August 22, 2013
Q: My 15-year-old son has taken it upon himself to secretly open up social media accounts, one of which is Snapchat. We found out about these sites because we do go through his ipod and computer from time to time. He knows that we have the passwords to all his online accounts for which we have […]
May 2, 2013
Q: My 12-year-old daughter is devastated by what has been happening with Justin Bieber. She has been a fan of the pop star “forever” and she and her friends fervently follow his career and personal life. I originally supported my daughter’s obsession (allowing her to buy his music, hang posters in her bedroom, attend a […]
January 10, 2013
Q: At the therapeutic day school where I work, we’ve been encountering a number of internet and social media issues with our students (all kids with emotional/behavioral special needs). I would love to get your thoughts and ideas on how to best educate our kids and their parents on how to understand and appropriately use […]
December 10, 2012
Q: My 14-year-old daughter has been begging to get ‘Snapchat’ on her iPod Touch. I searched for information and I wasn’t initially impressed. I am tech savvy and know screen shots can easily be saved, but also, if she loses her device and someone else sends something, she could be held responsible. I don’t like […]
August 22, 2012
Q: My 16-year-old son loves playing role-play games on the Internet. We recently became concerned, though, when we found out that the plots often involve torture. We are wondering why he is attracted to this kind of play and if there are any long or short term risks we should know about. We wonder if […]
June 29, 2012
Q: With kids of all ages using the internet for everything from socializing to finding information to playing games, how can we keep them as safe as they can be in that world? -Net Nervous A: Dear Net Nervous, You’re right–just like the school playground, the internet is a place where children play, learn, and […]
April 3, 2012
Q: My 16-year-old goddaughter’s parents are not Facebook friends with her, so when someone stole her phone and posted some degrading things to her account, they didn’t know until I told them. Another friend asked me to look at all her 19-year-old daughter’s pictures and let her know if I saw anything inappropriate. How can […]
February 2, 2012
Q: At what age do you think it is appropriate for a child to have a personal e-mail address? I have a 10 year old who wants one, but I don’t feel she is old enough. I think she can be trusted and has proved to be responsible, but it’s the world out there I […]
November 29, 2011
Q: We have a 16-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son who are at the same school. They have voluntarily given up Facebook because of the time drain it can be, and both have fairly heavy academic loads. They are interested in starting a blog together. What are the pros and cons? –Benefits of Blogging in […]
October 28, 2010
Q: The It Gets Better videos are so powerful, but would my child be too young to understand them and just get upset?
A: The It Gets Better series is very good and should be commended for what it is: A well-intentioned initiative by adults about an important matter that needs to be addressed in a very public forum. The issue here, though, is that the brain development of child viewers is not yet as complete as that of the grown-ups producing these videos.
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician
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