Daniel makes stuff, and, in his spare time, writes about things like movies, kid culture, and geek stuff.
Would You Track Your Kid By GPS?

Annnnd… there it is. Geekdad is the one to ask the question. And, really oddly – for the otherwise really cool Geekdad – they’re actually serious when they ask the question, only stopping to consider the costs and potential privacy/“technology falling into the wrong hands” issues. Yet nobody’s asking whether there is a privacy issue for the kid himself? Whatever happened to parents putting a little bit of trust in their kids? Whatever happened to letting our kids be Free Range?

Thankfully, there’s the best comment in the world following the post:

“If I had a teenager, I’d be the proudest dad in the world if my kids figured out how to defeat the device.” – cv0098

UPDATE: Okay, the new best-comment-in-the-world now actually comes from a teenager himself. Here’s what “starwing123” had to say about things:

As a teenager, I must be completely opposed to this idea. Even when I was 9 or 8, I don’t think this would have been necessary. It completely violates a child’s rights. Children and teens get annoyed when our parents call us a lot, let alone track us. If you really can’t trust your kid or neighborhood that much, you really should move or do a better job parenting. […] The best part of childhood is the exhilaration that comes when a parents is not around and you feel free. It also forces children into thinking they cannot fend for themselves. That they cannot take care of themselves. Is that what you want your child to feel like?

Amen to that.

Jan 11, 2010 :: Tagged under: , , :: #

Everything I Know About Parenting I Learned From Mythbusters

There’s a reason geeks make great parents: they’re not afraid to be passionate about things. Well, that, and they’re used to constant ridicule, which helps when Little Susie comes home beaten to a pulp, not understanding why the Big Girls on the playground didn’t want to play Dungeons and Dragons with her during recess.

But there is something to it – to this wonderful fusion between geek and parent. Parents inspired by geeky things can also apply that great nerd disposition they have to inspiring and nurturing a sense of wonder and exploration in their kids, ultimately helping them have happier childhoods.

Kevin Makice, writing for GeekDad, shares five wonderful parenting mantras that he swiped from the ultimate geek television show – Mythbusters. And you know what? It’s absolutely brilliant advice.

“Failure is always an option” (that’s #1) – if more kids were told this (and saw this manifested in their parents), maybe we wouldn’t have a whole subset generation so wigged out about doing things perfectly and, thus, ultimately not doing anything at all. Making mistakes is the very essence of creativity and innovation.

Your reality is not my reality – that’s a good one (it’s #2), and the foundational bedrock of Social Psychology (which is awfully fun to conduct on unsuspecting kids, by the way). People build their realities through interaction with others and from their lived experiences – and it’s probably important to remember that kids are awfully short, have to ask for a hallpass to use the restroom most of the day, and almost never have the same experiences we have. So yeah, your kid lives on a different planet; we all do. The decent thing is to just accept that and, when you can, try to understand where both of you are coming from. Maybe you can meet in between, at a pit stop on Neptune.

There’s a few other important parent lessons learned from geekdom, but undoubtedly the most important is this: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” (And with explosions, if you can manage it.)

Sometimes when the crew is finished busting, there is still time to play. “Overdoing” an experiment may be an excuse to put Jamie’s C4 principle to use, but it also typifies an important insight about learning.

… “Children have to use too much,” (educator Bev Bos says.) To understand one’s limits, experimentation with excess is mandatory. Bos recommends putting out more material than seems necessary and inviting kids to use as much as they want, even if that means using several rolls of toilet paper to make a paper rock. It is never wasteful to spark a child’s creative spirit. Remember the Mythbusters motto: With enough lubrication, we can do anything.

Ain’t that the truth. I think I used up plenty more words here than I needed, which perfectly illustrates that point.

So I guess the lesson for today is this: Don’t be afraid to be a geek, and use all that nerd bravado to your advantage when you’re parenting yourk ids.

(And yes, full disclosure: I rank about a 9.3/10 on the Geek Scale – and I’m totally not ashamed of it.)

Jul 21, 2009 :: Tagged under: , , :: #