Category Archives: Parenting

Which Social Media Service Has the Ugliest Behavior? Vote Now!

With the American presidential race in full swing, public opinion polls are once again garnering a huge amount of attention, notwithstanding the fact that they may be fundamentally flawed and actively injurious to our democracy. In fact, the state of polling has deteriorated so much that the polling titan Gallup recently announced that it will…

Thoughts on the movie, SPOTLIGHT, Silence & Cover-ups [x-post from MichaelSkinner.com]

Last month, I was invited to participate in a podcast called “A Sickness of Silence,” part of an ongoing series of roundtable discussions involving survivors of child abuse and various experts on the topic. One of the participants in the roundtable, Michael Skinner, has been kind enough to read my blog and recently sent me…

A Fine Idea? OK State Senator Proposes Financial Penalty for School Bullies

Oklahoma is included in the list of states I’ve visited during my lecturing career, but just barely; in 2012, when I was participating in a professional development conference for teachers and administrators in the Fort Smith, AR school district, I took the opportunity to drive across the Arkansas River and have lunch at the 4…

“That’s Not Funny!” Schools View Threats with Increasing Alarm

In August, International Data Corporation (IDC) predicted that 1.44 billion smartphones would be shipped in 2015, a 10.4% increase over the preceding year. It is a safe bet that a hefty percentage of those smartphones will be tucked under a Christmas tree a week from now. Thousands upon thousands of teens (and even younger children)…

“Rethink The Conversation” Issues Holiday Charitable Appeal

In mid-October, I had the pleasure of presenting at the New York State School Boards Association with Joanne Harpel on the topic “Teens, Technology, and Suicide: Understanding Causes, Effects, and ‘Bullycide.’” In the coming year, we will be working to bring this presentation to school districts throughout the tri-state region and beyond. After fifteen years…

VA Music Teacher Will Spend 10 Years Behind Bars for Sexual Assault on Student

How much privacy should your child have? That’s a question that parents and children have been debating for quite some time, but with increasing intensity over the last few decades. As you might expect, parents vary widely in the amount of privacy they allow their children. (And the protestations of my younger son–at age 4(!)–notwithstanding,…

“After School” App: Yet Another Reason for Parents to Check Their Kids’ Phones

Parents love to complain about how much more challenging it is for them to parent than it was for THEIR parents, or frankly, any preceding generation in human history. But you have to feel some sympathy for the parents of millennials (let alone those dealing with the Generation Zers). As Steve Jobs said in 2007…

Cyberpsychologists Link Number of Facebook Friends to Teen Stress Levels

Given the growing importance of technology in our world, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when the cyber- prefix invades another academic discipline. And yet, as I researched this blog post this morning, I was a little startled to realize just how long psychologists have been working the field of cyberpsychology. For the uninitiated, cyberpsychology…

Teens, Technology, and Suicide: Understanding Causes, Effects, and “Bullycide” [Lecture]

2015-10-19 Teens, Technology, and Suicide: Understanding Causes, Effects, and “Bullycide” from Frederick Lane A Featured Presentation delivered with Joanne Harpel, JD, MPhil, at the 2015 Annual Conference of the New York State School Boards Association on October 19 and October 20, 2015 in New York, NY. If you are interested in discussing a presentation or…

Operation Lifesaver Offers Free Webinar on Risks of Train Track Photography

In mid-September, a young couple in Boyds, MD spent part of a sunny fall afternoon posing for photos. Like dozens of other teens and even some professional photographers, they decide to use the railroad tracks running through town as an attractive backdrop. While 16-year-old Natalie Crim and her twin sister Sarah flipped through the photos…