How Many Steps a Day?

There's so much talk today about childhood (and adult) obesity and about how we need to encourage our kids to be active. One of the best ways to get kids going is with a pedometer. Many schools purchase pedometers for physical education, and the kids love to use them and families should think about following suit. Keeping track of their step count pushes them forward to more steps each day. It's known that most adults take about 2000-5000 steps in a normal day, but the number they need to be considered active is 10,000 to 12,500. According to Penn State's Guy C. Le Masurier, kids generally take more steps than adults, but after the elementary years, the total begins to decline. Girls are said to take fewer steps a day than boys. So to get our kids stepping away from obesity, get them started on a lifetime walking program. If you are looking for online incentives related to walking and pedometers, Walk4Life honors,  in February of each year, outstanding schools whose kids are "caught being active."  Awards include a trophy and cash. At WalkSmart Active Schools, teachers, parents and students can download materials that encourage activity.

Japanese Kids Told to Cool It On Cellphones

Most parents in this country can probably identify with the Japanese government's feeling that they need to start a program about limiting cell phone use among children. In Japan the government is worried about how elementary and junior high school students are getting sucked into cyberspace crimes, spending long hours exchanging mobile e-mail and suffering other negative effects of cell phone overuse. It seems that in Japan, as well as here, cell phones are being given to children at a younger and younger age. A government panel is also asking Japanese cell phone makers to develop cell phones with only the talking function, and GPS , or global positioning system, because the latter  feature that can help ensure a child's safety. Most mobile phones in Japan are sophisticated gadgets offering high-speed Internet access called 3G , for "third-generation." The panel said better filtering programming is needed for Internet access to protect children. Some youngsters are spending hours at night on e-mail with their friends. One fad is "the 30 minute rule," in which a child who doesn't respond to e-mail within half an hour gets targeted and picked on by other schoolmates. Other youngsters have become victims of Internet crimes. In one case, children sent in their own snapshots to a Web site and then ended up getting threatened for money.

Safer Sounds for iPods

A couple of parents, tired of telling their children to turn down the volume on their iPods and unable to find players or earbuds with a volume control, decided to come up with their own safer version of earbuds. Launched in 2006, Ingemi's iHearSafe earbuds may look like any standard pair, but there is a difference. A small volume-reducing circuit, placed in the length of the earbud wire prevents sounds from exceeding 85 decibels (about the level of city traffic) but still allows the rocking beat to rattle through. Selling for $20 on Amazon or at Ingemi.com the founders are hoping their product will be on store shelves for the holidays.

Fatal Spam

Yeah, we're all pretty sick of that spam that pours into our email boxes unsolicited and unwanted, but now authorities are saying that answering some of those spam ads can prove to be fatal. Take the Vancouver woman who in 2006 died of heavy-metal poisoning after consuming common brand-name drugs purchased inexpensively online or in 2003, the 19-year-old Rutgers University student who overdosed on Xanax purchased online without a prescription. These are two different scenarios, but both illustrate the dangers of unregulated, rogue pharmacies that are active online today. Welcome to "brandjacking", basically which can be defined as a criminal or fraudster getting in between you and a company you intend to work with or buy from. An example?  You think you're buying a pair of Nike shoes but get cheap knockoffs instead. But shoes are one thing, and bad drugs are another. Talk to your kids about these rogue pharmacies and how what they sell may be a deadly bargain.

MySpace vs. Facebook - Class Divisions?

Every generation has had its divisions. Greasers versus Rockers. Preps versus Hippies. The list goes on and on. For the present generation, class divisions may just fall along what social networking site you contribute to. Now Danah Boyd, a well-known commentator on teen culture online is arguing that there is a class division over who uses MySpace.com versus Facebook. In essence, Boyd writes, MySpace is home to a large population of "burnouts," punks or alternative-scene teenagers whose parents likely didn't go beyond a high school education. Facebook, in contrast, is a bustling hub for jocks, school nerds and prom queens planning for their university years. Have you noticed a preference at your house? (My teen is now strictly on Facebook.)

Parenting with Technology Wisdom From MIT

One of the best interviews about parenting in the digital age appears on the CNet site in an interview with Henry Jenkins of MIT done for an article called The Internet's new Dr. Spock? In it Jenkins takes on everything from the participation gap - 57% of teens who are online have produced some kind of uploaded media, while 43% haven't - and the access differential - how are kids who have 24/7 access to the Internet interacting with the world vs. those that might have 10 minutes a day at school or a library?

But my favorite quote for parents from the interview is "Turning your home into a surveillance culture, where you don't trust your kids, is dangerous because you're going to make it harder to communicate with your child. So part of what I've argued is that the kids don't need someone looking over their shoulders, they need someone watching their backs." I like that last part particularly - "kids don't need someone looking over their shoulders, they need someone watching their backs" - because it speaks to the truth of the situation. You can't watch every little thing your kids do online. Instead, you need to be someone who understands a bit about what happens online and be someone whose has their back by being a sounding board, a person who they can turn to without fear of repercussions when they find something they are unsure of or makes them uncomfortable online or if they become the victim of a cyberbully or even a predatory love interest. That's an excellent parenting position to strive for as school is starting. Read this interview and let us know your thoughts.

Monitoring Granny and Gramps

Tools for people who need to monitor elderly relatives are on the rise - sensors, Webcams, GPS devices, and pendants and bracelets with emergency buttons - are just some of the technologies being put to use to give seniors independence and caregivers piece of mind. Looking for a solution for your family? A good place to start is the article Taking your meds? Sensors will know on CNet.

Turn Down the Volume

The research and statistics about how dangerous loud music is to hearing continues to pile up. A recent article on CNN,com called When modern life pumps up the volume, give your ears some TLC has some recommendations on how to cut your possible losses including reducing the amount of time you listen to less than one hour per day, choosing a better earbud or set of headphones, avoiding the loud motivational din at the gym, and using foam earplugs when using power tools.

Violence in the Media

Wondering about how to talk to your kids about violence in the media including video games? Common Sense Media has come up with a parent's guide for getting that kind of discussion started and keeping it ongoing.

A Way to Save Their Hearing?

Lots of kids want to change out the headphones that come with their iPod or other mp3 player. But is there anything that can be "cool" and help save their hearing too? There suddenly is a lot of noise (sorry for the pun) about in-ear-canal headphones because they block more noise than any other type of headphones-far more than noise-canceling and "closed" over-the-ear models. That means when listening in noisy environments, you can listen to music at lower levels than with most other types of headphones hopefully saving hearing in the process. For more on these headphones see the in-ear-canal headphone primer.