Small Humans – Page 2

Lyft Ride Hailing Apps Small Humans Tech Uber

Ride-hailing apps for kids promise to take over for carpool for busy parents

sudshr47 December 5, 2018

Welcome to Small Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2018 and we have the entire internet to contend with.

Last year a survey from a kid ride-sharing service found that nearly 40 percent of parents with kids between the ages of 6 and 17 spend more than 5 hours a week driving their kids to school and activities. With only 168 hours in a week, offloading that time to a car service can seem like a saving grace.

So several companies have stepped up to shuttle your kids around for you. Despite Uber and Lyft’s popularity, they and similar ride-hailing apps don’t allow unaccompanied minors. So that leaves parents depending on carpools, favors from other parents, or buckling in for another soccer practice run. That’s where so-called kid-friendly car services offer another way to get kids where they need to go — without parents involved. Read more…

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Mental Health Awareness Parenting Family Small Humans Tech

Dear dads: Have the courage to be vulnerable, especially online

sudshr47 December 1, 2018

On the morning of September 18th, 2016, like many parents, I woke up to the voices of tiny people in my ear yelling, “Get up, Daddy!” I didn’t know what time it was, but there was no way in hell I was getting out of bed yet. It felt like I’d only been asleep for fifteen minutes and my head was throbbing, as if a bunch of Smurfs started a mosh pit in my cranium

I rolled over and ignored my two young daughters. As any kids would do, they decided to increase the intensity by jumping on the bed, nudging me, and tickling my feet. Instead of pretending they weren’t there, I sat up, completely snapped and yelled, “I’m tired! Just leave me alone, OK??” Read more…

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Family Parenting Pet Adoption Small Humans Tech

How to navigate the world of internet pet adoption with your kids

sudshr47 November 28, 2018

Visiting pet adoption sites with names like Petfinder and Adopt A Pet can be addictive (and fun) ways to spend time online. And while adults usually can refrain from adopting every adorable dog and aww-worthy kitty that they see, many parents are discovering that the sight of a cute puppy up for adoption can trigger pleads of “Can’t we bring it home?” from their kids. Read more…

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E Waste Small Humans Tech Toys

The e-waste nightmare lurking in your kid’s toy box

sudshr47 November 23, 2018

Buzzing remote control cars, singing puzzles, peeing dolls, and animated T-rexes don’t just set off major headaches for parents dodging toys in the playroom. They pose a real hazard to the future our kids are inheriting.

When a toy police car’s lights still flash but its siren no longer sings, it is often impossible to repair and nearly impossible to recycle the cheap embedded electronics. Very few toys are made with screws to enable anything other than a replacement battery. So, if the Mickey doll can no longer do the Hot Diggity dance, you might feel inclined to chuck the thing. Read more…

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A Woman On The Internet Culture pregnancy Small Humans Web Culture

Being pregnant on the internet sucks

sudshr47 November 13, 2018

The excitement of finding out I was pregnant is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.
My husband and I were overjoyed, on vacation, blissful and so, so excited to start a family. We had this little, personal secret. This tiny human just starting…

Family And Parenting Small Humans Tech Texting

Group texts are the new cliques for teens and tweens

sudshr47 November 10, 2018

Your kids aren’t allowed to use Snapchat, you monitor their Insta DMs (and their finsta), and they’ve held off on a Facebook account for now. But there’s another option that has many of the same problematic dynamics as the services above and no barrier to entry. In fact, you probably make your kids use it all the time: the group text.

Group texts are the 21st century version of congregating in front of a middle school locker. Kids carry this communication in their pocket and into their homes. At their best, group texts offer a sense of community and acceptance, enhancing social connections and forging friendships. At their worst, they provide one more avenue for drama, exclusion and some downright nasty comments. Read more…

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Gaming Parenting Family Small Humans Tech

Games and apps to rely on when you really need a quiet kid

sudshr47 November 2, 2018

Parents everywhere are trying to find the right balance for screen time with small children, but if you absolutely have to make it through Aunt Edna’s three-course birthday lunch or take part in a grown-up conversation during dinner, sometimes to only thing to do is to hand your phone over.

When you’re giving your child a game to play, you want to be confident that it’s child-safe, age-appropriate content — which is where this list comes in. We’ve hand-picked a selection of iPhone and Android apps that are especially designed to engage and educate younger children. Read more…

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fortnite battle royale Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Parenting Family Small Humans Video Games

A cheat sheet for researching a video game your kid wants to play

sudshr47 November 1, 2018

There are a lot of things kids and parents fight over, and video games are often high on the list. Many parents, especially those who don’t play video games themselves, may be reluctant to let kids play games over concerns about safety, violence, or even simple screen time. The good news is that there are plenty of resources to move your family game discussions away from a reflexive “no” and toward a more nuanced articulation of house rules. Read more…

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Kids Mental Health Small Humans Teens

What kids need to be taught about mental health in schools

sudshr47 November 1, 2018

There were two words that weren’t mentioned at all during the entire 18 years I attended schools in the UK. Mental health. Come to think of it, mental illness wasn’t mentioned either. Thankfully for the next generation of young people, that will change.

The government recently announced the introduction of mental health lessons in schools along with “mental health support teams” who will work with young people in schools to help them measure their own mental wellbeing. A recently published green paper outlined the government’s plans to make mental health education a compulsory component of the curriculum in state-funded schools and colleges. By 2025, every school and college in England will have a “designated lead” trained to spot mental health issues in students. Suicide prevention charity Samaritans expressed support for the move, stating that “learning to deal with your emotions is as important as learning to read and write.” Read more…

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Fake News Media Literacy Politics Small Humans Tech

The skills kids need to avoid getting fooled by fake news

sudshr47 October 31, 2018

One day your kids are learning to walk and the next they’re on their own sharing Russian propaganda on Youtube and Facebook.

You might think your great-uncle using an old desk top to “surf the internets” is the person at risk of accidentally spreading “fake news” on social networks, but kids these days aren’t always faring so much better.

A large-scale study by the Stanford Graduate School of Education found that young people at every stage from middle school to college were consistently unable to differentiate news from advertising, or false information from the truth, a state of affairs the researchers described as “bleak.” Read more…

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Kids Parenting Family Small Humans Tech

How to tell if you’re a ‘Lawnmower Parent’ and what to do about it

sudshr47 October 27, 2018

Helicopter Parents have reigned supreme in the media these last few years but they’re being replaced by a hyper-concentrated version of themselves with a new moniker: Lawnmower Parents. If you’ve never heard of lawnmower parents, take a seat now because you’re about to have some strong feelings.

Lawnmowers don’t just hover over their kids to make sure that they are safe, they obliterate any whiff of a struggle for their kids by curating every aspect of their childhoods. These parents tend to do extreme things, such as choose their child’s friends, practice “redshirting” to ensure their child’s early academic ease and success, and even jump into arguments on their child’s behalf to prevent their kid from having hurt feelings. Read more…

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