Episode 63: Getting Mom Cooties All Over the Internet

For this week's group chat, we thought we’d talk about some of the ways that adults are just suckin’ all the fun out of the Internet for kids. We started with a look at the way kids are using Twitter to cheat on standardized tests -- and not very smartly, as it turns out, 'cause the testing company caught them. We debated whether it's creepy for test-makers to be scoping out test-takers' online activities, and whether parents should be more concerned about that or the cheating. The need for parents to be doing some prety close surveillance themselves was clear from this and our second topic, which started with a look at the really horrible app Burnbook (read about it on Mashable and Cool Mom Tech) and the way parents invaded it with positive statements and guaranteed that kids would either be encouraged or flee the premises. From there, we talked about parents' general responsibility to police the Web for their kids, and for the kids of people who don't bother to do that; the risk of embarrassing your kid, or having your kid embarrass you; and the way even parents who are social-media savvy can get exhausted by it.

Finally, we shared our recommendations for the week: Catherine had some Easter party games to get your kid moving instead of overdosing on Peeps; Amanda and Nicole both suggested tech resources for parents—Common Sense Media and Tech Savvy Parenting, respectively; and Terri mentioned some new articles on her About.com site, including ones on watching what you say about school in front of your child, how to get a hold of school personnel when they're ducking your calls, and the difficulty of letting your kids make their own decisions.

Thanks as always to Jon Morin for producing our episode and Kristin Eredics for our happy in-and-out music. (If you're reading this description somewhere without hyperlinks, come to http://parentingroundabout.com for the full recap experience.)