Taming the Gaming Without Shouting or Pouting

June 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Don’t know a Lich King from an Avatar? An RTS game from a MMORPG? Or a frenemie from a facebook poke?
That’s okay, because parents don’t need to be techies or heavies to keep connected with their digital kids,
while keeping them safe and healthy. According to the new DVD, “Plugged-In Parenting: Connecting with the
Digital Generation for Health, Safety and Love,” authored by bestselling parenting expert Judy Arnall, all that
parents require is a brain, ears and a body to help kids navigate the digital world and connect with them in the
real world. Understanding children’s needs and why they embrace the internet helps parents to assert their
needs and problem-solve tricky issues with their children without battles, yelling and punishments.
“It’s critical that today’s parents change their parenting techniques. They are not raising kids to play in the
sandbox anymore, but in the world-wide web. Keeping the ‘family computer in a communal space’ is old advice
in this age of mobile devices used by children as young as seven. Parents need to know how to keep kids safe
without constant surveillance.” says author, Judy Arnall. The old style of behavior modification techniques rely
on two controls that parents no longer have – supervision and enforcement. It’s difficult for parents to access
all the sites that their children visit, even with surveillance software. In addition, parents can’t control which
sites children see at their friends’ homes or even on their mobile phones. To complicate matters, busy parents
don’t have the time to preview sites or enforce the rules of computer, video games and social network use
because the sites are vast, ever changing and difficult to monitor. “Parents don’t need to understand
technology – they just need new parenting tools designed to cement trust and communication in their
parenting relationships.” says Arnall. “Cyber-safe kids are connected kids – connected to their families, their
parents and their community more than connected to their devices.”

PLUGGED-IN PARENTING: Connecting with the Digital Generation for Health, Safety and Love is a 2-DVD set
that utilizes 125 slides, 6 vignettes and narration to provide over two hours of tips, skills and strategies for
parenting digital children from babies to teenagers, in every aspect of digital intelligence including internetsafety,
netiquette, cyber-bullying, social media guidelines, and online learning. It even outlines the academic
and social benefits of video gaming. Parents will appreciate the valuable parenting demonstrations of keeping
communication lines open while setting healthy boundaries on video/computer games, social media and cell
phones. This DVD is ideal for busy parents and caregivers who want accurate researched information, but have
little time to read books.
Available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and www.professionalparenting.ca $29.95 ISBN 9780978050917
Published by Professional Parenting Canada, copyright 2010, 125 minutes.