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School Age Children

How can I tell if an e-book is appropriate for my 10-year-old?
 How can I tell if an e-book is appropriate for my 10-year-old? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: With the purchase of a couple of e-book tablets for our home, how can we know if the books our 10-year-old triplets will be reading on them are age appropriate? My daughter read a book she heard about in her 4th grade class during a book report, and it ended up having significant sexual…

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Should I use the movie “Bully” to talk about bullying with my 10 year old?
 Should I use the movie “Bully” to talk about bullying with my 10 year old? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 10-year-old son will be starting middle school in the fall. So far, he has had a pretty sheltered, drama-free experience at a great elementary school. I want him to be aware that bullying goes on and that he needs to tell someone if anything like that ever happens to him. I have thought…

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Ratings Reality: Who rates our media and what that means for children
 Ratings Reality: Who rates our media and what that means for children 150 150 Mediatrics

CMCH staff member Kristelle Lavallee contributed the following post to Thriving, Boston Children’s Hospital’s pediatric health blog. Are you looking to take the family to a movie but aren’t sure whether your child should see The Hunger Games (PG-13) or Bully (unrated)? If you base the decision on the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA) ratings, the answer…

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Am I overreacting if I don’t want my husband to play games like Grand Theft Auto with our 5-year-old?
 Am I overreacting if I don’t want my husband to play games like Grand Theft Auto with our 5-year-old? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My husband plays X-box games rated for those over 16 or over 18, like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Modern Warfare. He allows our 5-year-old son to play these games with him. I do not know anything about X-box, but I feel they are not suitable for a child that is so young.…

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Is The Hunger Games movie too scary for younger fans of the book?
 Is The Hunger Games movie too scary for younger fans of the book? 150 150 Mediatrics

The movie The Hunger Games opens today, and record tickets sales are expected to make the post-apocalyptic survival tale one of the spring’s biggest blockbusters. But just because your child has read The Hunger Game books, does that mean she’s ready to watch it on the big screen?

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With video games, how can I help my kids know when enough is enough?
 With video games, how can I help my kids know when enough is enough? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: I’m a pediatric nurse practitioner, and we have three boys ages 5, 7, and 9. Several parents/patients have told me that they have the same problem as I do enforcing video game time limits. Certain kids just seem “addicted” and can’t wait until they get more. Do you have any visual time charts, contracts,…

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Is age 7 too early to learn keyboarding?
 Is age 7 too early to learn keyboarding? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 7-year-old twin granddaughters have spent less time with computers than most kids their age. Recently, their school has started to teach keyboarding. Those who have spent a lot of time on computers are learning quickly, while my granddaughters are feeling a bit behind. I think that the girls will eventually catch up (and have…

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My 10-year-old son is miserable since I took away Call of Duty–what do I do?
 My 10-year-old son is miserable since I took away Call of Duty–what do I do? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 10 year old used to be an avid skateboarder and baseball player—until Call of Duty on XBOX Live arrived. I didn’t in my wildest dreams think that he would become addicted to a video game. I have a 21 year old who played all of the games but was never ruled by them.…

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Could my 14-year-old son’s anxiety be related to playing video games?
 Could my 14-year-old son’s anxiety be related to playing video games? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: Is there a connection between excessive video game playing and increased anxiety levels? My son is 14 and has some basic anxieties like walking the dog at night that I feel are made worse by the first-person shooter games he plays. I’d love to understand if you have seen any connections here. –Grappling with…

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My 5 year old is afraid of TV—what do I do?
 My 5 year old is afraid of TV—what do I do? 150 150 Mediatrics

Q: My 5-year-old daughter does not like TV that involves conflict. She has no desire to see a Disney movie and even gets anxious when a kid gets lost on Veggie Tales. She’ll watch Blues Clues, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Barney but has no desire to watch the shows for her own age. When a movie…

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