Article of the day

[ballibeg]

With such diverse reading habits amongst us I'd enjoy sharing articles that you've found thought provoking, witty, wrong(! ) etc

Here's one from today's Guardian. The Guardian is a daily national newspaper that leans towards Labour and is very liberal.

Mental health of children and young people ‘at risk in digital age’

http://gu.com/p/43375

What do you think?

Dave

[MrsK]

I'm naive because my children are small and I am not a big user of technology. But when I read these stories, I do wonder how much parents are supervising their kids internet use. When I was a kid/teen, there is no way that I could spend hours doing something daily that my parents didn't know about.

[poky]

Ugh. I read stuff like that and am just glad I was out of college before cell phones and the internet were big, and that I don't have kids of my own to have to try to police and help through it, since I have no direct experience with being that age with that kind of technology. The Guardian seems a little over the top about it, but cyberbullying IS an issue, just maybe not as big of a one as they're making it out to be.

[Pollyanna]

I think social media is rough for kids. They are NEVER away from their peer group and for a kid that may not feel like they "fit in" that in and of itself can be demoralizing. I think this is true of any kid ("popular" or not). Bullying seems to be more insidious these days. Kids aren't so much calling you fatso or four eyes (at least in our experience) but they purposefully leave kids out and then make sure they know you were left out via social media. We haven't experienced outright bullying like the media portrays but I know it happens.

Everything is just so "out there", I think that alone is rough on kids. I'm more concerned about these little things than I am about strangers luring my kids away via a chat room or the stuff sensationalized in the media.

Love this idea for a thread btw, very fun!!!

eta: sorry for the incomplete thoughts, I'm being pulled to make lunch by two girls that also need to use the internet for their school work, lol.

[spaz]

I'm naive because my children are small and I am not a big user of technology. But when I read these stories, I do wonder how much parents are supervising their kids internet use. When I was a kid/teen, there is no way that I could spend hours doing something daily that my parents didn't know about.

Yeah, I know back in the day it was easier. We have an internet filter on our computers. However, apparently he got around it. He came and confessed. How did we not know... How can you know completely? So much schoolwork is done online for my son. It is just so hard to be completely careful. Neither of my kids at home have Facebook ( neither do I ). They and I only have dumb phones. If you are talking smart phones that is a whole other level of accountablility I'm just not willing to try and wrap my head around. They can have one when they are on their own and can pay for it themselves. Even if you monitor and try to keep up with the internet, it is just so easy for things to get past you. I much prefer the way things were back in the day!

[ballibeg]

I've done what I can. Computer in corner with screen facing out, software blocks and education. Fingers crossed enough.

[bobk]

I highly recommend OpenDNS. It may be a bit techy for some folks to set up but it's free and effective so I think it's worth the effort. You have to change some settings on your wireless router and then configure the content types you want to block through their website. It's nice because the blocking is done at the router so you don't have to configure every device and/or piece of software.

[Sheherezade]

Second the OpenDNS. Works well.


Angie

[MrsK]

Explain that. What's opendns?

[bobk]

Explain that. What's opendns?

I'm not sure what else to say beyond my last post. You have to create an account and decide what categories of content you want filtered. The hard part is that you have to change your router settings afterwards, so you'll need to dig out the manual and password info. Here's their website for more info:

https://www.opendns.com/home-interne.../opendns-home/

[Vanquisher]

I am likely in the minority here, but I have no desire to block my kids internet access or access to real things. They hear it at school anyway. There is no life in a bubble. I just have to talk to them and keep communication open.

[poky]

Speaking of "life in a bubble" and since this is the "article of the day" thread, I give you:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/postev...n-i-was-wrong/

[bobk]

I am likely in the minority here, but I have no desire to block my kids internet access or access to real things. They hear it at school anyway. There is no life in a bubble. I just have to talk to them and keep communication open.

I don't really disagree. I'm under no illusion that the kids live in some kind of bubble and won't stumble across things at some point at school ot elsewhere. I think it's more a matter of keeping the volume to a minimum.

[Sheherezade]

It's more about keeping the predators from them - at least when they are young.

My friend s book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NN50MFC?btkr=1

She speaks all over about internet safety at various ages. She works with law enforcement and can tell you some stories about predators trying to hook up with 9 year olds on xbox live and minecraft that will curl your hair. Her motto is know what your kid is doing; if you can't keep up, don't let them have it.


Angie