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    Blog Posts by Common Sense Media

    • Internet Safety: Rules of the Road for Parents in a Digital Age

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Fri, Jun 25, 2010 1:40 AM EDT



      Common Sense Rules of the Road for Parents

      1. Model good behavior. If we're on our Blackberries or iPhones at dinner, why will our kids listen to us when we tell them to turn theirs off?

      2. Pay attention. We have to know where our kids are going online -- and what they're doing there.

      3. Impart our values. Cheating, lying, being cruel -- they're all non-starters. Right and wrong extends to online and mobile life.

      4. Establish limits. Phone time, video download time, destinations. There's really a right time and place for everything.

      5. Encourage balance. Get kids involved in offline activities -- especially where there's no cell service.

      6. Make kids accountable. If they have a privilege, make sure they earn it.

      7. Explain what's at stake. Let kids know that what they do today can be abused by someone tomorrow.

      8. Find ways to say "yes." That means we have to do some homework and know the sites they visit, the songs they download, etc. -- and find

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    • Boys to Men

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Fri, Jun 25, 2010 1:35 AM EDT

      Obsessed with their bodies: the new truth for boys.

      Boys are held to some pretty high standards. There's the NFL showing impossibly large men with astounding speed. There are magazine covers staring back at them preaching "Get a Better Body." Physique is the over-hyped indicator of manliness, and that leaves very little room for all those other more important qualities, like empathy, intelligence -- and even common sense.

      What is it?

      Although most people associate eating disorders and body image issues with girls, it is far from a girls-only issue. Stars such as Dennis Quaid and Elton John have admitted to eating disorders, plus several scandals have surfaced about steroid use in professional sports. Increasingly, boys distort their bodies through anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. A negative body image can drive boys to these extreme eating disorders, often in their quest to achieve unrealistic physiques, desiring the cut bodies and six-pack abs of stars like Matthew Read More »

    • Is Your Kid Begging for a Cell Phone?

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Fri, Jun 25, 2010 1:32 AM EDT

      Cell phones aren't just for talking anymore

      You rarely see kids these days without a cell phone in their hands. But they're probably not talking on it. More likely, they're texting, surfing the Web, updating their Facebook pages, playing games, downloading apps, playing with ring tones, taking pictures, recording video, and more.

      When you hand kids phones today, you're giving them powerful communications and production tools. They can create text, images, and videos that can be widely distributed and uploaded to Web sites. If you think your child's technological savvy is greater than their ability to use it wisely, pay attention to the gap. We're still the parents. And it's our job to say "no, not yet."

      What's the right age for your child to have a cell phone?

      Cell phones have become a must-have for kids, and the ways kids use them are not always obvious to parents. To figure out what's the right age and what functions are age appropriate for your kids, ask

      Read More »

    • No Harm, No Foul: Watching Sports as a Family

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Fri, Jun 18, 2010 12:33 AM EDT

      Does Your Family Have Game?

      Between the World Cup, the NBA Finals, the U.S. Open, and Major League Baseball, you're probably spending loads of time this summer rooting for your favorite teams in front of the tube. And let's be honest: Your kids are watching with you.

      Passion for summer sports might cause you to bend your usual screen-time rules. Highlights of the season so far make a strong case for giving televised games a thumbs up -- including umpire Jim Joyce's bad call heard 'round the world (costing pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game) and Denmark's goal for the opposing team during the World Cup.

      If you're usually careful about your kids' screen time, then the big game can be an exciting occasion -- and something to savor instead of stressing over. It's summer, your kids are likely out of school, and this can be something the whole family can enjoy.


      Five ways to enrich your family's sports watching.

      Just say no to "enhancements." In other words, mute the

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    • Twilight Eclipse Movie Mashup

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Fri, Jun 18, 2010 12:21 AM EDT



      The Twilight Saga: The Eclipse: In an exclusive interview with Common Sense Media, Robert Pattinson gives us a recap of the last two movies and a primer for Eclipse. For more reviews and advice, visit us at CommonSenseMedia.org.

    • Internet Safety: Tech That Tracks Your Kids

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Tue, Jun 8, 2010 11:14 PM EDT


      Beyond Facebook: Social Networking Gets Really Personal

      Facebook and other social networks connect kids online. But a new form of social networking takes connecting a step further -- to face-to-face meet-ups. New programs called social mapping applications use geographic information to connect people to specific places, as well as to each other. You may have heard of some of the most popular ones: Loopt, foursquare, and Gowalla. Once you join, you can post your actual physical location.

      And that's what makes social mapping a no-go for kids and teens. These programs bring up two big issues: safety and privacy. Since they let you post your location, they expose your kid's whereabouts to anyone they "friend" -- or, in some cases, to any other user of the program. Also, advertisers are already using social mapping to target users with ads and incentives to visit their businesses (most of which are bars and restaurants).

      Foursquare is probably the most popular of

      Read More »

    • Internet Safety: Rules of the Road

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Thu, Jun 3, 2010 7:09 PM EDT


      Our kids are growing up in public

      When we were growing up, a permanent record was something your school kept. Now, our kids create lasting records of their lives whenever they post something online. In a world where anything can be copied, pasted, altered and distributed in the blink of an eye to a vast invisible audience, kids must understand that they hold the key to what kind of reputation they create for themselves.

      Help kids help themselves

      As parents, it's up to us to help our kids understand the consequences of their actions and prepare them for the fact that the user name "FatGreenWizard" -- which might have been cute in 5th grade -- won't be so adorable at that first job interview. We have to help them think long term about posting those pictures that will inevitably come back to bite them on areas of the body that were all too likely on display in the offending snapshots. Here are a few rules of the road that will help our kids as they grow up in public:

      Read More »

    • App Anxiety? 5 Tips to Get App Smart

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Thu, Jun 3, 2010 6:58 PM EDT



      5 Things You App-Solutely Need to Know About Apps

      Mobile apps are one of the most popular ways to access all kinds of content, including useful services, games, and even books. But as soon as the novelty wears off, the concern creeps in. Consider Apple's App Store, where Balloonimals -- a fun game for 4-year-olds -- is as easily downloadable as iBeer (which is not for kids). And are you ready for your kid to use Foursquare and other social-mapping apps thet let kids publicly post their location? Probably not.


      5 Tips to Shop and Download Wisely

      1. Don't judge an app by its title. iReading - Little Red Riding Hood or Little Red Riding Hood Story Chimes? One is a rather gruesome tale and the other is charming. Lots of apps sound the same, but can be entirely different. Double and triple-check the name of the app before you download.

      2. Check the connections. Be aware of multiplayer options. The card game Uno, for example allows kids to play with people they don't know. The

      Read More »

    • Explaining the News to Your Kids

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Fri, May 28, 2010 1:39 AM EDT



      Age-by-age guidance to easing the impact of news on kids

      It's impossible to measure the impact of news on kids. But you can tell when news causes them anxiety or makes them scared.

      How do we talk with our kids about the images and content of recent world events? The wall-to-wall media coverage of the BP oil spill, suicide bombers, mass shootings -- even international custody battles -- can trigger kids' anxieties. Repeated broadcasts on radio, local news (where most kids still get their information), and on the Internet keep it all fresh in kids' minds. But depending on your kids' ages and temperaments, a good talk may be good medicine. Having kids keep scared feelings to themselves can be more emotionally damaging than open discussion.

      Here are a few guidelines to help you manage the news with your family:

      Reassure your children that they're safe. Tell your kids that terrorism is designed to make people afraid out of proportion to the actual danger. But remember that

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    • Privacy: You're in Control

      By Common Sense Media | Parenting – Fri, May 28, 2010 1:34 AM EDT

      It's a culture of sharing

      Our kids live in a culture of sharing that has forever changed the concept of privacy. In a world where everyone is connected and anything created can get copied, pasted, and sent to thousands of people in a heartbeat, privacy starts to mean something different than simply guarding personal or private information. Each time your child fills out a profile without privacy controls, comments on something, posts a video, or texts a picture of themselves to friends, they potentially reveal themselves to the world.

      Why privacy matters

      Digital life is both public and permanent. Everything our kids do online creates digital footprints that wander and persist. Something that happens on the spur of the moment -- a funny picture, a certain post -- can resurface years later. And if kids aren't careful, their reputations can get away from them. Your child may think they just sent something to a friend -- but that friend can send it to a friend's friend, who can sendRead More »

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