There's real wisdom for parents, coaches and educators – not to mention gamers, athletes and social media users – in this business story about what toxic behavior does to a team. The game in question? League of Legends, a 30 million-player "team-based game" along the lines of Capture the Flag "or, more aptly, 'destroy the enemy base'," according to Google's re:Work's description. The game company … [Read more...] about Handling toxicity: Insights for parents & teachers from Riot Games
Parenting
Everyday superheroes: Parents & caregivers
It probably wouldn't occur to most moms, dads, foster parents, aunts, uncles and other caregivers that #WhatMakesASuperhero is just the right hashtag to mark Mother's Day (and next month, Father's Day). But a beautiful little video about five-year-old Cammie and her aunt-turned-foster mother Camellia shows how small things are superpowers to a little child. The video is part of the Vroom … [Read more...] about Everyday superheroes: Parents & caregivers
Not defaulting to default thinking about social media
Ok, full disclosure: I know my antennae are up when I read the news. I've been questioning reflexively negative pronouncements about social media for years. But the reason is all the fear about the impact of social media on our children, not to mention the human race, that has been swirling in the air for a decade now. Negativity has become our default, and I don't think that's good for us, our … [Read more...] about Not defaulting to default thinking about social media
Messaging apps rule: What’s interesting about that for parents
This statement stopped me in my tracks when I was reading about how messaging apps now reign supreme in social media: "'Ask and you shall receive' has become the new customer experience." I'll tell you why that gave me pause in a moment. First a look at what's being reported about mobile messaging. "The top four messaging apps—WhatsApp and Messenger (both owned by Facebook), WeChat and … [Read more...] about Messaging apps rule: What’s interesting about that for parents
Our humanity, not our tech, is the key to fixing online hate
To mark Safer Internet Day 2016, let's take stock of what we've learned so far and what we can do with the knowledge we've gained so far about online hate.... It has taken a couple of decades but, collectively, we're definitely getting smarter about online risk and how to avoid and address it. We're also getting smarter about how people of various ages, cultures and interests experience and … [Read more...] about Our humanity, not our tech, is the key to fixing online hate