DIGITAL DISCONNECT

McAfee, the online security company, just came out with a study from April examining parents’ “digital fatigue” in trying to monitor and stay on top of their children’s use of digital technology, from video games to smart phones to social media. In “Exploring the Online Disconnect between Parents & Pre-teens, Teens and Young Adults,” parents express being overwhelmed, less informed, and less tech savvy than their children, while kids frankly admit to deceiving their parents about their technology habits, from amount of usage to content. It’s an intriguing, sobering study, and The Boston Globe’s Beth Teitell hits some of the high spots in a recent article entitled “In a Digital World, Kids Gain the Upper Hand.” The message from both study and article seems to be a simple reminder -- know what your kids are up to and step up to the plate to provide guidelines and limits. 

STEPPING TO THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM

In an interview with the Boston Globe, actress Keira Knightly talked about being drawn to imperfect faces, remembering that her mum always said “Blessed imperfections.” I love that concept, especially when it comes to validating the uniqueness of children pressed by society and their peers to “fit in.” I’ve always tried to encourage my kids to step to their own beat, accepting that the attributes that make them  different are what also make them special. (This is especially helpful when you have offbeat, quirky kids, like I do.) It is tricky, helping children value qualities that set them apart, especially those that can be somewhat off-putting to kids their own age. But some of those “blessed imperfections” that are so challenging to parent (stubbornness, conviction, fierce loyalty…) are character traits that can, if properly tempered by balance and perspective, serve them brilliantly into adulthood. So I’ve tried to treasure them even as I’ve had to develop strategies to survive them…

With the beginning of each school year, kids have the opportunity to reinvent themselves