Digital Shepherds - Latest Comments

Re: 5 Tips for Taking Your Daughter To Tea In LA

Tshaka — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:32:54 -0000

Thanks for the suggestion Brandon! We'll keep 'em in mind for the next go 'round.

Re: 5 Tips for Taking Your Daughter To Tea In LA

Brandon Lovejoy — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:01:28 -0000

If you really want to have a Daddy Daughter Tea to remember... see if you catch up with Adam Yasmin of Sacred Teaometry https://www.facebook.com/sacre... or Colin Hudon of Temple Tea. https://www.facebook.com/pages... Both Tea Sages serving the LA Area. :) Enjoy!

Re: Video Games: Violence Begets Violence

Dentist New Braunfels TX — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:35:52 -0000

Thank you for this website. Thats all I can say. You most definitely have made this blog into something thats eye opening and important. You clearly know so much about the subject, youve covered so many bases. Great stuff from this part of the internet.

Re: Raising Media Savvy Girls: Tween Celeb Sexualization

Stacey Seguin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:45:52 -0000

This is an older post, but still relevant! Meant a lot to me to find it today. Thank you for writing it.

Re: Video Games: Violence Begets Violence

cambin hill — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:25:09 -0000

I think it’s silly to blame one object in a child’s environment on their
behavior. Most of the causes of our actions are multi-factorial. Maybe you’ve never thought about it as I’ve put it above. Maybe you have and you’ve had a talk with them about the violence.
vente r4

Re: Smash or Pass? A Pass For Young Facebookers!

Christina — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:39:15 -0000

Just to share: I'm a 33 year old stay at home woman now. Let's go back. It's 1994/1995. I'm 15/16 years old. At this time, home connection to the internet was still a brand new concept. Our family had early access due to my mother and her job. Within months my home received a phone call from a prison by a man who was looking for me. I wasn't specifically talking to one person but instead I was holding cybersex situations with full chat rooms of people so I had no idea who this was. I will tell you this, it scared some Jesus into me. Yes this was before all the shields and prevention plans and discussions and the monitoring we have now but it was also before it became as easy as it is now to trace somebody back to their home. This was before the masses of the evil and the deadly became computer literate and savvy as a whole, but they are now. Just as everything evolves, so does the means and methods of those who wish to do you harm and the internet is, in my opinion, the absolute easiest way to find somebody these days...including your children. If I was a pedophile and needed to find the easiest targets, you are absolutely correct in thinking that I will go straight to this game to see exactly who needs that sexual ego boost. This game will show you exactly where the parents ARE NOT, leaving that space open for the child molester. So go ahead and give your children their "space' and don't "spy" on them, that's your choice but I think you should go ahead and have a plan in place for when your child is emotionally destroyed, raped, beaten, killed, or you just don't know where they are. I would rather my child need rehab for claustrophobic parenting than the other potential reasons that would result from this.

Re: Smash or Pass? A Pass For Young Facebookers!

Tshaka — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:31:31 -0000

We're in agreement on that one for sure!

Re: Smash or Pass? A Pass For Young Facebookers!

Tshaka — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:31:02 -0000

Thank you for commenting Candace!

Children should absolutely have freedom, you will get no argument from me there but letting them go online when they're young and not having any idea of what they're doing online is akin to allowing them to go to a friend's house for a play date and you've never met the parents and didn't even drop them off. You don't know who they're connecting with and they may find themselves in a situation they're not ready to handle appropriately.

Re: Smash or Pass? A Pass For Young Facebookers!

DrChanton7536 — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:32:17 -0000

I dissagree. Its all up to the parents to decide if they should be a member social networking site.

Re: Smash or Pass? A Pass For Young Facebookers!

CandaceDoug654 — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:29:53 -0000

Give some freedom to your children. I did, and honestly they're not any different. It is just a part of growing up.

- Seattle Mom

Re: Smash or Pass? A Pass For Young Facebookers!

Tshaka — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 23:39:29 -0000

Thank you for engaging us here John. We appreciate that you took the time to comment! Just so we're clear, we NEVER advise parents to spy on their children. Any parental control software installation should ALWAYS be preceded by conversation with the children.

The problem is that, often parents give children tech way before they're mature enough to handle all that comes with the responsibility and those youths then find themselves in compromising situations. So, it isn't about spying, but having an ongoing conversation beginning when children are young and allowing them to earn more freedom and autonomy as they grow and prove they're deserving of it.

Re: Smash or Pass? A Pass For Young Facebookers!

John — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:43:06 -0000

You guys need to calm down and stop micromanaging. Kids need their space, are you going to spy on their "locker room" conversations too?

Re: Conversations With Our Kids: The Mobile “Locker Room”

Tshaka — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 19:23:23 -0000

You're welcome Arlene. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Re: Conversations With Our Kids: The Mobile “Locker Room”

Arlene — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:04:07 -0000

Great info - my boy is going into 2nd grade and I want to be ready for the things he will be introduced to by his friends. Thank you Tshaka!

Re: Check Those Facebook Privacy Settings… Again

Tshaka — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:11:58 -0000

Didn't mean to double post. I'll have to check into that.

Glad you found the post and glad you connected with us here commentville! :)

Re: Check Those Facebook Privacy Settings… Again

Stay At Home Dads — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 09:38:21 -0000

did you mean to double post the content? I was thinking you were going to go deeper and then I realized I was rereading what I had just read.

Anyway thanks for the post, found it on you twitter feed on a #SAHD search, now it's time to go check out this new facebook feature

Re: The Link Between Australia, Cyberbullying And California SB 1411

Del — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:25:45 -0000

They need to expand these cyber hraasment laws, many only apply to kids in regrds to school. So if it happens outside of school then its not a big deal. I know its not a big deal with it happening with adults trying to harass other adults, but people need to realize that if adults are doing it and its OK, then why not for kids... I am seeing more and more awareness of this topic, which effects a lot fo people online and offline, even dragging people from offline to online, such as when people take random candid pics of others.

Re: iPhone SAT Prep App

Michael — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:30:20 -0000

I like this application a lot because I can use it anywhere. There also helpful information in collegeinsightsonline.com that can help in your SAT preparation.

Re: Take A Stand Mom and Dad! You Are the Gatekeepers

FamZoo.com — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:54:14 -0000

Excellent post Tshaka. It's an important "rant" for parents to hear. "Well, my child will just be exposed to that elsewhere" (or eventually for that matter) is indeed a parental cop-out. (Pretty mild as far as rants go, I'd say...)

Re: Take A Stand Mom and Dad! You Are the Gatekeepers

Tshaka — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:13:24 -0000

Thank you for your kind words and great observations! And, yes, the stakes definitely get higher as our children enter high school.

Re: Take A Stand Mom and Dad! You Are the Gatekeepers

Parenting2pt0 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:50:42 -0000

Rant all you want Tshaka, your knowledge and passion for kids' safety is much appreciated by me. Having worked previously as Director of a Tutoring Club, and parented also my own now college age daughters, I have witnessed first hand the truth that if a child really wants to see something they will. The reality is those dynamics were in play long before the parents entered the video store. Developing peer relationships is a key developmental stage for fourth graders and few parents realize it is actually normal for peer opinions to begin to matter more to them than their parents. Children friend children they find exciting on the playground, and within minutes one parent's pampered angel becomes BFF with a child who babysits himself after school.

All the more reason, as you say, those of us who are paying attention have to be vigilant for all. We need to have standards, know our kids, know our kids' friends and most importantly, educate ourselves on the most effective ways to communicate with children. Contrary to popular culture, which treats life skills like genetic inheritance, we can improve our communication and interpersonal skills once we are adults. The costs of not, and potentially alienating our kids and having them "be cool" behind our backs, get a whole lot higher once they enter highschool. Hugs for a great share. "Mama Marlaine" Founder Parenting 2.0 LinkedIN.

Re: National Robotics Week At USC

Tshaka — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:10:06 -0000

Thank you for reading and connecting with us here Jennifer! We had a blast and I will actually be contacting Maja who is the department head about kids "hanging out" there during the summer and learning more about robotics. We'll see if we can get some sort of program in place for upper elem/middle schoolers. ;)

Re: National Robotics Week At USC

Jennifer — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 12:27:23 -0000

I wish we were in town for this, but we were away! My younger daughter (who is now 9) has been interested in robotics ever since she received a little wind-up robot toy thing when she was 4. When she was in 2nd grade she had to interview someone doing a job she liked for a school report, and we tracked down a professor of robotics at USC (Maja is the prof's first name). The professor was so warm and friendly and engaging -- she showed us some grad students trying to hack a Roomba, and she showed us that robot that helps stroke victims too. My daughter named it "Patty Cake," because that's what she did with the robot.

It was a fantastic, wonderful experience. I'm glad you and your sons were able to come to the Robotics Open House! Our loss that we were away.

Re: National Daddy Daughter Tea Date

Tshaka — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:28:49 -0000

Thank you Randy for reaching out to us! We'll contact you in the coming days about hosting a tea event of your own.

Re: National Daddy Daughter Tea Date

Randy bard — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:07:42 -0000

I AM A FATHER IN ONTAIRO CA AND REALLY LIKE THIS HOLE DADDY DAUGHTER TEA THANG, I WOULD LIKE PUT ONE TOGATHER IN ONT, PLS WITH YOUR HELP...