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11 votes
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A dark consensus about screens and kids begins to emerge in Silicon Valley
26 votes -
Why parenting is both the toughest and most rewarding gig
7 votes -
Mum's voice makes better smoke alarm for children
3 votes -
The iPhone’s new parental controls block searches for sex ed, allow violence and racism
25 votes -
Baby box safety doubts raised by experts
5 votes -
What I’ve learnt about parenting a queer teen
9 votes -
Why aren't most women represented in the last names of their children?
14 votes -
'We need to know the sex. If it’s a girl we are going to terminate it'
25 votes -
When a DNA test reveals your daughter is not your biological child
11 votes -
Seeing Grease with my son opened my eyes to how problematic it is
32 votes -
Growing up in a house full of books is major boost to literacy and numeracy, study finds
15 votes -
Raised by YouTube - The platform’s entertainment for children is weirder—and more globalized—than adults could have expected
11 votes -
How well-intentioned White families can perpetuate racism
20 votes -
Parents: have your kids been affected by age-inappropriate content?
I was having a conversation with one of my coworkers who mentioned that her child showed a fascination with scary, Halloween-type stuff starting around age 6. She and her husband had a hard time...
I was having a conversation with one of my coworkers who mentioned that her child showed a fascination with scary, Halloween-type stuff starting around age 6. She and her husband had a hard time with whether they should let him enjoy it or limit it. They weren't sure whether to let him read scary books or watch spooky stuff on YouTube, particularly because it's the type of content that can very easily be age-inappropriate--especially for a 6 year old. Nevertheless, it was relatively easy for them to keep it to stuff like Jack-o-Lanterns and black cats since he was so young.
The boy is now older but has retained his interest, and the parents are still struggling with decisions about allowable content, especially because he is starting to age into books and movies that deal with much darker stuff, particularly ideas about death/violence.
I'm not a parent, but I am a teacher, and I have to admit that I'm uncomfortable with some of the stuff my students are exposed to. Over the years I've heard students as young as twelve discuss horror movies like the Saw series or The Human Centipede. I've had middle school students bring books like Gone Girl and 50 Shades of Gray to class. On one hand, I think kids are resilient, and I think a lot of the more difficult or disturbing stuff doesn't quite land for them because they don't really have a context into which to put it yet. I also believe that fictional media is a mostly safe way for us to explore troubling or disturbing ideas.
On the other hand, I think the internet has caused our children to grow up a lot faster than they used to, as they are exposed to mature content (whether intentionally or accidentally) from a very early age. When I was growing up the worst I could do was check out a slightly-risqué book from the school library and hope my parents never found it in my backpack. Now kids are watching violent (often real-world) and pornographic content starting as young as elementary school. Nothing can make your heart sink quite like sixth graders talking excitedly over lunch about a video of a real person getting crushed to death.
What I genuinely don't know is if this has any negative developmental effect. Am I just clutching my pearls here? I'd love to hear some parents talk about how they've handled the decision of what's right for their kids and whether they've had fallout from their kids consuming content that's not appropriate for them.
26 votes -
Edmonton daycare asks parents to bring helmets for the playground
6 votes -
Let's stop pretending working mothers are getting a fair go
8 votes -
Why I let my daughter wear makeup to school
13 votes -
The mismatch between the school day and the work day creates a child-care crisis between 3 and 5 p.m. that has parents scrambling for options
16 votes -
To raise confident, independent kids, some parents are trying to 'let grow'
15 votes -
"How to raise a human" NPR series
7 votes -
Child care is broken. Silicon Valley thinks it can fix that, too
5 votes -
The memoir by Steve Jobs' daughter makes clear he was a truly rotten person whose bad behavior was repeatedly enabled by those around him
17 votes -
What I think the anti-bullying books get wrong
8 votes -
Three's a crowd: Millennials are shifting Australia's family values
12 votes -
What style of parent are you? It affects how much your children remember.
10 votes -
Parents break teen out of Mayo Clinic
12 votes -
My son, Osama: The al-Qaida leader’s mother speaks for the first time
11 votes -
Letters to the editor in response to "Motherhood in the Age of Fear"
7 votes -
Motherhood in the age of fear
11 votes -
Four parents, two gaybies, one very modern family
3 votes -
The 'great divide' in women's friendships
8 votes -
Taking away the phones won’t solve our teenagers’ problems
19 votes -
What the reality of breastfeeding looks like in the US
12 votes -
The everyday sexism I face as a stay-at-home dad
26 votes -
Japan’s vegetable-eating men - A nation of suit-wearing salarymen educates its first generation of stay-at-home dads
7 votes -
US opposition to breast-feeding resolution stuns World Health officials
14 votes -
US opposition to breast-feeding resolution stuns World Health officials
19 votes -
Science Moms: Full film
7 votes -
Incredibles 2's stay-at-home dad a watershed moment for superheroes
5 votes -
Dad bias: Why are fathers disproportionately praised for parenting their kids?
12 votes -
The age of grandparents is made of many tragedies
5 votes -
In 2017 names, Donald, Alexa, and Mary plummet; Malia booms
5 votes -
Ontario issues first non-binary birth certificate
3 votes