A family room makeover in a design magazine recently caught my eye. The room included two identical TVs on one wall (with a fireplace between). The caption explained that the intention was for two people to watch TV “together,” each  using a separate screen and headphones.

I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it embraced reality: Cable television has become so diverse and specialized that each family member finds programming developed specifically for their interests (or age group). On the other hand, it’s sort of sad to…

OK, I’ll admit it: As a parent, I get tired of saying no. That’s why I gravitate to plans or programs to help kids limit the length of time they spend in the front of the TV or on the computer, rather than the endless nagging: ”You’ve already used your TV time. (And this time I mean it.)” Here are some tricks that kids often find more palatable than a more straightforward “two hours per day” mandate.

Check out my post today on Decoder, the blog of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America. I’ll be guest blogging there for the next week or so.

http://decoder.drugfree.org/

Call in the mediators! Send us all to therapy! All four people in my family have dug in their heels, thrown tantrums and refused to share. What is this valuable “toy” we each want to claim for our own? It’s our kitchen TV in the morning. Joe wants CNBC for the stock ticker and market analysis. I grew up watching the Today Show and depend on it to know where the world sits as I start my day. Andy must see ESPN and its derivatives to be totally up-to-the-minute, just…

I just read a transcription of a brilliant speech given at this year’s Web 2.0 conference by Clay Shirkyon, author of Here Comes Everybody. He speaks of our societal ”cognitive surplus,” the mental time freed up as we’ve moved from physically taxing work and long hours to a more balanced, cognitive work and lifestyle. When the industrial revolution took hold in the early 1900s, people dealt with the new urban life by drinking. (Skirkyon calls it a collective bender.) In the 1960s, people dealt with the new suburban life by…

This week, our kitchen sitting area has been the site of a social experiment of sorts. Our TV there went suddenly and permanently mute a few days ago.  Without warning and for no apparent reason (other than poor manufacturing), the two-year-old TV’s internal speakers stopped working. Next week, we’ll have the TV repaired. But in the interim, we’ve been using headphones. And this has created an interesting kitchen dynamic.

On the first day of mute, I was joyful with the silence. But then a pall began to slowly descend over the room. There’s something…

Hmmm. How to punish teen vandals without having a crime appear on their “record”? The AP reports that the New Smyrna Beach, Fla., home of Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy was vandalized two weeks ago by teenage girls. They used fire extinguishers, eggs and running water to damage the 87-year-old’s home. Cathy requested the girls not be charged with a crime, but he did want them to learn a lesson. As a result, they were banned from playing video games and watching TV.…