Parent Talk Today

Here's a Safe Social-Media Option for Girls Ages 8 to 12

Not ready for your 10-year-old daughter to be hanging out on Facebook or MySpace or Twitter just yet? I don't blame you.

Fortunately, companies are picking up on parents' concerns about the Web and are creating products for tweens that provide safeguards from the stranger dangers inherent in the online world.

My Secret Circle is a secure social-networking world designed for girls ages eight to 12. Girls can hang out online, chat, share pictures and play games — safely.

My Secret Circle is invisible to the regular online world and is not a Web site. By purchasing online access keys featuring unique ID codes, only friends can connect on My Secret Circle by exchanging private codes. Once a code is used to connect two friends, it is inactive and can never be used again. Since the codes are embedded in the product itself, girls never need to upload personal information online, further enhancing the security of the network.  

Other features of My Secret Circle include profile pages, an avatar tool, an online journal that can be kept private or "public" (for friends to read), instant messaging, games and an extensive photo feature in which girls can upload photos, add text and create slide shows. 

The access keys can be purchased individually or in a pack that includes two keys. Also available (separately) is a headset with microphone that allows girls to voice-chat online in a secure environment.

My Secret Circle is currently available for purchase at Justice stores across the U.S. for $19.99. The two-key pack retails for $29.99 and the chat headset with microphone is $14.99.

Follow Your Favorite Parenting Magazines on Twitter

Whether you're in Little Rock or Los Angeles, Columbus or Charlotte, there's a parenting magazine near you.

And now you can get up-to-the minute local parenting info — and perhaps even chat with the editor — by following your favorite parenting magazine on Twitter.

Check out this list, which seems to grow weekly, and send these folks a hello tweet!

(Parenting editors, if you'd like to be added to this list, just tweet me at @kathysena or drop a line to kathy@kathysena.com. Thanks.)

Atlanta Parent (GA): AtlantaParent

Bay Area Parent - Silicon Valley (CA): @BayAreaParentSV

Boston Parents Paper (MA): @BostonParents

Calgary’s Child (CANADA): @CalgarysChild

Carolina Parent (NC) @CarolinaParent  

Central Penn Parent (PA): @CPennParent

Charlotte Parent (NC): @charlotteparent

Charlotte Parent Web Editor (NC): @CLTparentweb

Chesapeake Family (MD): @ChesFamily

Chicago Parent (IL): @ChicagoParent

Coastal Family (GA): @coastalfamily

Colorado Parent Magazine (CO): @ColoParentMag

Columbus Parent (OH: @ColumbusParent

Curious Parents (NJ): @curiousparents

Dallas Child (TX): @dallaschild1

Fredericksburg Parent (VA): @FredParent

Genesee Valley Parent Magazine (NY): @GVParentMag

Giggles on the Go (Washington D.C.): @gigglesonthego

Houston Family (TX): @HoustonFamily

Kansas City Parent (MO): @KCParent

L.A. Parent (CA): @carolyngraham

L.A. Parent Health-E blog (CA): @Health_E

LIParentSource.com (NY): @LIParentSource

Little Rock Family (AR): @LRFamily

Metro Family (OK): @metrofamily

Metro Parent (MI): @MetroParent

Neapolitan Family Magazine (FL): neafamilymag

New Jersey Family Magazine (NJ): @njfamilymag

O.C. Family (CA): @ocfamily

Our Kids San Antonio (TX): @OurKidsMagazine

Parenting and Babytalk (National): @parenting

Parents and Kids (MA) @Parentsandkids

Piedmont Parent (NC) @piedmontparent

Staten Island Parent (NY): @SIParent

SW Florida Parent & Child (FL): @gulfcoastmoms

Today’s Parent (Canada): Todaysparent

Treasure Valley Family (ID): @lizbuckingham

Westchester Family (NY): @WestchesterFam

Wilmington Parent (NC): @WilmingtnParent

Trying to Keep Up With Your Techie Kids? Here's Help

It’s no secret that many kids today are more technologically advanced than their parents. They practically grew up with a mouse in their hand and spend a great deal of time IMing, texting and "Facebooking."

Rosemary Blandford, a 37-year-old Chicago-area mother of three who formerly worked as both an ER nurse and a teacher, recognized that she didn't know as much about all things techie as she wanted to in order to keep up with her kids. So she created RosieKnows.com.

In addition to tips on using Twitter, Pandora, Skype, Netflix and a lot more, the site includes an entire section about social networking so that parents can join their kids online and stay involved in their digital lives.

Rosie offers free videos, step-by-step instructions and tutorials. And check out Rosie's blog for even more tips. Here are some to get you started:

Rosie's Tips for Saving $$ on the Web

•    Communicate in a new way - Skype lets you have a long-distance phone conversation with other Skype users without the long-distance charges. (Now we've all heard of Skype, but Rosie's video tutorial will show you how it actually works.)

•    Buy or sell using online classifieds or auctions - Ebay and Craigslist will help you make money or buy someone else's goods at good prices. (Both sites can seem a bit confusing at first. How do you bid? How do you pay? Rosie makes it easy.)

•    Find great entertainment without leaving home  - Watch videos or TV shows on Hulu or  documentaries on FreeDocumentaries.com. Use Netflix to watch and even stream popular movies. 

•    Give the gift of a family tree - Use Geni.com to create a family tree. It won't cost you anything, and may be cherished by family members more than any pricey gift.

Can you tell I LOVE this site?

All Hail Mommy Bloggers — and Social-Media Fans

I'm so jazzed to share this fun Parents TV video about mommy bloggers with you because it features two terrific friends and colleagues, Jen Singer of MommaSaid.net fame and Amanda Wolfe, Parents magazine's media editor and editor of GoodyBlog.

I'm one of Jen's columnists on MommaSaid.net. (How cool that they mentioned the columnists in the report, too.) Check out the column, "Boo Boos, Germs and Pap Smears," here.

Both Jen and Amanda will be speaking on my panel on social media at the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual conference in New York City on April 25. If you're a writer, blogger (mommy-blogger or otherwise) or a social-media fan, you won't want to miss this conference and this panel. To learn more about the conference and to register, click here.

In addition to Jen and Amanda, the panel will feature Redbook editor-in-chief Stacy Morrison (yep, she blogs, too, over at Something About Stacy) and Peter Shankman of Help a Reporter Out fame. Hope to see you there!

So Your Teen Wants to Blog? Make Sure She's Safe

"Everybody's doing it, so how can blogging possibly be dangerous, Mom?" Get ready for that question from your teen if he or she wants to start blogging.

There are lots of great things about blogging, of course: It teaches tech and writing skills, it engages the blogger with the world and helps him explore particular interests.

But there are pitfalls, ranging from kids possibly giving out too much personal information to a blogger writing something that could later come back to haunt him when college-admissions people or potential bosses do a Google search on his name.

Writer Denise Witmer, over at About.com: Parenting Teens, has written a terrific post about some of the things teens and their parents should consider before a teen starts blogging. Check it out here, then talk with your child about how to blog responsibly and safely.

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#1 Post: Cell Phone In the Washing Machine!

Dear readers -- I'm re-running this post in honor of the fact that it's the #1 post, in terms of Google hits, since I started this blog a year and a half ago. All I can say is there are a LOT of families out there who accidentally had a cell phone go through the washing machine! Good to know the Sena family isn't alone.

Talk about timing...

So I'm sitting here working on a magazine article on kids and cell phones, and I decide to take a break from the home office and switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. (OK, and maybe grab some Triscuits and cheese... If there are downsides to working from a home office, like the constant reminder of dirty laundry, there ought to be upsides, like snacks. Right?)

Perfect time to discover that my 12-year-old son left his cell phone in his pants pocket and it went through the wash cycle. &*^())#$#^!

I knew I wasn’t alone with this problem when I Googled “cell phone in washing machine” and up popped 332,000 results. That seemed a bit overwhelming, so I decided to go straight to our service provider, who suggested removing the battery and letting the phone dry out for a few days. Sometimes that does the trick, they said — but often it doesn’t.

Unfortunately phones that are damaged by liquid aren’t covered by most manufacturers’ warranties. So this may be an expensive lesson for one young man regarding always emptying his pockets at night. (But his dad’s wallet went through the laundry — again — two weeks ago, so this may be a genetic problem we’re dealing with here!)

Hey, anything for a good article-sidebar idea, right?

Update: Check out my post on a new cell phone that can withstand getting wet, being dropped and just about anything else kids (or you!) can throw at it. Click below.

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So Your Kid Won't "Friend" You on Facebook?

Thanks to writer Liz Seegert (who is also the mom of a teenage son) for telling me about a terrific article by Lisa Belkin in The New York Times Magazine: "When Your Kid Won't 'Friend' You."

Belkin talks about joining a Facebook group called “Moms of Kids Who are Embarrassed They Have a Facebook.” Apparently its ranks are growing quickly.

How old should a kid be before joining Facebook or another social-media site? Is it strictly his business what he does there — or are you, as a parent, obligated to see what's on his page and to make sure he's making good decisions, not giving out too much personal information, not posting something that might hurt his chances of getting a job after college, etc? (Man, life used to be so much simpler, didn't it?)

I had no idea how wide-ranging the opinions are on this topic until I started reading the comment after Belkin's piece. Let's just say there's no clear agreement here. But reading others' thoughts on the subject might help you look at all the issues and decide what's right for your kid.

And, really, with all the craziness surrounding kids and Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Who-Knows-What-Will-Be-Invented-Tomorrow, that's all we can do, right? Look at all sides of the issue, try to put pressure (from our kids, their peers, other parents, the media) aside and decide what's best for our family.

Hey, nobody ever said this parenting thing would be easy.

With PimpMyNews, My Blog Can Talk!

I feel like a proud mom with a big announcement: My blog said its first words yesterday! Seriously. Now it just won't shut up, and I couldn't be happier.

I met the good folks at PimpMyNews on Twitter recently, and before I could say "Hey, pimp my blog!" CEO John Atkinson was talking with me about all the cool things Parent Talk Today could do when it could talk.

PimpMyNews offers your favorite blogs in audio form. And I'm not talking about just blogs that feature podcasting or video blogging. PimpMyNews translates the written text to audio. (And it sounds surprisingly less mechanical than I thought it would. This technology has come a long way recently.)

It also converts the audio to MP3 files, which you can listen to with any MP3 player or from your iPod, iPhone, Mac or PC.

Yep, now you can download and listen to Parent Talk Today on your iPod while you go for a walk, cook dinner, wait for your kids at soccer practice or hit the gym.

How cool is that?

To check it out (and I hope you will — this is amazing stuff), just click on the "listen to my blog" button at the top of the right sidebar.

P.S. You can read more about PimpMyNews below.

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Cyberbullying: What Parents Need to Know

The whole idea of cyberbullying makes me crazy. Bullies aren't just relying on the threat of a bloody nose after school these days. (As if that wasn't bad enough.) Now they've emerged in cyberspace, able to steal a kid’s pride and confidence instead of his lunch money.

What exactly is cyberbullying? "It consists of a person who uses the anonymity of the Internet to ridicule, make fun of or put down another person on an Internet conversation site, such as a chat room, a bulletin board, MySpace or Facebook," says Tony Jurich, a professor of family studies and human services at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

At the heart of any bully is actually a coward who uses his or her advantage to humiliate, demean or embarrass, says Jurich. Instead of working on their own issues, bullies pick on others to feel better about themselves. The difference is the cyberbully gets more coverage and a wider exposure. One catty remark can hit thousands of people in a very short amount of time, he explains.

It takes courage to stand up to this kind of bullying. But cyberbullying must be addressed at home, in school and throughout society as a whole. And here's the take-home point on this whole thing, according to Jurich: Students should be smart about what they reveal. The less information that a child or teen puts out on the Internet, the safer they will most likely be. But even that is no guarantee. Even if kids turn off their computers, they can still be victimized by cyberbullies who use the Internet to ridicule them for something that happened at school.

It’s important that children know the steps to take if they are a victim of cyberbullying. Encourage them to talk with you if they feel they have been bullied online. Communicate the importance of printing a hard copy of an insulting remark. And be sure to alert other parents, teachers or even the police if necessary.

When Should My Kid Have a Cell Phone?

Chris Brogan, posting over on Dad-o-Matic (my favorite new parenting blog) has a terrific post today on kids and cell phones:

Saw this post by Julie Bonner, where she talks about her daughter getting a cell phone before the age of 11. Now, some of you just raised an eyebrow. You’re wondering if that’s a bit early for a ten year old to own a cell phone. I’m going to say that it’s not, from my perspective. With current requirements on scheduling, freedom, and even safety, giving a child a cell phone seems to be moving towards being the norm.

Brogan goes on to share some great tips about what type of plan to buy, parental controls, rules for cell-phone use and a lot more. Good stuff. Check it out here.