Play Savvy Helps Moms Learn About Video Games

Play Savvy helps moms learn about video games.

Safety Contracts for Internet & Real Life

NetSmartz is a projected of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They have developed some very simple, downloadable, age-appropriate internet and “real life” safety contracts for your family to use. Each contract sets guidelines and boundaries for children to follow to maintain their own safety.

Select the contract that is right for your situation and download it at:

http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/pledge.htm#

Mom 3.0: Moms Are Techie in 2009

Today’s time-starved, multi-tasking mothers are using more than band-aids and paper-based calendars to manage their hectic lifestyles and growing families. Mothers, now more than ever, are using technology such as video, blogs and wireless devices to multi-task through their busy days, using more than 5 separate technologies daily. 2009 stands to produce a record number of tech-savvy mothers bridging devices together to create everyday solutions.

Curriculum Helps Teachers Fight Cyberbullying

To address the growing issue of cyberbullying, the Qwest Foundation(R) will host top educators from several states to present a first-of-its-kind cyberbullying prevention curriculum.

Freshmen Prepared To Intervene With “Juicy Campus”

Bullying on the college campus is not a big issue for a majority of college freshmen recently surveyed at Kansas State University. The survey shows that those students who do think bullying is an issue are prepared to take action to stop or prevent it. The researchers were surprised to find how many students fingered one Web site, Juicy Campus, as a source of cyberbullying. The researchers will use the survey results to help K-12 schools and community groups thwart bullying before it comes to campus.

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.