Beware of ChatRoulette

28 02 2010

Once again, we have a new use of the internet which is flat out dangerous to kids.  Thank you, Common Sense Media, for looking into this.  Please read the full review at Common Sense Media.  Here’s an excerpt…

“The first time on CHATROULETTE is an unnerving experience. Almost immediately upon entering the site (there’s no log in or registration) you’re face-to-face with a total stranger whose saying “Hi” and asking you where you’re from. It’s an experience unlike anything else on the Internet right now. Created by a 17-year-old student in Russia, Chatroulette combinines the social networking of Facebook, with the web cam abilities of Skype this site takes full advantage of the anonymous capability of the Internet. You are just “You” and the person on the other end of the screen is just “Stranger.” The site itself isn’t much to look at, just bare bones text boxes and camera squares, but really that is enough in itself.

“The technology isn’t new by any means, however this use definitely is. The scariness of seeing a string of strange men’s naked torsos is enough to send most people fleeing from the site in terror, however there is something strangely addicting to this social “gambling” that speaks volumes to the human condition. Look for more regulated sites springing up that tweak this concept and reign in the content in the near future. Also expect to hear a lot more about this site as it explodes onto the mainstream. Whatever you do, don’t let your kids use it.”

This new form of Russian Roulette will be pointed right at our kids, unless we keep a close watch.  May this serve as a reminder that kids need a lot of guidance and supervision as they use the internet.  Here are some excellent safety guidelines from Common Sense Media.


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Categories : Adolescence, Media Influence, Parenting, Social Development, Technology

The Teacher’s Challenge

25 02 2010

I recently read this piece about teaching on a colleague’s blog called Second Drafts.  Unfortunately, I see myself in this.  For there are some times when I am a really good teacher, and there are some times when I am just doing the minimum.  I wish I would bring my “A-game” everyday all day, but I don’t.  Nevertheless, I do enjoy the kids and all the challenges at school, and I do enjoy the thinking that goes with it, and so I teach.

There’s no easier job in the world than being a bad teacher. It’s a cinch, with short hours and plenty of long vacations. The pay’s not always great, but as long as your standards are low, and all you’re looking for is an easy job, I recommend being a really rotten teacher. Be really awful. Cobble together some industry-standard lesson plans and re-run them every year; grade superficially and with an emphasis on numbers; kick back and watch the seasons change as the sea of young faces before you renews itself year after year. (Don’t ask me how I know so much about this) Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Education

The Great Abigail Adams

22 02 2010

John Adams was a man of tremendous intellect and inner strength.  With the aid of Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers, he set the legal and political foundations of the United States of America.

As a rebel, he was the intellectual force of the revolution against England.  His words in support of reason and law were the balancing force to the raw anger and violent ways of his cousin Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty.  Without him, the revolution would not have taken root in the solid ground of law.

As a writer and signer of the Declaration of Independence, he put his whole life (career, family, friendships…) on the line.  Using his intellect, his pen, and his voice, he helped defeat the most powerful force in the world, the King of England, for the freedom of American people and their descendants.

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Categories : Adolescence, Education, Parenting, Role Models, Self-Discipline

The Reading Crisis

20 02 2010

What and How Are Kids Reading?

Some recent observations have caused me to worry about what and how kids are reading, writing, and thinking:

1.    The English teachers at our school have been noticing a gradual loss of reading and writing skills in the last five years.  While the “above-average” students still exist in good numbers, there seems to be more students with “very-low” reading competency.

2.   My colleagues and I on the 7th grade team have noticed more students each year who are struggling with vocabulary and reading comprehension skills, so that even in math, they struggle with understanding the questions asked of them.

3.  Everywhere you look outside of the classroom, students are reading a lot, but it’s mostly text messages, instant messages, emails, teen-related blogs and websites. Teens are often seen viewing screens yet are very rarely seen reading a book. (Some are calling this generation of kids the “children of the screen.”)

Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Adolescence, Education, Media Influence, Technology

Urgent Information of the Age

18 02 2010

I cannot emphasize this enough.  If you are a parent, a teacher, a coach, or have any connection with a young person, you must see Frontline’s “Digital Nation”!

You will not regret it.  I have seen it twice and will see it again.  You need this.  Your kids need this.  Put it on your “to do” list, and make it happen.  Click here for the full 90-minute version online.


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Categories : Education, Media Influence, Social Development, Technology

Poor Sport Dad

13 02 2010

My sister has two kids (10 and 13), both of whom are very athletic, and their family truly enjoys participating in and watching youth sports.  We like to swap stories about our kids, and inevitably many of them are about something crazy that has happened in sports.  Here is the latest…

“Last night at Hailey’s basketball game, we were playing a team we’ve beaten 3 times before, and this time they were out for blood. Never mind the obnoxious lady coach teaching her kids to throw elbows and “get ‘em!” but there was something even better.  I loved the Dad and his teenage son, sitting right under the basket, who decided that in the second half they would wave their arms and yell and laugh while our girl was shooting a free throw. They did this twice, and then a dad from the same team went over to tell them to stop. They didn’t!  It was hysterical and SAD. After the game one of our very shy moms confronted him. She told him “Good game, your girls deserved to win” and then went on to tell him how inappropriate his behavior was. You could see he was clearly shocked at this confrontation, but sadly he told her “your team has beaten our team 3 times, and we wanted to win.”  These girls are third and fourth graders!”

Here are my thoughts on this scene:

A.  It doesn’t shock me, although it is fairly rare to see someone THAT immature and moronic in the stands of youth sports.

B.  I am so proud of the two parents who confronted him about his terrible behavior.  We need more of them.

C.  The referees, or the tournament director, should have stopped the game to confront him and thrown him out of the gym if he refused to stop.

D.  I feel sorry for the man’s kids.

E.  Like my mom said about my own baseball coach who used to lose his mind on occasions, “Kids can learn from bad examples as well as good ones, if parents talk about these things with their kids.”

In the grand scheme of things, we need to remember that youth sports is a series of kids games with referees and coaches to keep things moving along well.   It’s a game.  And sometimes it takes a jerk in the stands to remind us of that.


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Categories : Adolescence, Athletics

Get Out and Play!

10 02 2010

Yesterday afternoon was a cold one – a great day to be inside with some hot chocolate.  The wind chill was in the single digits.  Four inches of snow and ice covered the ground.  Inside, we were perfectly warm and dry.

There were five of us (ages 7, 11, 19, 38, 39), standing around in the kitchen eating some chips, crab dip, and cookies for an after-school snack.  We were kicking around ideas of what to do for the next hour before dinner.

Option A:  Watch TV (The Muppet Show on dvd) or internet videos (Super Bowl commercials)

Option B:  Play a video game (Guitar Hero)

Option C:  Play a board game, cards, or BananaGrams

Option D:  Get all bundled up and go sledding.

Sledding seemed like the most fun but would require the most effort by far.  I didn’t really want to mess with finding five sets of hats, gloves, boots, snow pants, and jackets, and the cleanup is always a hassle too.  However, I thought that I really needed some exercise, so we went for it.

It was the best part of the day by far – full of danger, excitement, laughter, and fun exercise.  Yes, it required a lot of preparation, some patience, some fighting against the bitter wind, and some counseling of the 7 year old.  But what an experience!  The picture of three kids mashed together in a big plastic sled, about to shoot down the hill, is worth a hundred times more than any kind of picture of those kids sitting in front of the television.

We all need more of this.

“Life is about being out, and experiencing it!” Tiki Barber


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Categories : Adolescence, Athletics, Physical Development

Active Parenting Works Best

9 02 2010

Teenagers do listen

Parents who set boundaries find their influence pays off

Your Health By Kim Painter  (USA Today   2/8/2010)

Here’s some good news for parents of tweens and teens: You rule.

That may be hard to believe sometimes. And it’s true kids won’t always follow your health and safety rules. But studies show parents who keep setting boundaries make a huge difference. In other words, “parenting works,” even for teens, says Alanna Levine, a pediatrician in Tappan, N.Y., and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The latest example: a survey on media use by the Kaiser Family Foundation. It found that typical kids ages 8 to 18 spend an astounding 7 hours and 38 minutes a day consuming entertainment media, drinking deeply from the fire hose of TV, computers, game consoles, cellphones, music players and other devices (while occasionally glancing at books and other non-electronic media). Many experts, including the pediatrics academy, consider that much screen time bad for mental and physical health.

But the study also found that kids whose parents set any time or content limits were plugged in for three hours less each day. “Parents can have a big influence,” says Kaiser researcher Vicky Rideout.

And it doesn’t stop with screen time. Other recent studies have found:

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Categories : Adolescence, Discipline, Parenting

Our Digital Lives

3 02 2010

Being a kid is complicated, now more than ever. There are two things that I have seen in the last 24 hours which strongly support this theory.

1.  PBS aired another valuable Frontline documentary called “Digital Nation” that I watched last night.  It can be viewed in its entirety, or in brief excerpts, online by clicking here. Even if you just watch the first 15 minutes, you will learn and think about the most important, and least understood, new aspect of the world in which we live – our digital lives.

2.  I received an email from a colleague this morning which listed the most popular search words used by kids on the internet in 2009.  Click here to view it.  Again, you will see how our kids are all over the place online.

It has never been easy to be a kid.  The good old days were not always that good.  In many ways, the old days were more difficult on kids physically, since there was far less peace and prosperity back in the 1920′s and 1930′s when my grandparents were kids.  However, there is not a doubt in my mind that it is far more complicated to be a kid now.


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Categories : Adolescence, Media Influence

Must See Radio

2 02 2010

I teach a six-week unit in my 7th grade English class around a central theme: human disabilities.  I developed the unit a few years after my own daughter was born with multiple disabilities because I was learning so many valuable lessons in my life, and I wanted to help my students see the world in a richer way.  It has become the most memorable part of the school year for us.  I think it’s successful because there’s a combination of positive factors: they are intrinsically curious about the topic, have very little prior knowledge, and are just old enough to understand these mature issues.  Students read The Miracle Worker (about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan), have formal discussions, write a journal, participate in disability simulations, research a disability of their choice, and create a digital report.  Good stuff.

For many, it is the first time that they have thought in depth about any of the issues related to this very normal form of human suffering.  I say normal because 20% of Americans are directly effected by a disability, and nearly every one becomes disabled in their lifetime.

There is a movie which illustrates so many of these lessons, which we all need to learn.  Radio, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ed Harris, and Debra Winger is superb.  I have never known anyone who did not like it, and I know many who say that it profoundly effected them (myself included).  I highly recommend it to everyone, especially kids age 10 and up.  Here is the trailer.

It is based on a true story that has spanned over forty years.  You can read more about the real people at http://www.radioandcoachjones.com/


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Categories : Adolescence, Athletics, Social Development


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