April 27, 2020
Q: I live in a high-rise apartment and am the father of two girls, ages 4 and 7. Before living in lockdown due to COVID-19, the girls and I would play outside nearly every day at a local park, and often go on nature adventures on weekends. The lockdown was recently extended and I worry that […]
April 20, 2020
Q: My partner and I are parenting three children (ages 3.5, 6 and 10) while staying with my sister and her family, which includes a 19-year-old college student. We’re all in lockdown as my sister is high-risk for coronavirus. The adults are working from home, and some of the kids are remote learning. There are […]
November 21, 2017
Q: My 17 year-old son spends 4-5 hours at a time on YouTube, clicking endlessly from one sports comedy show to another. He is doing okay in high school, but will binge-watch or follow links from site to site until the wee hours. I can’t get him to put the phone or laptop down. I […]
April 4, 2017
Es En Espanol Q: I’m a Social Worker who works with children ages 7-18 on the autism spectrum. Many of the kids that I work with interpret what they see in TV and movies as representative of real life situations and how people behave – unfortunately, this kind of rigid, literal thinking often leads to problems […]
March 23, 2017
Q: My 8-year-old son has ADHD and is on medication for it. He wants to play the video game, Minecraft, but I’m not sure if he should. Do you think it is ok for him to play, and if so, for how long? ~ Muddled about Minecraft, The Overworld, Earth A: Dear Muddled, Yes, your son […]
January 27, 2017
Q: I love listening to classical music and believe that it helps me quiet my thinking and focus. I often have it on, even while my 8 and 7-year-olds are doing their homework. My question is, does classical music distract from their learning? ~ Baffled about Bach, Fort McMurray, Alberta Canada A: This is a […]
December 13, 2016
Q: My 6-year-old-son loves to watch shows for younger kids, his favorite show is Paw Patrol which he will watch repeatedly. He has Global Development Delay, and may also have ADHD. I’ve spoken with his pediatrician about the shows he watches and she said that if he likes shows and toys geared towards younger children […]
November 6, 2015
Q: I recently read the New York Times article discussing young children using high tech devices unsupervised before they turn 4. Admittedly, I give my three year old daughter my iPad to play with on long car trips and I’ll occasionally hand her my smartphone while in line at the grocery store (she usually melts […]
October 12, 2015
Q: My ten-year-old daughter’s school has a new program where each student is paired with another to share a tablet. They switch off bringing the tablet home, but work on assignments in school together. I’m concerned that my daughter or her partner are using the tablet to search inappropriate topics online and even download (and […]
June 18, 2015
Q: My daughter just posted a plea on her Facebook wall asking for help finding quality TV shows for elementary age girls (my granddaughter is 7). I know she has been frustrated by the shows her daughter currently watches, as she believes the female characters act cruelly to each other, and she’s concerned about how […]
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