Peers bonds becoming stronger online over that of family
Would you believe teens may have stronger bonds with their online peers than with in-person relationships? With children spending seemingly endless hours online, their relationships with their peers are becoming “as strong as family” according to a August 2010 CNET article by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore- …”teenagers reported feeling as much a part of their online communities as a part of their own families, and even more than a part of their offline hobby groups and neighbors.” Teens are less likely these days to sit down with the family and watch a television show than to go into...
Read MoreMultitasking while doing homework – can it be done?
With all the distractions buzzing and beeping around them, multitasking has become a huge problem for tweens and teens online. We are raising a generation of kids that text, talk and walk all at the same time. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “40% of teens say they multitask most of the time while on the computer.” When you ask your child if they’re doing their homework, they probably respond, “Sure, Mom”. And true enough, they are doing their homework while on the computer, but at the same time they are also playing a game online, listening to their iPod, and going on...
Read MoreSocial Networks have age restrictions?
Many websites especially social networking sites have age restrictions, most age 13. Are tweens and teens paying attention to these restrictions when they log onto these sites? Do they even know about them? Do parents know if their children have profiles on these sites? According to a Cox Communications Study, 34% of 11 and 12 year olds have profiles on social networking sites. An iStrategyLabs study revealed the number of kids ages 13-17 using Facebook grew from 5.7 M to almost 10.7 million from 2009 to 2010. Even when tweens know about the age restrictions they sometimes lie about their age to get...
Read MoreOne click of a button in the cyber-world can destroy a life
The Rutgers student suicide is a tragedy. One click of a button that disseminated a cruel video caused such humiliation for a promising young violinist that he felt he had no choice but to jump off a bridge; a victim of cyberbullying. A recent article in USA Today asked the questions: “Was what happened to Clementi a hate crime, bullying, a prank or all three? Or was it just the way things are now, when technology — tiny cameras, vast networks — allow a person’s most embarrassing moments to be spread around the world, in a permanent record for all to see?” Cyberbullying is rampant. 38%...
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