Tag Archives: privacy

Facebook’s Instagram for Kids is Controversial

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Facebook is planning to build a version of Instagram for children who are under the age of 13, according to BuzzFeed News, who obtained an internal company post from Facebook in March of 2021. This has led to controversy among lawmakers and a large group of U.S. Attorneys Generals. A group of four Democratic lawmakers signed a letter in April of 2021, to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The lawmakers were Senator Ed Markey, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Representative Kathy Castor and Representative Lori Trahan. In the letter, the lawmakers question Mark Zuckerberg about Instagram for Kids. “Facebook has an obligation to … Continue reading →

Dealing with the Worrier- Part 2

Following on from yesterday, here are more suggestions about dealing with the worrier and tips how you can best help them. If you are a believer, pray for them. You don’t need to know exactly what the worries are to be able to pray for peace and settling. Better still if they are agreeable, is pray with them about their worrying. Again you don’t need to know what the worries are, unless they want to tell you. God knows. That’s all that matters. So encourage them to share if they want to but don’t hassle them if they don’t. Sometimes … Continue reading →

Belly Photos: Public or Private?

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I recently read that Gisele Bundchen had her pregnant belly airbrushed out of her fashion photo shoots because her pregnancy was “too sacred” to share with the world. What a striking statement to make in contrast to the very public belly (and body) baring photos that have been featured on magazine covers by celebrities like Britney Spears, Demi Moore, and Christina Aguilera. Showing off your pregnant belly is the norm these days, not hiding it. All you have to do is do a Google image search for “pregnant” and you’ll find thousands of women, not just celebrities, showing off their … Continue reading →

Privacy, Teens and Parents—Part Three

In my first two articles about privacy and the adolescent years, I wrote about how we parents can and should respect a certain amount of privacy for our teens. By the time our children are 18 years old, after all, they should be approaching adulthood and independence. Of course, we may not treat a 13 year-old and an 18 year-old the same way, but we can work on the process of privacy and respect during the teen years. I also want to talk about how we can set an example and set our expectations about privacy by expecting our children … Continue reading →

Privacy, Teens and Parents—Part Two

Earlier this morning I introduced the important topic of privacy as it pertains to adolescents and parents. While I wrote about WHY I think how we negotiate privacy issues can be such a big deal in the teen years, I also wanted to talk about the areas where I think we need to figure out how we will handle privacy issues with our teens. Some of the biggies when it comes to teens and privacy are their rooms, their possessions and things like book bags, journals, e-mail messages, etc. I think that a general rule of thumb can be that … Continue reading →

Privacy, Teens and Parents—Part One

Privacy is a big deal with adolescents. As a matter of fact, I think that for parents, negotiating around privacy issues can be a make or break situation that sets the stage for the adolescent years overall. I know this might seem like I am being overly melodramatic, but I really do think that when it comes to privacy and boundaries, how parents handle this with a teenager can have a big impact. While I do not think there is one way to go about this business of parenting (as I have stated before), I think as parents we need … Continue reading →

Everybody Needs a Quiet, Private Place

Life in a single parent family can be wonderful, but it can also be chaotic sometimes. Setting up a safe haven and a comfortable home environment where our children are able to feel happy and secure may mean not only providing plenty of family time, but also making sure that each child has a quiet, private place of his or her own. When a child is small, a quiet private place may be something simple like a big, comfortable chair or a corner of a room with some soft cushions. When my children were pre-schoolers, I remember a time when … Continue reading →

Just when I thought it was safe to go Potty…

I know I’m not the only one who looked forward to days when I could have a few moments alone in the bathroom, without knocks on the door or little fingers wriggling underneath it. My youngest still talks to me through the door occasionally, but I’ve actually been able to brush my teeth or take care of other things at times, without interruption. It’s a glorious phase of motherhood, when you can use the restroom all alone (and even use words like restroom instead of “potty”). Is potty a noun or verb or both anyway? Of course, I have tried … Continue reading →

How Much Should Siblings Have to Share?

Sharing is one of those early life lessons and we parents seem to put a lot of value on our children learning to share. We worry that if we are raising an only child, he or she won’t learn the lessons of sharing and when an older sibling welcomes a new baby—we immediately start to worry about whether or not she will be able to share toys, time, attention, and love. In reality, however, how much sharing should be expected and when it comes to siblings, should they really be expected to share everything and anything? As many of you … Continue reading →

Doing Business with Instant Message

While I try to keep up with technology on some levels, I am not always the first person to embrace the latest and greatest. One of the most recent developments I am trying to master is “Instant Messaging.” While I know that it is being used more and more (and not just by my teenagers either), I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around using it for business. Maybe it is all the cute little smilies and colored font, or maybe it is the funky screen names, but whatever the reality, I do accept that instant messaging, as … Continue reading →