You don't hear it a lot, but – based on a new survey from the Family Online Safety Institute – parents sound pretty savvy about their kids' Net use and tech aids for keeping it constructive. The survey of 702 parents of kids 8-17 found that 93% have set rules or limits to monitor their kids' use, 87% are aware of parental-control tools, and 53% have used them. Among parents who choose not to use … [Read more...] about Parents & parental controls: Study
Parenting
Rachel Simmons’s house rules for social tech
"Most middle and high school girls need their parents to limit social media use," writes Rachel Simmons, author of the new, revised Odd Girl Out. "They are not able to do it on their own. Many girls are addicted to social media because, simply put, they are addicted to their relationships." I'm not sure I agree with her second sentence, stated so categorically (because we know from social media … [Read more...] about Rachel Simmons’s house rules for social tech
Help for parents of kids dealing with bullying
"When a child mentions schoolyard dialog that sounds almost surreal, or reveals an eyebrow raising text message and asks, 'ok, so what would you say to THIS?' I want to be able to apply calm, social emotional learning rather than have analysis paralysis with stunned, kneejerk reactions to blunt, crude one-liners, thinking 'wth? did they really just say that? Yougawdabekiddinme' More often than not … [Read more...] about Help for parents of kids dealing with bullying
Top 5 things every teen wants parents to know about tech
By Vanessa Van Petten Guest Contributor [Editor's note: All there is to say is, please pay attention, parents – these five points from Vanessa's interns are worth your consideration. They're borne out at my house, certainly.] I recently sent the teen interns who advise and write for RadicalParenting.com (there are 120 of them ages 13-19) a question. I asked them what are the top 5 … [Read more...] about Top 5 things every teen wants parents to know about tech
A fresh look at ‘Netiquette’
Words like "manners" and "etiquette" usually make kids' eyeballs roll. So it's important – as we all move thousands of years of social-norms and manners development into our new media environment together – that we keep our children in the conversation by approaching "Netiquette" logically and our kids the avid social-media users respectfully. Like Buck, who has as much to say about human … [Read more...] about A fresh look at ‘Netiquette’