Here is another recall notice from the CSPC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Snow Bikes Recalled by Tech 4 Kids Due to Fall Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: OUTER EDGE Snow Bikes

Units: About 2,100

Manufacturer: Tech 4 Kids Inc., of Canada

Hazard: The front ski can crack or break, causing the snow bike to stop suddenly and posing a fall hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Tech 4 Kids has received three reports of consumers falling off the recalled snow bikes and sustaining injuries as a result of the defective front ski cracking or breaking. Injuries included a cut requiring stitches and a dislocated shoulder.

Description: The recall includes OUTER EDGE brand Snow MX-Ski-Doo® and the Snow MX-X Games™ snow bikes. The Snow MX-Ski-Doo snow bike is yellow and black with “Ski-Doo” printed on the steel frame and on the front ski. The Snow MX-X Games snow bike is blue and black with “Snow MX,” a skull and swords printed on the steel frame and on the front ski. “OUTER EDGE” is printed on the snow bikes’ packaging.

Sold at: Costco, sporting goods stores and other retailers nationwide and online at Amazon.com and Walmart.com from September 2010 through January 2011 for about $150.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled snow bikes and return them to the store where purchased for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Tech 4 Kids toll-free at (866) 287-4761 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or visit the firm’s website at www.outeredgeindustries.com/safetynotice/

Is your young kid already exposed to computers this early? For some parents, exposure to computers, online games, to be specific, may be cutting it a little too early for someone who is only about five years old. But for other parents, it has been most beneficial.

I, for one, had my son exposed to computers at age four years old. Though I have not seen any drawbacks, except that he’s probably going to get eyeglasses much earlier in life, his behavioral patterns have not changed. I have seen some significant improvements with his reading skills, however. He has also learned to spell words and I have observe his comprehension is a lot sharper than normal.

Although there are research that suggests early exposure in computers may be bad for children, it cannot be stopped and many parents are finding themselves sharing computer time with their toddlers and little kids.

The children usually visit PBSKids.Org where games from Sesame Street are extremely popular with parents and little children. NickJr.Com also has wonderful virtual games that a child will find fun, educational and entertaining.

Technology as a learning tool is something we all have to incorporate in our kids’ life. The key, however, is to provide a balance between everything else, such as allowing your kids to play outdoors once in a while. Or letting them read books or spend time and socialize with people.

Set a time limit for computer use and if possible, monitor their activity and have computer times together with your kids.

Incoming search terms for the article:

• kid in computer
• kids computer use

Computer skills are quickly becoming a greater necessity than they were before, and finding ways for kids to get to practicing can be both fun and extremely educational.

More than just that, with technology progressing as quickly as it is and computer skills being more necessary now than ever before helping kids get a hang of using the computer now can help them advance quicker.

There are a few fun (and free) ways to help kids get the hang of these technological skills now, which will help to set them up for a technologically sound start.

There are a large amount of online game websites out there, and finding one that is age appropriate can seem difficult. If you don’t want to shell out cash for a disk, your best option is checking out the online (and kid friendly) choices. Many of the already loved characters have available free games out there Nick Jr, Disney, and even Cartoon Network all have some fun (and even some educational) offerings for the younger set.

The websites above are a safe and easy to understand option for many kids, a personal favorite is the Nick Jr website which has a ton of different options for my own daughter (who is in the process of learning now).

Like many modern moms, I have all those little social networks as my stops online.  It’s primarily due to them that I can stay in touch with friends and family that otherwise I would have lost contact with a long time ago. 

Besides, let’s face it- social networking can be incredibly fun. 

Also like a lot of other moms, I have quite a few mom friends online too.  Most of them are a lot more talkative about their children that I am, as I tend to take the private route.  With many of those friends, you wouldn’t even have to be right there to know what’s going on at any given time with them, their children, and every other little detail.

Unfortunately, this same openness has also seemingly erased any real acknowledgement of things that may be left not online.  While at some point most people have secretly laughed at some of the digital faux-paux online, many of the same people who wouldn’t dream of doing ‘something like that’ could still putting themselves at risk.  Maybe even in ways they aren’t thinking of.

The case of a mom who recently found her child at the center of a Craigslist adoption scam recently found this out the hard way.  While yes, her child was home and not going to be kidnapped- the entire incident left her understandably shaken. 

When it comes to our children, everything is exciting.  In a world of firsts it can be hard to not over-share all those firsts, and besides (and especially for parents) they are exciting.  With digital cameras you can take a ton of photos and post them all in a matter of seconds, and really with our cell phones- it really doesn’t take much to update everyone on all those same things.s

A simple ‘first’ update with a photo can have some lasting problems for children, especially in their later years.   Kids can be cruel, and if your blog or status updates are uncovered by a bully, that really won’t bode well for your child.

Also considering the sheer amount of people online, and how many people may be on your ‘friends’ list, many that you may not really know- there’s always the chance that someone with some not so great intentions may stumble upon those photos.

The easiest way to protect yourself is really to keep private.  Be it by not sharing too much, or just remembering to to update privacy settings on your social networks.

Recommended:

Tarascon Primary Care iPhone Application Launched

Samsung To Embed Skype with Broadband HDTVs

Image by lunaweb via Flickr

Image via Wikipedia

Norton, the computer security software giant, released to the public a list of search terms by age group.  What the kids are searching for is something parents need to both question and assure that their own children aren’t searching for anything similar.

While many aren’t anything that should cause concern things like youtube and myspace, among the result are some decidedly ‘adult’ terms.  Below is the top ten (by age-group), and the list continues past that.

This is quite alarming, even if you aren’t an alarmist. 

Is there cause for concern?  While very few will argue that kids shouldn’t know about this kind of thing, many also argue that parents need to do more to protect their children- especially online.  Keeping the home computer in a public place,and limiting access to more mobile devices could help. 

While with the older set, and all school aged kids need access to computers, keep it within the parents view can help curb any inappropriate searches.

Recommended:

Logitech’s Portable Webcam C905

Fashion mistakes for the party season