Wanted: A quantified child app for helping special needs kids

When you’ve got a special needs kid, you’re often trying successive strategies or interventions to help your kid develop new emotional, cognitive or behavioral skills. But if you’re also on the roller coaster of living with a challenging kid, it can...

How to lock your kids out of every device

I wrote my Ph.D. thesis on hacktivism: politically-motivated computer hacking. Interviewing fifty politically engaged computer hackers turned out to be great preparation for running a business that built nonprofit online communities, because I really know how to speak...

How to balance evening work with family life: the 2×2

Blame it on after-hours email, but it seems like the extended workday is here to stay. If your household is anything like ours, you often have work to do in the evening…and if you’re a parent, that means that work often intrudes on family time. To help...

The Five Competencies of Social and Emotional Learning

Social and emotional learning focuses on five key competencies. These are framed slightly differently by different organizations, so I have created a table that incorporates the (verbatim) descriptions found on several different sites. Dalai Lama Center: Heart-Mind...

How to end screen time without tears

Turning off the phone, TV or videogame is hard. Here’s how to make that transition easier for you and your child — and to build your child’s core skills in the process.

What kind of digital parent are you?

My recent piece for The Atlantic, Parents: Reject Technology Shame, tackles the question of how to raise kids in a digital world. Data from more than 10,000 North American parents shows that they are deeply divided on this question, and that there are three distinct...

Why you should hand your kid that iPhone

I see you looking at me from the other side of the coffee shop?—?yes, you: the hemp-swaddled mom with the slightly sticky child who is playing with that organic wooden toy. You probably hope that toy will teach her hand-eye coordination or bring him into harmony with...

Threat-based parenting: Dos and Don’ts

As featured on Medium, a handy guide to getting those pesky kids under control with the power of threats. Thanks to the rise of screens, there’s never been a better time for threat-based parenting.