parenting

It's an unimaginably sad story.

Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl who has struggled with issues of self-esteem and depression, is greeted on MySpace by an older boy. He strikes up a flirtation with her over a series of weeks. Then, inexplicably, he starts sending accusatory messages, then nasty ones.

Megan, crushed by the turn of events, takes her own life.

Further twisting the tragedy is the fact that the boy wasn't a boy at all. Rather, he was the creation of adults, including the mother of one of Megan's friends, a girl with whom she had a … Read more

This has felt like a heavy week all around, so I wanted to wrap it up with a little levity. My favorite article this week was Michelle Slatalla's New York Times piece, "These Naughty Gifts Don't Clutter a Closet." She put the utter absurdity of Facebook applications into perspective, as she described the various virtual Naughty Gifts that one can send to friends, "thigh-high black platform boots...foil-wrapped condoms, black thongs and cans of something called Mr. Whipped Cream."

You see, in real life I've been talking to mom-friends quite a bit about … Read more

After a recent attack on Power Downloader's home system, Power wanted to find a way to monitor or block usage on his computer while away. Ideally, Power wanted a program that could block usage of certain applications and record usage if a bad guy somehow accessed his system. With the holiday season just around the corner, Power knew that he would probably need to take extra precautions.… Read more

Teens may be reacting with horror to the idea that Facebook is now open to everybody, so their parents may be showing up to butt into their social network.

I find myself on the other side of that equation, wondering "Why would I bother joining Facebook?" Fast Company recently discussed Facebook's growth, noting that "60 percent of the site's users are not in college networks, and the fastest-growing demographic is 25 and over." I had to laugh a bit at the broad swath covered by this statistic. Age 25 is a relatively recent college grad who is probably experiencing social networking as part of their peer experience.

As for those of use who are over age 30...well, let's say that no matter how wired we are, we did not exactly make a seamless transition from a yearbook to Facebook. … Read more

No doubt, parenting has changed in the Internet Age, and a new study tries to reflect on how mom and dad are dealing with it.

Proving that parents are tackling new issues, a majority of those surveyed (roughly 400 parents in the United States) said that in the last year they've had an "Internet-related issue" with their child, according to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive for the nonprofits Common Sense Media and Cable in the Classroom (PDF). At least half of the parents reported that their child was exposed to advertising or commercialism online; a third … Read more

AT&T confirmed Monday that it has suspended a new service that lets parents limit usage on their kids' cell phones after the company realized that there was a potential issue with 911 emergency services.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday that the "Smart Limits" service, which was launched on September 4, has been temporarily suspended. Smart Limits is a new parental control service that allows parents to restrict phone calls to and from their kids' phones during certain times of day. This feature allowed parents to limit or block cell phone use on their children'… Read more

The battle between parents, school, and teens over cell phones involves many levers to push and pull. Now AT&T has added a new twist: for $4.99 per month per line, parents can add on customized controls through the new "Smart Limits" service. Phone options include limiting talk time, text messages, instant messages, and Web content and downloads.

Teens naturally balk at the idea of limits, but there are many advantages to making these controls available.… Read more

Parents already have a way to monitor kids' phone calls and text messages, and soon they might have the means to track children wearing school uniforms.

An English manufacturer of uniforms is considering adding satellite tracking devices to its line of school clothing so that parents can locate their child's whereabouts at all times, according to an article from the Daily Telegraph in Australia. The manufacturer, Lancashire-based Trutex, believes there is a demand for such clothing. In a recent survey of its own, the company found that 59 percent of 800 parents surveyed were interested in buying uniforms with … Read more

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the nonprofit that last year earmarked $50 million toward the study of kids and digital media, said Tuesday that it will set aside some of that money for an innovation competition.

The Chicago-based foundation plans to award as much as $2 million for ideas and technologies related to digital media and learning. The contest has two categories: innovation in new digital environments for informal learning, with prizes of $100,000 or $250,000; and networking in education, with awards worth as much as $75,000.

"We do not yet know how … Read more