Monthly Archives: November 2013

Did screens dominate your Thanksgiving celebration this year? If so, it may be a sign that your family needs a digital detox. Need some inspiration? Read about how our blogger discovered her family's screen problem and what she did to solve it. This post was previously published on The Huffington Post's Screen Sense blog. Read more

Black Friday is fast approaching. Are you ready? If you’re looking to score some good deals on tech gifts for the kiddos this year, then this is the day to do it. Just make sure you know exactly what you’re purchasing (and why) before you do the deal. Here’s what you need to know before you buy. Read more

This week, Americans will be taking time away from their busy schedules to stop and give thanks for their many blessings. As parents today, it’s hard to think of technology as anything other than a danger. We hear so many sad, scary stories about children finding trouble online, not to mention the myriad health effects of too much screen time. But should we be grateful for technology? There are many reasons we should be. Read more

A new study published in the journal Policy & Internet reveals that most parents fear for their kids’ safety online, but the intensity of specific fears may be shaped by their racial and ethnic backgrounds. Most all parents are concerned about online predators, pornography, violent content, and bullying, but in varying degrees. Read more

Oxford Dictionaries has finally announced its much-anticipated “Word of the Year,” and the winner is “selfie.” Apparently, the vote was unanimous, which is rather atypical. The definition of the word, according to the Dictionaries is as follows: selfie- (n.) a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website Read more

Typically when it comes to online porn, parents are worried that their kids may stumble across it. But when kids are the subject of this online content, the results can be much more horrific. For many online predators, what starts as a child porn addiction leads to actual abuse and even murder, as it did earlier this year in the cases of child killers Mark Bridger and Stuart Hazel. Read more

A while back, we wrote about how advertisements may be the new Internet threat that parents should be aware of. Apparently, some lawmakers agree and are taking steps to curb that threat and others that put kids at risk online. Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey introduced a bill this week, which would amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 and extend protections that are already in place for kids under the age of 12 to teens up to the age of 15. Read more

Although there’s been a lot of talk about the mass exodus of teens from Facebook, social media is still alive and well among young people. The digital natives are simply migrating elsewhere to social networking sites and messaging apps their parents have likely never heard of. While it’s certainly possible and even advisable to follow your kids wherever they go on the web, the end goal for parents is to teach kids how to behave themselves online even when mom and dad aren’t looking. While the negatives of social media (e.g. cyberbullying, online predators, etc.) get the most publicity, there’s a flip side to the coin—social media can be used for good by adults and kids alike. Here are a few ways kids can make the web a better place for us all using social networking. Read more

Not many people will admit they're addicted to the Internet. Some may not even know how dependent they are on the Web until they're forced to go without it. That's what happened to our own blogger recently. She spoke out about her own Internet addiction on The Huffington Post blog today. Read the full confession. ###… Read more

Kids of all ages are using apps these days. Even the youngest of digital natives instinctively know how to play games, navigate book apps, and sometimes even download the apps themselves. This can be a great thing as long as the apps children are interacting with are positive ones. Thus, it’s important that parents know how to choose good apps for kids—just as we’ve learned to select quality, age-appropriate television shows and other media. Next time your child asks you to purchase an app, consider these tips. Read more

Most parents are aware that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) discourages any screen time for children under the age of 2, but what about older kids? Earlier this week, the organization finally weighed in on how much is too much when it comes to media for school-aged kids, including tweens and teens. The verdict? Two hours of screen time per day, excluding school-related use. Read more