'Unconditional love, support, structure, and stability' aren’t the focus of the digital era, suggests law professor Garon in this savvy, nuanced take on parenting an online generation. To help parents harness the power of the web as part of a healthy environment for children, the author focuses on the need for 21st-century 'information literacy, digital literacy, privacy literacy, and cultural competency' for both kids and adults. He covers concerns with seriousness but never fearmongering, touching on online connections (a great potential way for children, particularly LGBTQ kids, to find supportive communities), pornography (child pornography is prosecutable even when the material is created by teens and only shared with peers), and the potential for political radicalization or the possibility that an adolescent could become a malicious hacker. He outlines security and privacy practices and offers e-commerce safety tips, and his legal background comes through in concise explanations of online privacy protections and educational accessibility law.... Parents skeptical about the web would do well to pick this up.
— Publishers Weekly
At Last! The guidelines parents and teachers having been waiting for. And, it’s all in one organized, straightforward, book. Technology can be such a large, difficult expanse of terms and capabilities that change rapidly. Jon Garon’s book, Parenting for the Digital Generation will give both parents and teachers the information needed to confidently provide support and instruction for any child’s education.
— Kimberly Durham, PsyD, Dean of the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, Nova Southeastern University
An impressive compendium of the latest evidence on how to think about the use of technology with children! Given the fast-moving nature of technology, the book also presents some strong principles to help parents think about how to continue to get the vast benefits from technology while limiting the downsides.
— Michael B. Horn, author, "From Reopen to Reinvent"
As a child psychologist and a mom, I know most parents have concerns about how to parent in this quickly-changing, fast-paced, digital world. This book provides families with a strong knowledge base for understanding the basics of the digital world, offers examples of the benefits of technology, discusses the concerns, and provides an understandable framework for determining how to maintain balance within the family. The easy-to-read charts that describe developmental stages in relation to media use will become a favorite resource page as I continue to support families in their goals of finding the strengths in the digital world that will help foster their children’s development while maintaining age-appropriate and realistic limits. This book is a must read for all parents.
— Sandra Sondell, PhD, Psychology Consultation Specialists
Parenting for the Digital Generation should be required reading for every parent, educator, and young adult. This comprehensive manual is one of the best organized guides in print today. Mr. Garon provides concrete instructions and recommendations for parents and anyone who wants to maintain a balanced digital life. The legal and ethical standards provided are timely and relevant as our society continues to be more reliant on all forms of technology.
— William J. Kopas, EdD, Head of School, NSU University School
I am thrilled to see a publication of a practical, encyclopedia-like, easy to read, follow and understand guide/handbook for all. It is a most needed guide for parents, teachers, and counselors, especially during this digital informational age. The Parenting for the Digital Generation is comprehensive and packed with one-stop shopping resources for all stakeholders. The book's unique features are the solutions provided for parents struggling to keep their children safe, happy, and engaging before the internet and during the upsurge of digital usage. The book also covered the legal aspect for all stakeholders. I was pleasantly surprised by the many options an educator and stakeholder have both inside and outside the classroom to help keep our children safe, happy and engage while using the internet.
— Hui Fang Su, EdD, Professor of Mathematics Education and creator of Project MIND – Math Is Not Difficult®, a K -12 mathematics implemented in hundreds of classrooms throughout the United States
Jon Garon's book is a must-read for every parent, grandparent, teacher, and caregiver concerned about how children and teenagers are using and either benefitting from or being consumed by digital content. The sections on videogames and data-gathering via surveillance are especially illuminating for those of us who hope to let our kids use the best of digital content (as we needed it so much over the past 18 months) and avoid what we hope they won't use.
— Sarah Jane Hughes, JD, University Scholar and Fellow in Commercial Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
This book is a "must read" for all parents who worry about how to support their children during this time of increased digital expectations. As a child psychologist and parent myself, this book offers something new to the field of parenting in the digital age. Parenting for the Digital Generation provides current life examples, including cyberbullying, mental health, deepfakes and disinformation, and offers strategies to help our children understand how to use technology in a safe and useful way, while ensuring they are aware of the negative aspects of the internet.
— Ellie Covin, PsyD, LP, Licensed Psychologist
As a parent of a twelve-year old, I have often had questions and fears about my child's access to digital media. Like most parents, I have turned to the Internet for answers, but have been frustrated by the multitude of contradictory opinions that lack credibility or research. As a psychologist and academic, I know there are more reliable and trustworthy sources. Jon Garon's book is the resource I have been looking for. Both comprehensive and readable, Parenting for the Digital Generation is an engaging read from cover to cover and a valuable reference book for my shelf. Every parent should have a copy.
— Kurt A. Boniecki, PhD, Associate Provost for Academic Success and Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Central Arkansas
Today children and schools are often more adept at understanding and using technology than parents, leaving them confused and without information or skills. This book gives parents a clear and comprehensive framework so they can “get their head in the game.” Parenting for the Digital Generation teaches terminology, relevant laws and rules, dangers, and safeguards. It provides understandable and practical strategies for raising healthy children based on their developmental age. I’ve never seen anything else that puts all the pieces together.
— Karen Grosby, EdD, Dean Nova Southeastern University College of Psychology
As a parent, lawyer and educator, Professor Jon Garon brings his unique insights on the effect of today’s technology on families and the legal/social structures that both protect and threaten family cohesiveness. This book combines deep legal and technical knowledge with practical insight. Here lies an understanding of the social and technological waves buffeting children today, with the tools and resources to calm the waters.
— Ted Claypoole, JD, editor and co-author of The Law of Artificial Intelligence and Smart Machines and author of Protecting Your Internet Identity and Privacy in the Age of Big Data