Comments on: Simplistic headline of the day http://dancallahan.net/2008/04/29/simplistic-headline-of-the-day Education. Games. Comics. Movies. Stuff. Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:46:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: MariaD http://dancallahan.net/2008/04/29/simplistic-headline-of-the-day/comment-page-1#comment-1179 MariaD Sun, 04 May 2008 13:18:06 +0000 http://dancallahan.net/?p=32#comment-1179 I don't even remember that clamor ^_^ Parenting is the most complicated thing I've ever done in my life. It definitely beats getting a PhD, by a wide margin. A quote I ran into recently: "Getting a good education for your child is not a spectator sport. - C. Hoff" Not just my kid's friends, but their parents often ask my husband and I for advice about tech activities, usually the internet. Yet something as simple as, "If your kid spends twenty hours a week in the World of Warcraft (a multi-player online game), you should consider trying to play it a bit" is rarely followed. "Oh, I don't understand the first thing about games." Exactly. You don't know how to help your kids make it into something meaningful and, well, good. I don’t even remember that clamor ^_^ Parenting is the most complicated thing I’ve ever done in my life. It definitely beats getting a PhD, by a wide margin.

A quote I ran into recently:

“Getting a good education for your child is not a spectator sport. – C. Hoff”

Not just my kid’s friends, but their parents often ask my husband and I for advice about tech activities, usually the internet. Yet something as simple as, “If your kid spends twenty hours a week in the World of Warcraft (a multi-player online game), you should consider trying to play it a bit” is rarely followed. “Oh, I don’t understand the first thing about games.” Exactly. You don’t know how to help your kids make it into something meaningful and, well, good.

]]> By: Dan http://dancallahan.net/2008/04/29/simplistic-headline-of-the-day/comment-page-1#comment-1178 Dan Sun, 04 May 2008 12:57:48 +0000 http://dancallahan.net/?p=32#comment-1178 While I am not yet a parent, I already know this: parenting is hard. I get that. I understand why they want easy solutions to their problems. But if you're looking for easy solutions to raising your kids right, you're deluding yourself a bit. Honestly, remember all the clamor for the V-Chip 10 years or so ago? How many people actually use that now? While I am not yet a parent, I already know this: parenting is hard. I get that. I understand why they want easy solutions to their problems. But if you’re looking for easy solutions to raising your kids right, you’re deluding yourself a bit.

Honestly, remember all the clamor for the V-Chip 10 years or so ago? How many people actually use that now?

]]> By: MariaD http://dancallahan.net/2008/04/29/simplistic-headline-of-the-day/comment-page-1#comment-1176 MariaD Sun, 04 May 2008 12:32:48 +0000 http://dancallahan.net/?p=32#comment-1176 As a parent, my answer to all of this is... I have to be more knowledgeable about technology than my kid is. The majority of the debates out there are full of fear, and, to quote, "fear is the mind-killer." Fear comes from feeling powerless, because people simply don't know technology, and knowledge is power. We can /point and /lol in the direction of every particular way fear kills minds of parents and educators, or article writers for that matter, but it almost becomes boring after a while. A kid may know a particular site or tool her parents never saw before. For example, I first introduced my kid to youtube and twitter, and she first introduced me to deviantart. The point is that parents should be able to comprehend everything going on technologically in their children's life, and to be, well, parent figures in these tech worlds. Parents need to have the natural authority of more experienced and more advanced people. Then they can help kids get to the state where technology is good for them. As a parent, my answer to all of this is… I have to be more knowledgeable about technology than my kid is. The majority of the debates out there are full of fear, and, to quote, “fear is the mind-killer.” Fear comes from feeling powerless, because people simply don’t know technology, and knowledge is power. We can /point and /lol in the direction of every particular way fear kills minds of parents and educators, or article writers for that matter, but it almost becomes boring after a while.

A kid may know a particular site or tool her parents never saw before. For example, I first introduced my kid to youtube and twitter, and she first introduced me to deviantart. The point is that parents should be able to comprehend everything going on technologically in their children’s life, and to be, well, parent figures in these tech worlds. Parents need to have the natural authority of more experienced and more advanced people. Then they can help kids get to the state where technology is good for them.

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