Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World

I hardly ever write review for products I’ve purchased on Amazon, but this book was worth my time. As a parents of young and pre-teen children, I’ve never felt sure how I should approach the use of electronics in my house until I read this book. As a repentant gamer, I had decided that I didn’t want my children to grow up addicted to games, as I had been for awhile. I also have family members that spend all of their “extra”, ie. not sleeping, working, or any of the other basic necessities of life, playing games. But, having said that, I love new tech and knew that I wanted my kids to be comfortable with technology, so I would set time limits, usually an hour a day for them to use their tablets. It didn’t feel right. After reading Culatta’s book I new feel confident that I can help my children navigate the two world the live in, the physical and the digital. I purchased a copy for myself, for my oldest son to read and markup for our discussions, and copy to loan out to other women in a book club I belong to, after choosing this book when it was my turn to chose one.Here are a couple of comments from other women at book club, made during our discussion: “I was going to be one of these mothers who buried electronics in the backyard until my child was 18, but now I’m not. I feel like if I didn’t let them have it I would be doing a disservice because their is so much they can learn on them.” “It validated the way I feel about electronics.” “I purchased a copy and sent it to my parents.”Such a great read! I highly recommend it to every parent with children under the age of 18. A funny, motivating read that is down to earth and provides practical talking points to discuss with your child.

I read this book in an afternoon! It's an enjoyable, sane, and totally do-able look at how to manage the fact that our kids WILL use the internet and WILL be active participants in this increasingly digital global society.The world today is practically unrecognizable from when I was 17, dialing up on AOL and marveling at the early days of "trolls" and the unmatched glory of The Hamster Dance.Despite having countless conversations and reading piles of books, I've felt hugely unprepared for helping my daughter and our family navigate digital life in a positive and constructive way. This book has changed all of that! We've already started implementing some of the 5 easy steps!I'm so glad I read this!

This is packed full of research and examples about tech with literal scripts that reframe how we think and talk about the technology in our lives. One of my favorite parts of this book is the applicable advice on how to discuss technology use with your kids. That mental reframe is so refreshing - this book does not imply technology use is "bad" but instead offers pathways to guide kids in using technology to enrich their lives. A tiny example - instead of "too much screentime" saying, "your family wants a chance to spend some time with you as well" which really begins the conversation in a different place - one of collaboration instead of judgement. I love this useful book for helping kids become effective digital citizens!

Richard Culatta addresses the obvious that many of us are in denial about—our children and in my case, grandchildren, are living in two parallel worlds. The real world and the digital world are both vying for their time and attention every single day. He provides a practical guide to help parents, grandparents and teachers instruct them to become responsible digital citizens. His writing feels like you’re having a conversation with him as he shares his professional expertise mingled with real life experiences. Easy to read, entertaining and informative sum up the strengths of this book. It should be at the top of your reading list!

Such a refreshing, helpful, positive book! I loved how the author addressed a serious and often overwhelming topic in a way that felt digestible and hopeful. So many authors and researchers addressing this topic do so with doom and gloom. Our digital world isn't going anywhere so I appreciate that this book gives helpful tools on how to best harness its powers while learning how to better safeguard our children (and ourselves) from the scary parts. It's given me lots ideas for discussions to have with my kids. Highly recommend for any parent trying to navigate the challenging waters of children using technology!