Posted on

Why Every Parent Should Know about TED

As parents today, we are unavoidably exposed to overwhelming amounts of advice in the form of anxiety-producing parenting books, blogs and articles, not to mention an ever-increasing number of news stories generated 24/7 by fear-mongering media – all of which collectively stand to leave us wondering which way to turn. It’s no wonder that I’m so frequently asked my professional opinion on where parents can go to find good, credible advice on how to raise happy, healthy, responsible and engaged children. The fact of the matter is that knowing where to turn for credible information – parenting and otherwise – has become one of the defining challenges of the information age in which we live.

As a pediatrician, I can tell you with confidence that sites like the American Academy of Pediatrics’ HealthyChildren.org are a good starting point. If it’s early childhood you’re interested in – bookmark ZeroToThree.org. Autism? Add the CDC’s Learn the Signs campaign or Easter Seals to your trusted source list. Vaccines? Search the web with caution lest you fall prey to misinformation. Instead head to credible sites like the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Vaccine Education Center. Pick just about any parenting topic, and it’s simply a matter of knowing where to look. The problem is just that knowing where to look that has become anything but simple.

It also doesn’t address the bigger parenting question of what your overall approach to parenting should be….You know, the bigger picture sense of what the future holds, what skills and ideas are going to be of most value, and how best to engage your children in becoming contributing members of the increasingly globalized, connected world.

Okay, so I am well aware that some of you may currently be too buried in diapers, homework, mealtime preparations and/or carpools to give this bigger picture much thought at the present moment. But given that just about every parent I’ve ever met at some point contemplates how best to set their kids up to succeed in the 21st century, the search for a big-picture parenting perspective got me to thinking.

What if I were to tell you that there is a website out there that has everything a parent could want to help lay out a strategy for success, to pique children’s interest, nurture their imagination, and help better prepare them for the modern-day world? What if you could take your pick – from perennial kid-favorite topics such as robots, bugs, or the wonders of the natural world to thought-provoking information on the power of play, education, technology, or even a kid-friendly way to learn Chinese? Better yet, what if all of this was available to you for free, with no one trying to sell or get you hooked on anything (other than ideas, that is). And best of all, what if all of these things were at your fingertips – whether on computer, smartphone or tablet – in the ever-so-parent- and kid-friendly form of short, engaging videos, generally no more than 20 minutes long?

The website I’m talking about is TED.com. And while I’ve admittedly never heard it referred to as a parenting site before, I’d like to suggest that it is, in fact, a site that every parent should know about.

For those of you not yet familiar with the concept of TED, let me back up a moment to explain. Technically speaking TED got its start as a Silicon Valley conference in the 1980’s focused on the convergence of technology, entertainment, and design. TED today, however, has become something very much bigger than that – a global phenomenon of conferences and over 1000 TED talks posted online – all driven by a dedication to sharing ideas that stand to make the world a better place. Covering an impressively broad spectrum of topics – from science to business to global issues and from animal life to life in the deep oceans, black holes and beyond, it’s all fair game.

While there is a flagship TED and a TEDGlobal conference each year, as well as independent TEDx events in communities large and small around the world, you need go no further than the website to share in the experience and watch TED talks, which as of November 2012 reportedly exceeded one billion views. In other words, TED.com has become one big, thought-provoking virtual playground of global proportions.

Granted not all TED talks are meant for children by any means – whether by nature of their content or the intellectual level at which they are presented. But some are. And the idea of engaging children in the wonders of the world around them is one that I strongly believe can’t start early enough. Start with the curated TED For Kids or Natural Wonder playlists for example, and you’ll find that TED videos can hold their own against video games and YouTube videos of cats chasing their tails any day. As your children get older, use TED to start conversations about increasingly complex topics, as well as more challenging issues facing our world.

And for you, as a parent, I recommend you carve out fifteen or twenty minutes in your day, go to the site, and pick a topic that piques your interest. You, too, may find yourself hooked.

As someone who is sympathetic to the time-pressures of modern-day parenting and at the same time fundamentally believes that children learn best by example, I believe that having your children see you engaged in and excited about lifelong learning is one of the best examples you can set as a parent.

After my 13 year old witnessed my own enthusiastic response to the mind-expanding experience of attending this year’s 2014 TED conference in Vancouver, he has now taken it upon himself to watch a TED talk a day. And if that’s not screen time that a parent can be excited about, I don’t know what is.

For those of you interested in expanding upon your virtual experience and becoming involved with the in-person TED community, the good news is that we have one right here in Nebraska, and it is growing quickly. Be sure to check out Omaha’s annual TEDxOmaha and monthly TEDx Salon events, as well as TEDxLincoln.

Originally posted on the Omaha World Herald’s Live Well Nebraska

Posted on

21st C Parenting: Connecting with Kids in the Age of Digital Disconnectedness

Rising to the challenge of parenting digital natives – a term commonly used to describe a generation of children who have never known a world without digital technologies – inherently means that we, as digital immigrants, have some important work to do. As a crucial first step, we need to both familiarize ourselves and then keep up with technology. After all, the responsibility falls squarely on us to help our children learn good judgment and how to responsibly navigate the rapidly changing digital world.

With the new year and new resolutions right around the corner, I figured this was as good a time as any for us all to commit to doing a better job of setting appropriate limits for the use of technology in our everyday lives – both for our children and for ourselves. After all, in today’s digitally connected world, taking a few key steps toward disconnecting can actually go a long way towards helping families become and stay more closely connected.

The following are some tips to get you started in what I hope brings you and your family a happy, healthy and technologically harmonious 2014.

Make time for face time. Today’s digital invasion of childhood is raising serious concerns, as clearly evidenced by this year’s recent recipient of the TOADY Award. This annual dishonor, given to the toy deemed most oppressive and/or destructive to young children, was bestowed upon a digital potty seat designed to allow potty-training toddlers to remain connected to their screens. For infants, young children and teens alike, face time – not the kind you can ask Siri to set up for you on your iPhone but real, in-person face time – is critically important to their social-emotional development. For infants and young children in particular, this means resisting the temptation of replacing human interaction with iPad potty seats and app-loaded infant seats (yes – this too is an actual product that also understandably ignited a virtual firestorm of digital debate). What you can do instead is powerfully simple – read books, talk, sing, make eye contact. And while you’re certainly not alone if you’ve made a habit of texting your ‘tween or teen, or emailing your spouse as the most reliable way of communicating, remember that at all ages, nothing compares to in-person, face-to-face conversations.

Take a tech-timeout. Another big concern when it comes to technology’s pervasiveness in our children’s everyday lives is that it takes away any time for boredom. While I am well aware that that may seem a particularly appealing attribute when you’re busy, stressed or just hoping for some peace and quiet at the end of a long day or start of a long trip, you may want to think again. The problem with the constant and chronic use of tech toys as boredom-busters is that boredom has long been recognized as playing a key role in fostering creativity, resourcefulness, and innovation. So what’s a parent to do? Be sure to establish times and places when cell phones need to be put away and screens need to be turned off to allow your children’s creative juices to start flowing.

Vacation planning. For anyone with holiday travel plans, or planning any travel for that matter, take a moment to consider why it is you’re traveling in the first place. Visiting friends or relatives, perhaps. Setting out to see new sights. Or simply spending time together as a family. Regardless of the reason, the fact of the matter is that cell phones, tablets, TVs and/or computer screens all have the uncanny ability to keep kids from looking up, looking out of the window, making eye contact, or – simply put – connecting with the world around them. In other words, technology (it’s non-essential use, that is) can sabotage your best-laid vacation plans. My suggestion? Plan to leave any unnecessary cell phones and other digital distractions at home. While your children may well protest at first, have a little faith. With very little practice, they’re sure to find alternative, meaningful, tech-free ways to enjoy the vacation as a result.

Declare the dinner table a tech-free zone. As the parent of three teens, I will be the first to admit that this is easier to write than it is to enforce. Nevertheless, it’s absolutely worth rising to the challenge of establishing the dinner table as a tech-free zone. With no buzzes, no rings, no emails, texts or tweets allowed, your chances for meaningful conversations with your children increase considerably – whether you have toddlers, tweens or teens.

And with that, I will leave you with my best wishes for a very happy holidays. In the spirit of both the holidays and of practicing what I preach, I now intend to shut down the computer, turn off my cell phone, turn on some holiday music, and go spend some quality time playing our family’s favorite board game (Settlers of Catan) with my kids.

Originally posted on Omaha World Herald’s Live Well Nebraska

Posted on

Holiday Toy Safety Tips for Families

With December now upon us, it’s hard not to have all things holidays and winter top of mind. I’ve therefore decided to dedicate this month’s weekly blogs to what I consider to some of the most relevant parenting-meets-safety topics of the season. I hadn’t yet decided whether to first write about holiday travel tips, the selection of safe toys for tots, or addressing cold weather & frostbite concerns. But after a long weekend spent bombarded by Black Friday sales ads on television, literally three inches of ad inserts stuffed in Sunday’s paper, and a ridiculous number of CyberMonday emails filling my inbox, I am more convinced than ever that sharing a few important toy safety reminders with you now – during the peak of toy buying season – will go the longest way towards insuring that you and your family have a fun-filled and safe holiday season!

Before we get to the actual toy tips, however, I feel the need to acknowledge the fact that sharing toy-related injury information during this otherwise joyous time of year always makes me feel a bit like the grinch. Unlike the grinch, however (who was clearly in the business of indiscriminately taking away children’s toys), I hope to help you keep unsafe toys out of your children’s hands. To do that, it’s important to acknowledge that there are unsafe toys out there – some inherently unsafe, and others simply unsafe when they fall into the wrong hands.

According to Safe Kids, there were an estimated 181,900 toy-related injuries in 2009 alone – nearly half of which were in children under the age of 5. In order to avoid becoming part of next year’s statistics, I suggest using the following toy safety tips, derived from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Safe Kids, and the American Academy of Pediatrics to guide you in the purchase of safe toys for the holiday season and throughout the year.

  • Pay attention to age-restrictions. When the box clearly states that a toy is “For ages 3 and up,” pay heed! I understand that it can be tempting to assume your two-year old is smart enough to handle anything a three-year old can. But when it comes to on-the-box age limits, the recommendation has nothing to do with smarts and everything to do with safety. Simply put, the small parts inside have been determined to pose a very real choking hazard to those under the age of three.
  • Keep older siblings’ toys away from younger children. I am well aware that even getting one’s children to share or put away their toys can be a parenting challenge, but for safety’s sake it is especially important to make sure that young children don’t get their hands on the small parts or other safety risks that are meant to be played with exclusively by their older siblings.
  • Be aware of top toy hazards. Your child’s wish list isn’t the only one where certain toys rise to the top. The top 5 toy hazards identified by the CPSC include:
    • Scooters and other riding toys. It may not make me particularly popular with your children when I tell you that riding toys cause more injuries than any other group of toys. Nor are they likely to want to hear that anything on wheels should always be accompanied by helmets and appropriate safety gear. But popularity is not what I’m after when I tell you that riding toys go fast, and falls can be deadly.
    • Small balls and other toys with small parts. Remember the advice to
    • While inflated balloons certainly add life to any party, it’s the broken or un-inflated balloons that can cause choking or suffocation and consequently put a child’s life in jeopardy. While the CPSC warns about the risks for children under the age of 8, this sage cautionary advice should be applied to all.
    • Small magnets like those found in building, science and other play sets seem to have become quite popular, but have the unfortunate ability to wreak serious havoc on the intestinal tract if swallowed. They really should be avoided altogether for children under 6, and used with caution by older children.
    • Chargers and adapters. These toy accessories can pose a serious burn risk to children. If you’re going to purchase toys that require them, be sure you also require adult supervision.
  • Read instructions carefully…and then follow them.
  • Get rid of any plastic wrappings on toys as soon as your children open them so that they don’t become dangerous play things.
  • Keep current on toy safety and other holiday safety tips, as well as any recall information from the CPSC, SafeKids, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Originally posted on Omaha World Herald’s Live Well Nebraska