Is sexting a sign of early sexual activity?
September 30, 2010
Q: I thought I had a handle on my 15 year old’s texting habits, but I recently found some sexually explicit texts between him and a 12 year-old friend. Are my son and his friend more likely to jump into sexual activity, since they have been so daring in their texts?
A: A report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy shows that 40% of all teen boys report having sent a sexually suggestive text, so your son and you are part of a growing proportion of families…
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®
September 20, 2010
Q: Why should my family participate in Turnoff Week?
A: TV, video games, and computers have become so common that, for many families, they are a default activity, rather than a choice they make about how they want to spend their time. It is not just cramming facts into children’s brains, but giving them the unstructured “down time” to process those facts and come to their own conclusions, that will give them the richest environment in which to develop.
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
September 14, 2010
A: Dear Texting, Your “gut feeling” is correct — 300 texts in a day is on the high end. To put your daughter’s usage in perspective, the latest numbers from the Pew Internet and American Life project…
September 7, 2010
Q: We are opening a new children’s center at our hospital. What kind of recreational technology would you recommend we put in our waiting room?
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
August 26, 2010
Q: My teenage sons love watching Family Guy, but I am not sure they understand the sarcasm?
A: I am impressed that as the mom of three sons, you have the courage to share with them a show in which the brilliant but angry baby, Stewie, is focused on killing his mother. Seriously, though, you have picked up on a subtle…
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 13, 2010
Q: What are kids learning from music videos like Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s “Telephone”?
Answered by Dr. Michael Rich, The Mediatrician®
