I recently had the opportunity to lead our Wired Generation workshop for a group of elementary school parents. We talked about risk behavior for teens and tweens concerning cell phones, gaming systems, email, and online blog sites. Afterward the most interesting comment was from a mom who remarked, “I thought I had a few...
Continue ReadingMore than 80% of high schoolers and 50% of middle schoolers carry a cell phone. We all know that the thing they spend most of there time doing with the phone is texting. The average teen sends/receives an average of 2400 each month. As a parent, you’ve probably had a talk with your teen about it, yelled about it, or rolled you...
Continue ReadingOur culture loves creating scapegoats. When the economy goes bad, we point fingers at the President. When kids don’t make high enough grades, we blame teachers. When a marriage crumbles, it’s always the other person’s fault. When we feel afraid, hurt, or disappointed, a scapegoat is never far out of reach. We do the same t...
Continue ReadingIf your family is like mine, you love basking in the pleasure of summer break. There are no tests, science fair projects, homework, or anything else that resembles school. This also means your child is at home all day long, everyday, with lots of idle time on his hands. We all know what the idle mind of a twelve year old can bec...
Continue ReadingI can still remember the first time I saw a pornographic image sitting in my buddy’s bedroom as a fifth grader. That first image was more than thirty years ago, and it’s still with me today. It will never go away. That first image led to more images and a stronger pull toward the forbidden. Whether single or married, I ...
Continue ReadingA whopping 97% of12-17 year olds play video games, making it the most popular activity among teenagers. On any given day 60% of teenagers will play a video game in their home. With $12 billion dollars in video games sales come concerns that the excessive violence in many of the games leads to aggressive behavior in those that pl...
Continue ReadingThe average American family will spend $765 on immediate family this year for Christmas. If you are like most parents with teenagers, you might as well tack on a couple hundred dollars extra. As they get older, the gifts get more expensive because they are inevitably tech related. Whether your kids are 6 or 16, here are a few t...
Continue ReadingWe all have secrets. Whether is was the time you went somewhere you weren’t supposed to, had a crush on a classmate, or did something you regret––we all have secrets from our past. Most of them are things we did eons ago that we sit around with our friends laughing about now. But for our children the tech world is bringing...
Continue ReadingIn their final year of high school, every action of your goal-oriented child is another stepping stone to help them get into the right college. They will be focused on entrance exams, college applications, and financial aide forms–everything on their checklist they think will launch them into success. A key step they could mis...
Continue ReadingHave your ever heard of the 10,000 rule? Malcolm Gladwell popularized the phrase in his book Outliers. The 10,000 rule is the idea that it take roughly 10,000 hours of practice at something to master it. You don’t become great by accident. Most people would consider The Beatles the greatest rock-n-roll band of all time. It ...
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