Blog Posts by Common Sense Media

Looking for the best scary movies for your kids? Our picks include some good "starter" scares for younger kids, as well as truly chilling classics for older tweens and preteens. Get ready, get set, boo!

Monsters, Inc. The monsters in Pixar's MONSTERS, INC. are more afraid of kids than kids are of monsters. But monsters need to collect kids' screams to fuel their world, and children are getting so hard to scare that the monsters' world is suffering from rolling blackouts. Top scarer John "Sully" Sullivan (voiced by John Goodman) and rival Randall Boggs (Steve Buscemi) work as hard as they can to break the scream-collection record. But when Randall inadvertently lets a human child into the monster world, the monsters find out what being scared is really like. This is a cute, kid-friendly monster movie; but may give sensitive kids a bit of a scare.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Made in stop-motion animation, Tim Burton's holiday fantasy centers around Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King

Standing in line at the drugstore, I overheard a mother and her preteen daughter talking about the now-infamous racy GQ photos of the Glee stars. "Where did you see those?" asked the mom, her voice straining to stay calm. "Jamie showed me them. They're online, Mom." Her daughter responded with that note of irritation reserved especially for mothers. "They were kind of gross."

The mother looked a bit stumped about what to say next, and then they moved forward to the cash register to pay for the Halloween costumes she had in hand: some sort of superhero costume for her son and what looked like -- wait, it was! -- a Snooki costume for her daughter.

It took everything I had not to butt in. I wanted to ask the girl whether she'd noticed that the boy from Glee was photographed fully clothed, playing the drums, while the girls looked like Playboy bunny wannabes. I wanted to ask the mom whether there just might be some message her kids were getting about boys having super powers and girls

A new report says that teens are averaging more than 3,000 texts per month. That's six an hour -- even in school. How can you make sure your kids are on their best texting behavior?

Texting is becoming the #1 form of communication

When a Florida teen was arrested for savagely beating an eighth-grade girl, he said that rude text messages she'd sent him sparked his rage. This tragic incident mirrors similar stories in which teens' texting becomes hostile.

Cruelty is nothing new. But the anonymity of texting (in fact, the two teens involved in the Florida incident didn't know each other) fosters an environment where kids can say anything. Kids' actions seem detached from the consequences. And let's face it, teens' judgement and impulse control are not yet fully developed. The hostile exchanges, combined with instantaneous communication, can be very destructive.

Billions of text messages are sent every year from our kids' mobile phones. While most kids use

A Screen is a Screen is a Screen

It's a daily dilemma: If you allow a certain amount of screen time per day -- whether it's TV, the computer, or a video game -- which one is the best way for kids to spend their time?

Is it video games? After all, they're interactive, they have teaching potential, and there's the possibility that they could help your kid develop quick reflexes. What about time online? Lots of parents value what their kids can do online -- like get help with their homework and learn facts from wiki sites. And how about the good ol' tube? There are so many educational shows that expose kids to the wonders of the world. Plus, TV watching can be family time.

Believe it or not, there's no magic formula. As long as you limit the total screen time and choose age-appropriate shows, games, and websites, a screen is a screen is a screen. Also, the lines between each type are blurring. Kids are watching TV online, downloading movies to the Wii, and playing games on

When to Hover -- and When to Back Off

Nobody wants to be labeled a helicopter parent -- a hyper-vigilant mom or dad who micromanages their kids' every move. But when it comes to kids' entertainment, nothing gets our rotors spinning faster than a Viagra ad during their favorite show or a frightening movie trailer before a PG-rated movie.

The latest argument against helicopter parenting can be found in a new book by Harvard psychologist Richard Weissbourd. In The Parents We Mean to Be, Weissbourd says that too much attention actually makes kids miserable and deprives them of the ability to develop their own values. In other words, trying to control everything your kid sees, plays, and listens to -- not just in your own home but everywhere he goes -- might not be doing your kid any favors.

And yet we live in a world where our kids seemed to be plugged in at all times. And without parental interference, they might never tune back in. If you want more control over the stuff your

Kids say it all the time: "I downloaded it free off the Internet." But was it legal? You might be surprised at the answer -- and the consequences.

Talking to kids about illegal downloads

Many parents remember exchanging mix tapes or VHS copies of our favorite TV shows with our friends. But today's technology makes it much easier to get and give away copyrighted material illegally. And many kids are taking advantage of the access, downloading and sharing everything from games to movies to music to software. Unfortunately, while some kids are downloading innocently -- unaware of the ethical, legal, and security consequences of their actions -- other kids find the chance to get stuff for free just too tempting.

What is piracy?

Piracy is the act of illegally downloading copyrighted games, music, movies, TV shows, and software that you haven't paid for. Downloads are surprisingly easy to find on the Internet, mostly on file-sharing sites that kids hear about from other

When the homework is done and dinner is finished, who doesn't like to relax with a little tube time?

This season's TV line up is full of new and returning family shows with interesting characters and unique stories. What we like this fall offers more food for thought than the usual family fare.

And for anyone with lingering guilt about being a couch potato, a new study by the UCLA Center on the Everyday Lives of Families reports that watching TV together can actually make your family happier.

That's right. Enjoying shows as a family connects you to your kids. Plus, it makes it easier to exert your parental influence over issues brought up by the shows -- and the commercials.

The shows below are our picks for this season's winners. We like them because they represent a modern -- even kind of quirky -- view of the trials and tribulations of family life in today's world. What's your family watching this fall?

Want to Find Out What Your Kid is Doing Online?

It's 4:00 on a weekday. You're at the office, but your kids are already home from school. Soon, they'll be going online to chat with friends: Facebook, instant-messaging, video-chatting. You can't help but wonder, is all this online communication safe? Who are they talking to? Can they post something that'll get them in trouble? Could they be cyberbullied?

What are the options? As parents, we have few things we can do. We can check browser histories, friend our kids, make agreements with our kids about which sites are appropriate to visit, and place limits on the kinds of discussions that can happen online.

But if you have more serious concerns about what your kids are up to online, a new breed of parental control software may tempt you. They're called web monitors and they're different from the web blockers and content filters you've probably heard of. Web monitors scour the Internet for references to your child's name --