Digital Parenting

Being chronically online has left many kids and teenagers vulnerable to doxing, which is a form of cyberbullying that involves posting or revealing a person’s private information online to incite further harassment. According to recent research, over one in 10 high school students have engaged in doxing. The study also shows that girls are more likely to engage in social doxing, while boys are more likely to conduct hostile doxing to humiliate or scare their victims. 

Bullying is prevalent in the United States, negatively impacting all youth involved, including those who get bullied, those who bully others, and those who witness the bullying. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says this problem is so common that one in five high school students report getting bullied.

Technology is integral to a child’s life. They will see it everywhere from birth and will inevitably grow up using it. It can be extremely educational, help build skills, and be a creative outlet. It can also be dangerous — predators, hackers, and other threats use technology to hurt others. We’ll teach you how to protect your children from the wide variety of threats out there, including the over-usage of technology itself.

Self-confidence is key in a human being’s professional, social, and family life, and the good news for parents of young children is that it is easy to build! Unlike self-esteem, which is more inward facing and which relates to our own sense of self and how we interact with others, self-confidence is outward-facing. It can be achieved through knowledge and practice. Essentially, the more your child does something, the more confident they become in their ability to do it well.

Cyberbullying, the use of electronic devices to harass, shame, incite and humiliate, is imposing a devastating impact on today’s youth. According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, between 2007 and 2019, the percentage of youth experiencing cyberbullying rose from 18% to 37%.

Stacy Hawkins, a 30-year-old mother of three, recently told The Wall Street Journal that her 12-year old girl and 13-year-old boy have a remarkable relationship: They parent each other.

Hawkins, in a conversation with reporter Charlie Wells, said “nothing is off limits … from why one sibling shouldn’t watch a certain movie on Netflix to how the other should organize his bedroom. When arguments get out of hand, the parents take what they call the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ approach: Both children get punished, even if just one was trying to control.”

Does your child’s school allow cellphones? You may be surprised that policies can vary even within districts and that those policies may contradict your own rules for cellphone use during school.

What’s the difference between cyberspying and monitoring? Cyberspying means to secretly collect information, and it will likely backfire for your children because it doesn’t foster a relationship based on trust. Monitoring your child’s location or media use with their knowledge, on the other hand, is fair game because you’re their parent.

Art therapy is a relatively new field in which the interface between art and human psychological well-being is explored. One area seeing a lot of interest concerns bullying, children, and art, and a study published by Frontiers in Psychiatry found that art can help children to effectively reduce their vulnerability to bullying. Like many forms of creativity, art is a way of escape, and a window into emotions and candidness between individuals.