Unplug Your Kids: A Parent's Guide to Raising Happy, Active and Well-Adjusted Children in the Digital Age

by David Dutwin

TV. Web Surfing. IMing. Text Messaging. Video Games. iPods.
Kids today are plugged into so much, so much of the time, it’s hard to keep track. But parents do know this It’s too much, already! In this book, parent and scholar David Dutwin, Ph.D. , shows parents everywhere how to cut the digital cord and free their children to play and learn the old-fashioned way - actively! Organized in three sections, this practical, prescriptive book offers a balanced - and realistic - approach for every age, including how introduce toddlers to TV - or not; let little kids use computers; control pre-teens’ online access; evaluate the pros and cons of video games; filter the Internet for teens; combat the impact of the media; and counteract all that sex and violence. This guide arms parents with all the tricks and tools they need to make sure their kids remain happy, healthy, active, and aware, no matter how pervasive the digital world we live in becomes.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Neda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good reference for parents, especially American parents.. full of data and applicable ideas!

[Libbydale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides good practical statistics and information on how to protect and direct your child's use of the tv, internet, and video games at every stage from birth to teenager. It includes information on ratings and how to use these to your advantage as a parents, as well as use of a V-chip and internet filters. I feel the title of the book is a bit misleading. I thought it would be more about truly unplugging your kids for good, but the author is a realist. We live in the age of technology, and this book is about protecting your children from inappropriate content and how to direct them to content that is "better". Use this book to help guide you as you guide your child in our video age.

[superawesomekt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I only rated this 3 stars I highly recommend it. The author is careful to only use research as the basis for his recommendations, which I appreciated. I didn't agree with all of his attitudes (as other reviewers have commented, he is much more permissive than the title of the book implies). Regardless, I appreciated his desire to manage media consumption in a balanced and realistic way.

The chapters are organized by children's age/phase and he goes through ratings, filters, etc. in a fair level of detail. I picked this up from the library on a whim and will definitely be keeping some notes for the future.

[Lupine]

Well, more skimmed really but found some very interesting nuggets. A lot of good information on how to have technology work for good and not evil in your home and with your kids. I'll need to read it again in about two years I think.