Forget Driving While Yakking; Now You Should Be Worried About Parenting While Yakking

from the the-blame-game dept

There are plenty of news stories that seem to blame some form of technology for actions of individuals. The latest, as pointed out by reader Rose M. Welch, is an article that seems to be blaming mobile phones for bad parenting. Apparently, child development folks are worried that parents are paying more attention to the person on the end of the other phone line than their kid trying to get their attention, and this may stunt child development. The article doesn't cite any evidence of the problem other than some weak evidence (which the article admits is weak) concerning a study about kids whose mothers talked a lot on a mobile phone while they were pregnant. Of course, that's a totally different issue from parents ignoring kids after they're born, so it's not clear why the study is even mentioned. Either way, it seems that the point is pretty basic: parents should pay attention to their kids. That would seem to be true no matter what technology is around.

Filed Under: mobile phones, parenting

UK Gov't Report Recognizes That 'Protecting The Children' Can 'Hurt The Children'

from the protecting-the-children? dept

Politicians absolutely love to come out with laws saying that they're "protecting the children" as it plays well during election time. The problem, though, is that many of these laws do exactly the opposite. What they end up doing is actually preventing children from actually being able to learn necessary skills and how to deal with situations they will almost certainly face later in life. Yes, children can be much more vulnerable, but the answer isn't to hide them away from everything, but to teach them how to better deal with situations they may face. However, that tends not to be politically popular -- which is why it's that much more surprising to hear of a new report, requested by the UK Prime Minister pointing out just how problematic the rush to "protect the children" can be. As Slashdot points out, the key line from the exec summary is worth repeating:

"Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe -- this isn't just about a top-down approach. Children will be children -- pushing boundaries and taking risks. At a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim."

This reminds me, too, of a line used last year by famed judge (and IP expert, to boot) Richard Posner in striking down an anti-video game law:

"Violence has always been and remains a central interest of humankind and a recurrent, even obsessive theme of culture both high and low ... It engages the interest of children from an early age, as anyone familiar with the classic fairy tales collected by Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault are aware. To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it."

If only more people would recognize such things.

Filed Under: nanny state, parenting, protect the children, study, uk

Yes, Timmy, Spending Money In Virtual Worlds Ends Up With A Real World Bill

from the funny-money dept

NetSafe, New Zealand's Internet safety group, warns that parents may be shocked to learn that their children's purchases in virtual worlds rack up real world charges on their credit cards. They warn that in virtual worlds like Second Life, it is possible to quickly run up huge credit card bills -- real money is spent when buying real estate, avatars, and clothing in the game. NetSafe used to discourage youths from spending any money in these virtual worlds, but has since changed their policy. They reason that while they might not understand the need for someone to buy a virtual good, it is not their place to judge where people spend their money. They stress instead that the most important lesson is for parents to set limits on their children's spending habits, but this seems pretty much like common sense parenting, and not something specific for online spending. Then again, our increasingly digital world has made it more difficult to teach children the value of a dollar. And with kids spending thousands of dollars on real estate that only exists in cyberspace, that lesson may get even harder to teach.

Filed Under: parenting, virtual worlds