Tech with Kids: How to Assess Reviews, Find Quality Apps

June 19, 2015 One of the thorny questions I posed at the recent Tech with Kids Conference involved how to "review the reviewers."There are a wide array of reputable resources...Common Sense Media gives a macro view of kids media, as a one stop hub of advocacy, tips, and over-arching views across a vast media spectrum (TV, movies, books, apps, and beyond...) and Tech with Kids … [Read more...]

Dot Complicated: Holiday Media Management

Nov. 19, 2013 Ditch the tantalizing Instagram food shots and showy status updates. Halt turkey tweeting. Spare the live streaming of the family fest. MAYbe use the Pinterest prep cheat sheets if you must, but “may I so boldly suggest that this Thanksgiving, we focus on one-on-one conversations, instead of broadcasting our lives to the masses,” says (wait for it) Randi … [Read more...]

Unplug: On Summer Hiatus For Digital Detox (Again)

August 17, 2012 Long time readers know I'm a huge fan of 'digital detox' to give writing a break, focus fully on family at the end of summer, and regroup for the back to school scene... I've written about the daunting demands of an 'always on' culture and the need for a screen free exodus multiple times in posts like "Media Unplugged: Clamping the IV Digital Drip"... And … [Read more...]

A Huge Conversation: Media Literacy Talking Points (Pt 2)

June 27, 2010 In Part Two of this HUGE conversation (premiering tomorrow on ABC Family, my Part One is here) we'll try to unpack some of the core questions that SHOULD be top of mind to embrace the media literacy side of the body image, obesity, nutrition and kids' health dialog. I’ll start with the universal disclaimer that I am NOT a medico, eating disorder pro or body … [Read more...]

Media Addiction vs. Agency: The Context of Control Part Two

Jan. 13, 2010 My brother AND my mother sent me this little cartoon jab which left me snickering and simultaneously standing up to stretch. As evidenced in part one of addiction vs. agency in media management, I'm not the type to be consumed by disordered terminology, symptoms and panic statistics flinging about... If I were, I might have seen it as a dire familial sign or … [Read more...]