Read Mommy, Why Can’t I Watch More TV, over at Boston.com. Author Beth Teitell describes the how many of us let our children watch increased amounts of television and play more video games like Wii during vacations, winter months, and especially after big snowstorms when school is closed.
According to the March 1. 2011 article, which also quotes Children’s Hospital Boston Mediatrician, Michael Rich, MD, it’s not always easy to retrench after periods of excess media activities.
Watch this interesting video that shares a lot about how fast social networking has moved into our world and how rapidly it’s changing the way people interact, work, and play.
Go to the Socialnomics website to see sources of the information, statistics, and data.
You may need to turn down the music.
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
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.
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”
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.
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
Media! Tech! Parenting! 
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