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Parenting Articles about Technology & Kids
Hands-on advice for parents who want guidance on how to manage their kids' use of technology.
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“My 14 year old daughter is a texting addict! She will even sit and text when our family is at a restaurant. It drives me nuts. If I tell her to stop, she just does it under the table. It’s like this little secret that we can’t be in on, plus it’s just plain rude. It’s as if half of her is here with us, but her brain is somewhere off with her friends. The thing that really annoys me is that she doesn’t take part in family activities any more—it’s like she has to have a special invitation to participate. What should we do?” |
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In this age of MySpace, cell phones and instant messaging, it has never been more important to ensure that you are a part of your daughter’s life: the real and the virtual. It is no surprise that girls are enamored with social communications as a way to make connections and keep in touch. By the time they are ten or eleven, they may be developing their own websites, and creating fun emoticons, avatars, and colorful texts for their emails. |
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Amber* got onto Facebook when she was 12. “It was easy, she said with a shrug.All you have to do is lie about your age and give them your email address.” The teen, who is now 15, said, “I guess I accepted a lot of ‘Friends’ to my list without really knowing who they were.” On social networking sites, the goal is to acquire as many “friends” as possible, a virtual popularity contest that can add up to a whole lot of unknowns. |
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What I typically suggest to parents is that they don’t allow violent video games in their home. If and when the issue comes up, that is actually a good opportunity to talk about their values, how to resolve conflicts and disputes in a non-violent way, which are useful conversations to have with kids. In any case it’s useful to convey your values to your children that violent solutions are not appropriate. Non-violent solutions can almost always be found.” |
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It’s an undisputed fact that the more violence kids are exposed to, the more desensitized they become to it. But it’s not the violence that’s the problem for families now. It’s the delivery systems used to bring that violence into the home. James Lehman explains how to keep the violence outside your home and away from your kids. |
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As a parent, it can be hard to keep up with all the social networking sites out there. When my kids were in their early teens, it seemed that every time I got a handle on the various social media sites they used, they would be on to the next new thing. When my son was in middle school, it was all about Myspace. Then Youtube became big and “everyone” was posting videos of skateboarding face plants and other death defying acts. Next there was MyYearbook, with Facebook and Twitter soon following. Skype was introduced somewhere in there, but it took awhile to catch on. With the advent of Android and I-phones, and the subsequent available apps, it seems the social networking world is growing exponentially.
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Cell phones. Internet. Facebook. Email. It’s been interesting watching the progression of technology over the years and the different ways each has individually impacted our 4 boys. There is a big age gap so the differences were very apparent. The ages at which they requested these privileges varied. We learned very quickly that there was no “magic age” where it would be appropriate for each child to have a cell phone, access to the Internet, email, or a Facebook account.
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I love going out for dinner with my adult children. No cooking, no clean up, no distractions. I get to connect with my children. Our new rule? Cell phones are locked in the car where they can beep, sing and vibrate all evening. This was not always the case, however. We created this rule after I'd gone out with my kids one night and found myself sitting there watching them on their iPhones: My son spent a good portion of the evening on the phone rescheduling his recording time with some musicians, while my daughter texted with her best friend. After that, I put my foot down: NO cell phones allowed on our nights out!
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Worried that the media is turning your child into a professional mini-consumer whose main focus is on getting more stuff? Pop culture, ads and TV shows all play into how our kids see the holidays -- and themselves. Today's guest blog post comes from child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. George Drinka.
As we enter the holiday season, we can expect to experience in every family room across America a stupefying collision of two societal sentiments. The one embodies the original spirit of the holidays: the message of love of family, brotherly and sisterly love, and a sense of community and spiritual uplift. The other is perhaps best epitomized by Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when frenzied consumer spending pushes many American stores from the red into the black for the calendar year.
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Note from the Editor: I can't get my child to stop playing World of Warcraft! Every day, we hear from parents out there who are struggling with their kids' addiction to video games. And on the news, each week brings more stories about kids (and adults) who have a seeming inability to control their gaming habits. What's a parent to do? This week, our featured Guest Blogger Daniel Nguyen, editor of ALLtreatment.com, weighs in with some concrete tips that can help your game-obsessed child.
With laptops, game consoles, and handheld devices becoming easier to purchase, it has become commonplace for children to have their own personal electronics. This widespread availability has created the phenomenon of video game addiction among children and young adults. While it hasn't yet been classified as a true addiction by the American Psychological Association (yet), some behaviors displayed by gamers -- playing for hours on end, disinterest in doing anything else, including eating and sleeping, depression and lack of social connection because of excessive video game use -- indicate that this is a very real issue for parents. But if your child likes gaming, it doesn’t mean that he is doomed to become addicted to games just because you bought him that Xbox or laptop he's been pining for. If you feel that your child may be having difficulty controlling the time he spends playing games, or if you find yourself unable to entice him away from his computer or game console, here are some tips to try and curb what can quickly become a compulsive habit.
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In this day and age, it is a real challenge to keep up with all the changes in the technology we use on a daily basis. Smart phones with countless apps and new social networking sites are constantly popping up on our computer screens, and these are just a few of the techie changes happening at a whirlwind speed.
Today’s technology allows your teen to live in two worlds simultaneously, the real world and the virtual world -- and an increasing amount of their time seems to be in the virtual world. As parents, how are you handling your teen’s use of technology? How are you keeping your kids safe?
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Are you looking to find support online? The Internet has been my saving grace time and time again.The first thing I ask is HOW people want to get their support. Maybe you're good with reading on the Internet and have found articles here on EmpoweringParents.com and elsewhere to help you in your journey as a parent. You might want to join groups online with similar interests or problems. It could be that you just need to vent and want nothing else. I found places to do all of these things on the web over the years, which is why the Internet has been my support group.
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According to researchers at the Education Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts, 13% of teens involved in sexting reported a suicide attempt during the time interval during which the sexting occurred. I agree with lead researcher Shari Kessel Schneider that association does not imply causation. Nonetheless, whenever there is a link between teens' behavior and emotional distress, parents should be more than just a little concerned. Teens will be teens just doesn't apply.
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The last time I went trick or treating, I was 15 years old. My friend Colleen and I didn't even bother dressing up -- I think we just wore something vaguely pajama-ish. The nail in the coffin was when a woman answered the door, blinked and said, Aren't you two a little old to be asking for candy? (I was glad it was dark outside and that she couldn't see our faces turning as red as the mini-Twizzlers in our bags.)
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