A lot of adults wonder why kids don't often tell a parent or "trusted adult" they're experiencing bullying, and what Aaron Cheese, 15, told his mom, finally, after years of dealing with it in silence, probably strikes a chord with a lot of young people: "He said it was that he didn't want to bring that home. Like, he wanted to walk in the door and just be a normal, regular kid," his mother, Jean … [Read more...] about Bullying: Reasons why kids don’t tell their parents
WHAT has ‘online safety’ wrought (with parents)?!
Thankfully, the youth part of "Talking to Youth and Parents about Life Online" had a whole lot of good news in it, because my heart sank when I read this first paragraph on parents' views of online kids in this study from Canada's premier digital and media literacy organization: "The parents we spoke with were beleaguered by fear of danger and exhausted from the burden of constant vigilance. … [Read more...] about WHAT has ‘online safety’ wrought (with parents)?!
Mobile parenting 2.0
There are some good mobile parenting pointers on the Web these days, one example being "Five things to do before giving your teenager a smartphone." But – practically speaking – these are just useful talking points in the broader, on-going conversation families need to have about how social-media tools like phones can be used to connect with others kindly, meaningfully, and successfully in … [Read more...] about Mobile parenting 2.0
Helping kids who encounter porn: ‘The Talk’ x3
It's no longer just two talks that parents need to have with their kids, the New York Times suggests – "the early lesson about the 'birds and the bees' and the more delicate discussion of how to navigate a healthy sexual life as a young adult" – but now also "the [online] pornography talk." It's a great piece that quotes top sources on the subject, almost echoing one by my ConnectSafely … [Read more...] about Helping kids who encounter porn: ‘The Talk’ x3
So we’re all becoming cyborgs, Dr. Turkle?
"We want to customize our lives…," "It is as though we have all put ourselves on cable news…," "We seem willing to dispense with [other] people altogether…." All these dire, dour, disrespectful pronouncements about this undifferentiated mass called "we" from highly respected psychologist Sherry Turkle at MIT in the New York Times. Where is her acknowledgment that the way we use all the devices, … [Read more...] about So we’re all becoming cyborgs, Dr. Turkle?