There has been a huge rise in children joining social media sites like Facebook and MySpace.  Although there are some great pros and cons against this, how young is too young?  Would you allow your children to join one of these sites?

First off, there are some pros to allowing children to join social sites.  In my own family, I am able to share pictures with my nieces and nephews.  They are able to stay on top of my daughter with us living 720 miles away.

I am able to communicate with them in the medium of their generation, online.  My…

These days, all over the TV, music, and movies, there is content inappropriate for most children to see, hear, or watch.  This is true, but there are many parents who go overboard on “protecting” their child.

First off, I am going to give you the basic run down on American movie and TV rating systems.  First off, TV:

• TV-Y (All Children — This program is designed to be appropriate for all children)

• TV-Y7 (Directed to Older Children — This program is designed for children age 7 and above.)

• TV-G (General audiences)

• TV-PG (Parental guidance suggested)

• TV-14 (Recommended for people 14 or older)

• TV-MA (intended for mature audiences)

• G…
  
  

Recently, I completed earning enough  money to buy a Xbox 360 Pro for myself.  I am limited in the amount of ‘screen time’ I am allowed a day, and I wanted to discuss that with you.

Now, some of my thoughts on screens (TV, video games, computers, etc.) for kids.  First of all, I believe they are addictive.  Some studies have shown that video games are addictive, they release a drug-like chemical. Here is one article on the study of video game addiction.  I have seen kids at school who are addicted, it’s all they talk about or do after school (World of…

We live in a time where anything can be learned almost instantly…the Information Age.  If I want to learn how something works, the rules to a game or even diagnose myself when I feel sick, I hop onto the Internet.  There are sites that teach you anything and allow you to connect with any of the earth’s six billion inhabitants.

When I was growing up, I had the local or school library and our collection of encyclopedias to learn new facts and world history.  By talking to my parents, elders and other older kids, I was able to pick up on…

One constant battle that we face in our house is trying to decide what movies and shows are appropriate for our eight year old. Commercials, print ads, and his friends constantly are bombarding our son with previews of TV shows, DVDs, and movies.

My wife strongly prefers to preview the programs before Max gets to see them. This works well with TV shows. I generally can get a yea or nay on a show before the first commercial break.  DVDs have gotten easier to preview & judge thanks to the wonder that is Netflix.  We’ll get a…