everyone connected all of the time, families need to think about scheduling disconnect time at home. Recently I read that, before cabinet meetings at the White House, the president requires attendees to leave phones and Blackberries in a basket by the door. Without interruptions from communication devices, people can concentrate on the conversation and on the important issues. Most importantly, cabinet members are able to listen to each other without distractions.

Can your dining room be gadget-free during meals?

Families, too, need uninterrupted communication time. Parents may want to develop home guidelines that mirror cabinet meeting expectations. The Pew Internet and American Life Project offers wide-ranging information setting sensible mobile phone and texting limits.

Family meals are the perfect time to disconnect phones and Blackberries. Increasingly, pediatricians and other family researchers believe that regular, all-family mealtimes provide children with a range of advantages. To improve communication and interaction, each person can turn off the ringer and deposit his or her phone in a location away from the table, preferably in another room. Dinner table conversation can proceed uninterrupted so family members will listen more carefully to one another. Make the dining room a gadget-free zone during meal times.

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Posted in acceptable use, cell phones, digital citizenship, media literacy, online safety, parents and technology

Media in a Child’s Bedroom?

Posted on by Marti Weston

As parents, we make decisions every minute of the day — some based on things we really know. Others assumptions turn out to be based on things we have heard or believe. It’s the latter assumptions that cause us the most problems. In today’s media-centered world people make interesting decisions about the access their children have to television and computers, some of them based on what is known and some not.

Most people know about the need to limit television, understanding that too much TV viewing can lead to quality of life and health issues. The document, Setting Limits of Screen Time, posted at the Center for Media and Child Health (CMCH), provides ideas and suggestions with links to some of the published research about children and television viewing.

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Posted in acceptable use, cell phones, parents and technology, resources to read

A Cell Phone is Fun, but It’s Not a Toy

Posted on by Marti Weston

Even though most children now have cell phones, and while these devices seem like a necessary accessory for pre-teens and adolescents, parents should remind their children — on a regular basis — that cell phones are not toys. Mobile phones are sophisticated communication tools that also happen to entertain in many ways. They are fun to use, however, all family members need to learn as much as possible about the power of cell phones. The 2009 document Cell Phone Guide for Families With Children: Everything You Need to Know, written by Carnegie Mellon University’s My Secure Cyberspace, provides comprehensive information on cell phones. Another document from the same source is Should Your Child Have a Cell Phone?

A gadget orientation is critical. Before handing over a new mobile phone to a child, take the time to go over general guidelines and expectations. Review these expectations regularly, and update them each time a child’s gets a phone upgrade. Parents may also consider setting up a cell phone contract that spells out how a cell phone expectations and possible consequences when a child breaks the rules.

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