A Reminder: Online Activity Has Real Consequences

"Assistant Nassau County District Attorney Jeremy Glicksman said Tuesday that the best way to prevent online bullying is for parents to teach their children that activity on social networks have real-world ramifications."

This article, which appeared recently in The Island Now (Long Island, NY), summarized Glicksman's remarks in his presentation titled "STOP Then Send." It is worth reading as a reminder of how we should behave online and the consequences of not being a good digital citizen when using the internet. 

Touch Screens and the Little Ones: Pros and Cons

Are you worried that your young child, aka "toddler," will either be harmed by too much screen time or that your child will fall behind his or her peers by not learning how to use these new devices? Not to worry! I have run across several sources of wisdom on the subject that should calm your fears.

Stephanie Hanes, writing for The Christian Science Monitor, has put together three articles that point to reasons for concern as well as reasons for encouragement when it comes to deciding whether or not to let our young children spend time on touch screen devices. "After all," as she put it, "Steve Jobs didn't grow up with an iPad."

For help with making your screen time decisions check out these articles.

Toddlers on touch screens: parenting the 'app generation'

Digital Literacy: How soon should kids learn to use touch screens?

The case for boredom: When a crayon is better than an iPad

Fact or Opinion? - How authentic is your search result information?

The Internet is obviously wonderful for gathering megatons of information on almost any topic imaginable. Do you know, however, if that information is truthful and unbiased? Evaluating websites and the information on them is something students, and many of us, don't think about enough. We also tend to ignore giving credit to authors of the information when using it for our own purposes. Below are a few links to sites which can guide you and your children through the process of doing research on the Web and how to process that information, whether for your own enrichment or for a school assignment.

Authenticating Information from MediaSmarts - Here is a snippet from the "Authenticating" section.

The first rule of thumb to teach kids when looking at all online information is to be skeptical – when in doubt, doubt! Then apply a Who, What, Where, When, Why and How formula to the information.

For example:

• Who is the source of the information? (The most important step is to understand who put the information online.)
• What are you getting? (Does the information seem biased in any way?)
• Where are you? (Deconstructing the Web address, or URL, will tell you a lot.)
• When was the site created? (You want the most current information.)
• Why are you there? (There may be better places to find the information; books for example.)
• How can you tell what’s what? (Double check the information with other sources.)

Intellectual Property: Key Concepts from MediaSmarts

Finding Trustworthy Websites from Common Sense Media

Evaluating Web Sites - This is a college-level tutorial from the libraries at The Ohio State University but it looks worthwhile if you have some time to put in.

Wondering about email for young children?

One of my recent messages from Common Sense Media addresses the question of which programs are best for introducing your children to the world of email. Click on Common Sense Media in the first sentence to check out their recommendations as well as comments from parents.

Parenting the Digital Natives

Recently ran across an interesting article on the Mobiledia web site with the title Beyond Technology: Parents Take Charge of Gadgets. They share tips on limiting screen time, managing costs of both devices and services, and keeping the conversation going with the digital natives in your care. Click on the blue text to check it out.

Your Holidays, Unplugged!

We're not talking total ban here, but Common Sense Media has published some suggestions for creating more balance in holiday activities. Some of them even involve ways to use technology together. Click on "Unplug Your Holidays" below to see the article.

Unplug Your Holidays

There are additional links to other helpful holiday tips, from saving money to reading and movie suggestions.

'Tis the Season

Need help with choosing those digital media gifts, making the Christmas season meaningful, or managing the stress? Common Sense Media is there to assist you. Check out their Holiday Hub for tips on all your holiday needs.

When all else fails remember this: daylight time starts increasing on December 22nd!