Talking Back to Facebook: The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age Paperback – 8 May 2012

If you're a concerned parent in the digital age, this is the book for you. Offers lots of interesting facts that gets you thinking about how to use social media in a productive way but not at the detriment of your child's development. Provides a rough blueprint that you can follow too. Would recommend.

Attention Parents, Teachers, and School Administrators! I have never written a recommendation before, but I have come across a book of such exceptional relevance, practical advice, and readability, I am taking this opportunity to do so now. The book is Talking Back to Facebook - The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age, by James Steyer.The author is a professor at Stanford where he teaches civil rights, civil liberties, and children's issues. He is CEO of Common Sense Media. He has strong credentials, but his highest is the fact that he has four kids...all digital natives.The book is a MUST read if you are a parent, but it also offers outstanding guideposts and advice for questions most parents are -or should be - asking. He tackles hard issues straight-on and avoids being patronizing or unrealistic about the range of choices and decisions both children and parents must make in today's technology-driven social and educational environments. I found different sections of this book appealed to me as an educator, father, and grandparent of a 4 year old with another due in the Fall.To give you a flavor of his thesis: he addresses digital media issues based on the acronym RAP - Relationships, Attention/Addiction, and Privacy. His rule of thumb for living in the Digital Age (where data never dies)- which I've already quoted to my teachers, some parents, and my Sunday school class - is that children/students/teens must learn (be taught) to SELF-REFLECT before they SELF-REVEAL.In his classes at Stanford he has observed that today's students are less able to concentrate, write well, think coherently, or synthesize information than students of a few years ago. Also, his students appear to have shorter attention spans, and diminished memory capacity. Yes, he blames over-use and over-reliance on technology. And yes, it can be fixed.From cyber-bullying to privacy issues raised when parents post pictures of their newborns, he offers some of the clearest points and most useable advice I've encountered in all my reading on the clutter of technology-based issues in our social, educational, personal environments.Trust me: this is one book you really should read this summer. It is not a rambling theoretical, esoteric, impractical academic pontification from Olympus. It's an enjoyable read...AND:It may help you with issues involving your own kids.It may help you address issues on your campus.I can almost guarantee you will find yourself using and passing some of his advice on to others before you even finish the book.

Thanks for the quick delivery. A very neccessary Book to read in these Times we live in.Thanks so much.

...it's a good read. it will help you pull them out of the techno-muck. found it very helpful to read about some of the physiological effects of media on kids and felt this helped me to strengthen my resolve to sort out computer use with my 12-yr-old son. only took exception with one term that james steyer uses on page 39: "Growing scientific research also underscores the critical importance of "media time-outs" in our lives..." mr. (dr.?) steyer, our kids already take media time-outs. they have been hearing this term, "time-out," since they were tots -- it implies a respite or short break. most kids do take breaks...and then they try to spend the rest of the day (ie, far more time than is prudent) glued to the machine(s). what we need (and clearly, you know and agree with this) is the majority of time spent off the computer, and something more to a "time-in" on the computer. anyway, just a nit compared to the overall value of the book. the section which gave specific guidelines for acceptable amounts of screen time was invaluable. once i read that chapter, this hour-upon-hour thing was all over for my son. read this during the summer, which is the most difficult time to manage computer usage (as there is so much free time) and we have not budged from a strict 2-hour limit. the outcome is interesting: think the kids themselves are happier in the end when they are given more restriction (even though at first they will tell you that they are not). super book -- gave to one of my girlfriends for her bday, and have ordered several more copies to pass on. think most parents are scared to death about the issues discussed in this book, and it's a really good starting point for reeling things back in...

This book supplied both well documented facts on the impact of prolonged digital exposure to children and adults. I found his his examples on how to balance the use of digital media for maxim benefit especially useful.This book is a tool that can be used by parents so they can make informed decisions for the good of their children. Digital media is neither all good or all bad. I wish I had read this book while I was still in the elementary classroom. I have already given a book to parents of young children.

This book is a well thought out look at issues surrounding parenting in a digital age. I am currently leading a book study with it at my church. I appreciate the balanced approaches, non technical writing and helpful "teacher's guide" questions it contains.