Internet Challenges Quickly Captivate Young Brains
In the summer of 2011, I did a dumb thing. Fueled by bravado, ego and vacation mischief, I gobbled down a “Man vs. Food” hamburger challenge, piled high with ghost chiles. Ghosts are associated with death for a reason. I writhed in pain, twirling in bed for 24 hours...
Upcoming Technology for Cutting-Edge Families
Just as 2019 hits full stride, the technology giants are plying their newest wares. Last month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), as in every year, was an extravaganza of tech finery, providing a barometer for things to come. Not everything that happens in Vegas stays...
Teens Have a Nuanced Relationship with Social Media
Stereotypes of young people are hard to shake. Every ensuing generation seems to pepper their juniors with breathy judgment. For the past decade, the youthful use of social media has invited shrill suspicion. Jabs against supposed social and personal corrosion have...
Letters to Santa in the Digital Age
Recently, a friend of mine heard her kindergartener praying. She tip-toed to the door and eavesdropped. As she quietly listened in she realized, hilariously, that her daughter was praying to Santa. I smiled so hard it almost broke my face. Jelly Belly vs. Jesus for...
What Will My DNA Test Reveal?
In 1962, James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Just 28 years later, in 1990, the Human Genome Project launched. Its daunting goal: to map the human genome. Fast...
Awareness and Action on Domestic Violence Paves the Way to Healing
Over the years, the focus of this column has been on technology, with healthy family engagement at the center of that orbit. We turn from technology this month, and place our focus squarely on family — specifically, those survivors who find themselves in the throes of...
Shield Your College Student from Identity Theft
Back to school. Every year is more surreal as our kids seem to age at warp speed. This is especially true for parents faced with tearfully remembering the first day of kindergarten as they drive away from newly furnished dorm rooms with college-level...
3 Apps (and More) for Learning to Read
This is the first sentence of this article, and the fact that you can read it isn’t to be taken for granted. According to research noted by ourworldindata.org, only 12 percent of the world population was literate in 1800. 12 percent! How mind-blowing is that?...
Top Tools for Your Family Game Night
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles huddled around a game table set up in the living room. Games went on for hours. There was banter, laughter and strategy. They lived in a rural, poverty stricken community. There...
Can Technology Solve Your Mosquito Problem This Year?
Pop quiz: What’s the deadliest animal on the planet? Likely, your mind jumped to some of the scariest offenders: poisonous snakes, ferocious beasts lurking on the savanna, or maybe you even guessed the sleeper that ranks right up there, the hippopotamus. ...
Why Solar Panels Are Still Years Off for Most Folks
Up on the housetop, click, click, click … No, it’s not good St. Nick. More likely, it’s solar panels. There’s more than meets the eye when you begin considering the science and art of adding more than just shingles and the occasional pausing reindeer to your roof....
Ditch Your Tech for One Screen-Free Week
Screens make me smile. Innovative 8K television screens, phone screens, the Big Screen, IMAX and the now ubiquitous 4K screens on anything and everything. Screens are my life. It’s one of the first things I see when I wake up. It’s one of the last things I see when I...