I am Mac Tech geeky kind of mom. I know enough technical stuff to be dangerous and I am pretty well informed (for an OLD PERSON) about online teen habits, teens use of social media and the web.   

I thought I was hip to this new age of parenting kids that "IM" and have MY SPACE.  It turns out, I was wrong.  There is a lot of information that I did not know or did not have all the facts on.  Because of my experience, I am on a mission to spread the word to other parents about technology, teen web use and how teens and tweens use technology to communicate.

Starting next week, I am going to be writing everyday about different issues that parents need to be aware of as our teens and tweens grow up in a world we couldn't have even imagined when we were their age.

There is a great book called TOTALLY WIRED that has some real-world, basic information about what kids are doing with the technology they have grown up with.  TOTALLY WIRED is an excellent resource for parents because it helps us have a realistic perspective on the situation and how to deal with the issues that come up in our kids "brave new world".

I am going to be writing about examples  from TOTALLY WIRED as well as other resources that can help all of us navigate our way through issues like:

• teen blogging
• social networking sites aimed at teens
• cyberbullying
• how technology is affecting parent-teen communication
• how technology is being used (or is not being used) in education;
• how teens have embraced technology and are transforming entertainment and media

One reason I like the message of TOTALLY WIRED is that it's not all "gloom and doom" about kids online.  Anastasia Goodstein, author of TOTALLY WIRED maintains the new technology has both a  positive and negative impact on our kids.

 "The good news is that kids are using technology to express themselves in creative new ways," says Goodstein.  "What kids are doing online and with their cell phones doesn't have to be any more
stressful ."

New technology and the web are just more things to add to the parenting mix but technology brings both good and bad things to our lives.