November 4, 2010
Q: Are there guidelines about how to find reliable health information on the web?
A: Keep these three tips in mind when evaluating online health sources: Consider the ‘Rules of Media Literacy.’ / Ask yourself: What is this website trying to sell? / Visit multiple websites; compare advice.
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician
November 2, 2010
Q: My 16 year-old spends several hours a day on Wikipedia, reading and editing entries. I’ve searched for scientific papers specifically on Wikipedia habits, but all I find are articles on internet addiction. Should I be concerned? What can I do?
A: A: First of all, your web searches may have been pointing you to the right articles: Even if it seems like an inappropriate term to categorize your son’s behavior, internet addiction refers to unhealthy patterns of internet use…
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
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
September 21, 2010
Q: We have taken away screen media from our son’s daily routine and it seems to be helping with his hyperactivity. Do you think we should continue with this?
Answered by Dr Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
July 23, 2010
Q: My 12-year-old son wanted a PS3, partly as a birthday gift and partly out of money he’s saved. This was to replace his PS2 because some of the games he wanted were not available for PS2. His PS2 is in his room on a non-cable hooked up TV so that all of his approved, […]
July 19, 2010
Q: Are impulsive children, or children with ADHD, more likely to develop technology addictions? –Answers about ADHD in San Francisco, CA A: Dear Answers, This is a tricky subject for a very basic reason: Although diagnosed and treated as a serious problem in Asia and Europe, technology addiction, also known as video or internet addiction, […]
July 12, 2010
Q: Boys in my daughter’s 8th grade class were looking at pornographic images on one of their phones during lunch. How do these images affect boys’ ideas about sex?
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
June 1, 2010
Q: My kids are “tweens” and want to get their own email accounts. What is the best email program for children of this age?
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
April 20, 2010
Q: My daughter is being bullied by lots of girls and boys from her school on Facebook. All the school will do is suspend these kids for a week—then they come back and it will start again. What can I do?
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
April 16, 2010
Q: My children know it is not right to watch, play, or listen to things that are not for their ages, and they understand why, as we have explained to them. But their friends tend to walk away from them because of this. For instance, my 12-year-old daughter was asked by her friends to dance […]
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