Remember Joe Camel? In the 90s, the cartoonish character was the face of Camel cigarettes. It was a blatant campaign to market tobacco products to a young population, which the industry dubbed “replacement smokers.” And though these questionable marketing tactics had been used for decades, the use of Joe seems to be the straw that…well, […]
Read more...When the first storytellers began weaving the tale of what would become Little Red Riding Hood, as early as the 10th century, they certainly had no idea what online predators were. Neither did the Brothers Grimm as they put the story down on paper in the 1800s. Nor did Stephen Sondheim and his team when […]
Read more...I’ve been a sucker for TED Talks ever since they started publishing them online. I’ve found some of them particularly valuable in parenting members of a digital generation. TED (Technology, Education, and Design) is an organization dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.” Through a series of international conferences and inspired local gatherings (called TEDx events), organizers […]
Read more...Ironically, if you search online for family activity ideas, you’ll find a ton of ideas about how to “unplug” and have “tech-free family time”. But don’t we already know how to do that? Is that what most of us have grown up with? Sure, we might need reminders in our busy digital lives: Play a […]
Read more...As parents, we spend a huge chunk of our lives trying to protect our kids. We put bumpers on the corners of the fireplace when they start toddling. We keep a watchful eye when they are playing on the playground. We send worry-filled notes to teachers expressing concern for our child’s social or academic welfare. […]
Read more...Facebook recently (and rather quietly) rolled out Messenger Kids to a U.S. audience. The new app, which appeared in our own Facebook app on our iPhones, is targeted to 6-12 year olds. Not surprisingly, it’s created quite a stir among parents and internet experts. The big question: Should I let my child use it? How […]
Read more...It’s that time of year again. Your child has latched onto the dream of owning their very own fill-in-the-blank-device, and they’ve begun their campaign to convince you that they neeeed one or they will be the laughing stock of all their friends. Suddenly, these beautiful children that you brought into the world, who can’t put […]
Read more...The rise of anonymous apps reminds us that kids today are just like we were: there are some things we want to keep from our parents. Before smartphones, kids used to write their private thoughts in diaries (remember those?) and they’d be mortified if anyone read their secrets. Now, they can share them with total […]
Read more...Citizenship describes the character of a member of a society, and how they behave and function in that society as well as how well they carry out their duties and obligations. When we apply that concept to the world of texts, emails, messages, photo sharing, live video, social media, and all other forms of living […]
Read more...In the ongoing discussion about how much kids should be on their screens, we sometimes overlook an important aspect of that question: What are they doing on their screens? All screen time is not equal. I think the time that we parents worry about the most is the passive time where our kids are simply […]
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