This book is a must read (won best non-fiction book of 2013) if you have not already done so. I plan to share it with staff and parents when I return to school in August. The author points out youth are being taught in the digital age to "accept being routinely ignored and treated as unimportant." The author is a clinical psychologist who sees: 1) an increasingly destructive gender code starts younger than ever; 2) social cruelty has become in vogue and more intense via social media; 3) popular culture deletes childhood by normalizing violence, sexual exploitation, and pornography, once adults-only domains; and 4) the tech accessible to children at this age far exceeds their capacity to manage their use of it or anticipate the consequences of their misuse. The author encourages parents to use this message to encourage children to report concerns and ask for help... You can always tell me. I will never be mad at you. Even if you have gone someplace online where you weren't supposed to go, it's more important that you tell me. There is nothing you can tell me that I can't handle. The author emphasizes that "common sense and manners matter and must prevail in tech-assisted communications. I think this book is a valuable resource for families to address the tech revolution unfolding in homes today.
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