I co-wrote a book for parents that includes instructions on how to create a MySpace profile. I’ve often suggested to parents that they create their own profiles so they can monitor their kids’ social-networking activities. But I have no illusions that this is the solution for every household with teenagers. Fellow mom Michelle Slatalla’s fun-to-read account in the New York Times of where creating … [Read more...] about Parenting with profiles?
Parenting
Extreme cyberbullying: 2 cases
By “extreme,” I mean bullying that has led to teen suicide attempts. Two such cases involving three New Zealand girls have come to my attention in the past week – one through our BlogSafety forum and the other covered in that country’s national news media. The Sunday News in NZ reported this week that two 15-year-old secondary-school students were tricked by another girl into believing two teenage … [Read more...] about Extreme cyberbullying: 2 cases
Net-safety perspective
This Charlotte Observer columnist makes a darn sensible point. He points to a “National Survey of Children’s Health” by University of Michigan’s Children’s Hospital finding that Internet safety was ranked as the No. 7 children’s health problem by the US public (smoking, drugs, and obesity top the list). What’s interesting, he writes, is that “suicide, depression and cancer didn't make the top 10,” … [Read more...] about Net-safety perspective
Kids: Chief technology officers
Or maybe that should be families’ chief information officers. Because of their Net literacy, young people are increasingly becoming their families’ top product researchers and online shoppers, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “Three-quarters of students between the ages of 8 and 14 say they have completed an online transaction, according to a national survey released May 9 by Stars for … [Read more...] about Kids: Chief technology officers
No screentime for a week
This mom and news correspondent says it right up front: Working in her favor in banning TV and computer use at her house for a week was the fact that her two sons, 8 and 10, are pretty outdoorsy and they aren’t yet teenagers (aka social networkers). On Day 2, she writes in the UK’s The Times, it’s like having toddlers again (no time to one’s self, etc.). Day 4 is the high point – when all the … [Read more...] about No screentime for a week