The Chatterbox

The Chatterbox

News and views from the staff of FamilyEducation.
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archives

August 25, 2010
Friending Your Kids on Facebook and "Cool" vs. Strict Parenting
A new report shows that more than 70 percent of parents surveyed are friends with their child on Facebook. And 41 percent of the households said it's a rule that the kids must be friends with the parents if they're going to be on Facebook. Facebook seems like one more tricky part of modern parenting. Do you keep a close watch on the kids and set tight guidelines? Or do you keep the reins loose and allow kids to independently make good and safe choices? Something in between these two paths seems just right... and then you hear some scary fact – like the finding in the new report that...
Facebook, internet safety, parenting teenagers, social media
August 18, 2010
Girls Hitting Puberty in 1st or 2nd Grade?!
I was a pretty late bloomer. At the time, I felt kind of weird about it, like I was missing out on something. Now I know. The earlier you bloom, the longer you have to deal with all that... girl stuff. So that's what makes me (and probably you) cringe to hear in the news "Puberty Strikes 7-Year-Old Girls." A study of girls in areas of NYC, Cincinnati, and San Francisco showed "a surprisingly large bump in the number of girls going through puberty between the ages of 7 and 8." That means first or second grade! I remember early bloomers in my generation were girls who got their period in...
Girls, puberty, Teens, tweens