Authentic Relationships in an E-Culture

A minister to teen girls examines the pros and cons of social networking websites, and wonders if Facebook "friends" really qualify as a true sisterhood.

Auto-Tune’s Sour Note

By filtering vocals through this technological wonder, singers can achieve all kinds of effects, including deceiving an audience into thinking they're more talented than they really are.

AXE, TAG Pander to Rutting Instincts

Sexy advertising images are nothing new. But provocative campaigns for body spray are playing dirty by objectifying women and cheapening God’s gift of sexuality.

Big Brother Is Watching

With Orwellian efficiency, the Internet gathers data that is in turn examined by a salivating group of observers. But it isn't a totalitarian government. That watchdog is us!

A Candid Conversation With Phil Vischer

The VeggieTales creator explains how rapid growth and ambition cost him his company, humbled him before God and inspired a big idea for online children’s programming.

Chatters Get More Than They Log On For

Learn why, despite websites’ best attempts to protect children in chat rooms, online dialogues can rob children's innocence and introduce them to predators.

Choosing Their Religion

Rather than rejecting spiritual truth outright, many young people are naively trying to tailor those absolutes to accommodate individualistic, consumer-oriented, iPod lifestyles.

Clearing a Channel for God’s Still, Small Voice

Christian teens often complain that God is silent today. Is He really? Or is a certain habit keeping them from hearing His voice and experiencing modern-day miracles?

ClearPlay Cleans Up Hollywood

Meet Bill Aho, whose multifaceted content-filtering system is giving parents more control than ever over movie content … and giving the film industry fits.

Connected, Yet Alone

Author and youth expert Andy Braner explains why Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are doing more to isolate our kids than create real community.

Cybersex: Why Our Daughters Are at Risk

Parents are discovering that the best way to protect girls from the lure of cybersex is to talk about this sensitive subject. Here's how.

The Day the Screen Went Dark

For one week every April, millions of people pull the plug and reconnect with each other. Could this be the year that revitalizes your family?

The Family That Plays Together

For generations, board games and puzzles have helped families connect and have fun together. In many homes today, video games are the activity of choice.

Forward This to Everyone You Know

Unregulated. Unpredictable. Unreliable. What families should do with those viral, eye-catching e-mails that sound too amazing to be true… and probably are.

The Guitar Hero Craze

Kids don’t need music lessons to rock like a pro, but what are parents supposed to think about popular rhythm video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero?

Hooked: The Addictive Power of Video Games

Are video games pushing your child's buttons? Authors Kurt and Olivia Bruner explain how their son fell prey to electronic games designed to become an obsession.

I Can Quit Anytime I Want To

A video game junkie confesses to a lifelong addiction that has led to his current obsession with … computer Scrabble? Apparently, even innocent games can leave us hooked.

Interacting With Hollywood

Thanks to fansites and blogs, buzz-hungry studios can anticipate audience reaction and make changes while a movie is still in production. But should fans be getting the final cut?

Is Facebook Changing How Kids Communicate?

How should parents respond to mounting evidence that Facebook and sites like it can retard the development of fundamental relational skills?

Is YouTube User-Friendly?

Clips on this popular video-sharing site range from useful and entertaining to egocentric and profane. Here's what families should know before logging on.

Facebook Blues

Being denied a Facebook account may leave kids glum. On the other hand, research shows that teens who have one are falling into a different kind of funk.

The Most Reliable Filtering Device Is Still a Parent

With video games evolving and migrating online, it’s even more critical that moms and dads keep track of what the kids are playing … and where.

My First Experience With Internet Voyeurism

Even when it's not sordid or salacious, choosing to peep into someone's most private moments online can seem a little like peering through a keyhole.

My Life Without TV

Who knew that a child singing a cartoon theme song could land the family television set in solitary confinement? Decades later, that little boy tells his side of the story.

Online Piracy

With digital music easy to pilfer and consequences rare, adolescents have little incentive to pay for what they can get free. But "Thou shalt not steal" applies to downloading, too.

Peace, Happiness and a Nifty Helmet Cam

With high-tech gadget gifts all the rage at Christmas, the owner of a brand-new video recorder straps it on and ponders its broader implications.

Portrait of a Bully

In the age of texting and online social networks, bullies come in all shapes and sizes. We look at the new abusers—and how families can cope with high-tech harassment.

Some Films Are Unsafe at Any Altitude

In the air, you're a captive audience. So what's a parent to do when your family has a turbulent encounter due to the airline's lack of media discernment?

Teaching Kids to Kill

What do a 15-year-old chronic video gamer and a U.S. Marine have in common? More than you might think. Take a look into the mind of a first-person shooter.

Thrilled to Death

An army killologist explains how America's lust for violent entertainment is destroying our culture … and our kids. What can we do to keep our children from being desensitized?

TiVo Is Bad for Networks, Good for Families

For one giddy media analyst, the chance to better control his television viewing and skip past annoying commercials has him eager to join the TiVolution.

The Truth About Unrated DVDs

Discover why re-edited, repackaged PG-13 movies deserve an R rating, but aren't getting one. We expose yet another cheat in Hollywood's ratings game.

Video Gambling Is a Bad Bet

With online gambling just a mouse click away, dealers and slot machines are as close as the nearest computer. And it’s even more addictive than casino gaming.

What Hath Broadband Wrought?

Increased bandwidth means more video content streaming onto our computers. What new challenges is this technological boon creating for parents?

What We Thought Then, What We Know Now

In 1971, LIFE magazine looked back at television’s first 25 years. What did its writers say, and how do those reflections and predictions look 40 years later?

Why Television Will Never Be the Same

Heralded as a socially responsible development sure to assist and inform families, the V-Chip was high-tech Trojan Horse destined to coarsen TV. Here’s why…

Wii Puts the “Active” in Interactive Gaming

Nintendo’s revolutionary video game console is unique because it combines pixilated fun with bona fide physical activity. But is there a downside?

World of Warcraft: One Family’s Battle

A concerned mother recalls how her son’s video game habits paved the way for a life-altering addiction to the multiplayer online challenge World of Warcraft.