by mark on November 7, 2010
When I get off of the train at Grand Central and head on up to the streets for a visit to NYC with my kids, we keep an eye out for those street vendors that sell roasted nuts. They mix them up with some sort of sugar in a hot bowl and pour them into small wax paper bags and sell them for a few bucks. My kids had them on their first trip to NYC and they were such a hit that it’s part of the tradition.
But now as a parent I need to talk to my kids… well, my son at least, about how dangerous hot nuts can be (at least for reproductive health), and that he had better change his laptop usage habits.
[h/t Instapundit]
by mark on November 3, 2010
As long as you don’t mind a website that looks like it was developed by 9-year-olds, then go for it.
Kids have an amazing capacity to learn whatever they put their mind to it. While they don’t have all of the discipline and experience to do what a professional website designer can put together, they can certainly create something that works for an auto-salvage lot. Nice work boys. I read about this in this story in the NY Times.
I really like the idea of kids at this age getting on a computer and actually learning valuable skills.
It’s also the rare case that kids get on computers and actually learn productive skills like these boys did.
As a parent, I’m going to overlook a bit of excessive computer time if the kids are actually learning something. But it’s time to pull the plug (or let ComputerTime push them off) when all they’re doing is social networking and aimless browsing.
How many of you think that your kids are actually learning valuable skills when they’re on their computers? Maybe I ask that question a different way… Given the amount of time that they are on their computers, do you think they are learning enough valuable skills to justify the amount of time they spend on their computers?
(Header image by Deryck Hodge.)
by mark on November 2, 2010
The Today Show featured one of my favorite bloggers, Amy Alkon, talking about the trend towards more rudeness, especially with respect to us keeping our noses buried in our devices or yammering on cell phones.
Watch the video at Amy’s site.
People are losing awareness of what’s going on around them. They are living in a bubble caused by the portable game, iPhone, iPod, cell phone, whatever it may be.
Do you snap at your kids when you see them texting their friends at a restaurant, or around a dinner table with family? Do you ever make everybody shut off their devices in the car and make them all engage in conversation? Or are you part of the problem being a bad role model yourself, by being one of these rude citizens?
Amy’s bright and pretty down to earth. I love her directness with which she deals with other people’s rude behavior, and her vigilante style of going after people who need to have their asses kicked. Go buy her book
and read it so that when you’re in a situation where no one else is willing stand up against the tyranny of the inconsiderate, you will be confident and prepared to do battle.
