Parents Vote Games Worse Than Porn

Here is an interesting example of how many parents are afraid of kid oriented technology via too much negative media hype and not enough first hand experience. What They Play: The Parents Guide To Video Games surveyed parents and discovered that the majority of parents are more concerned about kids playing video games than they are about kids drinking or seeing porn. Their objection to games was based on the preponderance of publicity surrounding games that feature drugs, violence, swearing and sex.

Mike Goodman, of the Yankee Group, an independent technology research firm, says, “Gamers know the truth, but non-gamers are influenced by what they see on the news, and they think video games are corrupting the morals of our youth.”

The publication of this survey highlights the importance of parents to try to understand gaming from a kid’s perspective. It can only be fun for parents to get into gaming with kids who are already interested in it. It will help parents get a firsthand look at what kinds of games their kids like and will probably put their minds at ease about what gaming is all about. There are many games that are intended to stimulate imagination and critical thinking, they are typically widely played, and with a broad age base. Myst is one popular example.

There is a wonderful podcast episode for parents to listen to that was produced by Tech Talk For Families. In Episode 37 “Grand Theft Childhood”, host Dale interviews Drs. Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson, co-founders and directors of the Harvard Medical School Center for Mental Health and Media and co-authors of Grand Theft Childhood. They talk about their study of kids and video games and their conclusions that most of what you’ve heard about violent video games and kids is wrong. They talk about what to avoid and what to watch out for. They also touch on the positive benefits of gaming for kids who have ADHD. Listen here>>

Distract Teens From Net Danger With Net Engagement

This is a guest post by Alex Steed who at 25 years old, is a product of the net generation. Since his teens, Alex has used writing to explore global social change movements and youth engagement. He is executive editor of MakeSomethingHappen.net, where he writes about online organizing and the power of collective action.

Paranoia is futile. Because I trust the network that helped raise me, as archaic as we will remember it in ten years time, I am excited, not scared, for a new generation of kids raised online.

Sure, my hyper-connected upbringing wasn’t perfect, and once in a while I am surprised I survived it. I had a couple of internet relationships that turned into ill-fated face-to-face meetings that were poignant learning experiences

Cyber-Bullying Terms

Got a minute? Since that’s about all the free time you have, here’s one minute of audio information about “Cyber-Bullying Terms” from Vanessa Van Petten

Listen now…

To find out more about Vanessa Van Petten, her books about parenting teens, and her blog “On Teens Today” go to:
www.OnTeensToday.com

Raise Web Wise Kids

Although we know that the American child abduction rate is way over hyped (see The Momstyle News post “There are only 115 kidnappings per year“) it is still a parent’s responsibility to teach a child how to negotiate safety situations.

Review: “Dirt E-Secrets Of An Internet Kid”

“Dirt E-Secrets Of An Internet Kid” is the title of Vanessa VanPetten’s new e-book. She is a 22-year-old blogger and published author who writes about parenting from a teen perspective. In this book Vanessa succinctly details the various ways kids use and abuse the internet. And like a socially responsible critic, she also supplies practical solutions for how parents can deal with the challenges that come with raising an internet kid.

The book includes practical advice and tools for you to use when establishing rules for technology for your child. She also explains some of the dangers to kids in the online world and how to teach your children to deal with challenges like: online gossip, cyber bullying, predators, and identity theft.

KidZui is now FREE!

On April 26, 2008 I published a description of a new service called KidZui that enables your child to use the internet without risk of encountering inappropriate material. Here is the link to that post:

KidZui Post

At the time of that post KidZui had plans to be a subscription service, but on June 4, 2008 they will be making their service available for FREE! It is possible that once KidZui is free, it will be the #1 most perfect option for creating a safe computer environment for your kids at home.

KidZui.com

Hello Kitty Phone Makes Parents Mad

Comment Retail Service will be releasing Sanrio’s Hello Kitty phone in Britain and Ireland this July (it is already available elsewhere). Sanrio claims that the phone is being marketed to women in their 20’s and 30’s and is priced for adults at $599. Parent advocacy groups think that girls as young as 6 are being targeted for this product

Why are we here?

Just a quick note, sort of in the way of a mission statement about why I started this forum.  I started the GenerationI blog because I noted that many of my mom friends are blithely un-technologically savvy.  They think it is kind of funny that they don’t know how to text or use Facebook, and on the one hand they are right.  Really, why does any adult need Facebook in their life?  It is a waste of time (at best entertainment) to an adult who has important things to worry about.  But…  And this is a big but…  They are as much of a hardware and fixture part of the life for modern kids as is the fact that they go to school everyday and brush their teeth every night. Denying it won’t make it less so.  Forbidding it won’t make it less so.

A dad said to me yesterday, “My 14 year old daughter doesn’t have a MySpace page.  She is forbidden from having a MySpace page.”  He had never considered that It would take 15 minutes at a friend’s house for her to get a MySpace page and he would never know.  My guess is that she has a very rich MySpace life.  Or maybe she doesn’t, maybe she didn’t lie to her father, because the truth might be that she doesn’t have a MySpace page at all, but she does have a Facebook page, and profile pages on several other social networking sites — every website has one nowadays.

On the other hand, parents who are tech geeks to start with don’t seem to have the same fear or issues with the technology.  They are more relaxed about their children’s use of technology and are in a better position to guide their kids’ experiences.  They use technology with their kids and are right there to help their kids use it responsibly.

This forum exists to help un-techy parents overcome their fear so that they can make more informed choices for their children.

What did I say to that dad?  It told him to allow her to get a MySpace page, but he should get one too and become her “Friend” on MySpace.  That way he can view most of what is going on in her MySpace network.  Psychology Today advises that you can not make something go away by forbidding it, but chances are, it may not be as bad as you think if you make an effort to understand it.

When is the right age to give your child a cell phone?

This was the topic of the recent poll at the Momstyle Network (the home chat group/network for this blog).

Here’s how folks voted:
44% When it seems like it would be good for the family.
32% As soon as you think they are mature enough.
20% When they can get a job and pay for it.
2% When they ask for it.
2% As soon as they can dial.

A 21 year old responded to this poll: “I got mine when I got my driver’s license and it was only for emergency purposes. When I was 18 I started using it for personal calls (when I went away to school), but texting was never included in my plan so my parents made me pay for whatever texts I sent or received. If I ever went over my minutes I had to pay for that too. I think that was all fair and I would encourage others to follow the same system.”

Feel free to leave your comments and opinions on this topic or even ask questions.

You can still weigh in and see the most current results.  Click here…

What are they saying about you on the web?

One report says that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 29.7 billion web pages on the internet, with more coming and going everyday. Which of those pages have your, or your child’s name on them? What are people posting about you and those you love? Well, like all gossip, it is unknowable what is whispered privately, but there is a way to keep tabs on what is advertised out there for all the world to read, by using Google Alerts.

Go to www.Google.com/alerts and fill out a simple form that looks like this:

Choose to be alerted to anything that interests you. For example if your name is “Marcia Gay Hardin” and your son’s name is “Rocky” you can select to be alerted of the following terms: Marcia Gay, Marcia Hardin, Rocky Hardin, Hardin Family. You can add anything you want to your list (depending on how many alerts you want to receive) and the results will be emailed to you as you choose. Choices for alert frequency are: “Once a day”, Once a week” and “As it happens”.

You can also use this tool to be alerted of other things that interest you. You can follow updates on a celebrity, sports team or industry. Its like having an assistant that brings the information to you. It isn’t fool proof, but it beats spending your days running these searches yourself and it’s definitely fun reading the alerts.