iRules, Janell Burley Hofmann
iRules, Janell Burley Hofmann
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iRules
What Every Tech-healthy Family Needs to Know About Selfies, Sexting, Gaming, and Growing Up

Author: Janell Burley Hofmann

Narrator: Carrington MacDuffie

Unabridged: 7 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/21/2014


Synopsis

As Janell Burley Hofmann, mother of five, wrapped her 13-year-old's iPhone on Christmas Eve, she was overwhelmed by questions: "Will my children learn to sit and wonder without Googling? Should I know their passwords for online accounts? Will they experience the value of personal connection without technology?"

To address her concerns, she outlined boundaries and expectations in a contract for her son to sign upon receiving his first cell phone. When Hofmann's editor at the Huffington Post posted the contract, now known as iRules, it resonated on a massive scale and went viral, resulting in a tsunami of media coverage and requests. It quickly became apparent that people across the country were hungry for more.

In iRules, Hofmann provides families with the tools they need to find a balance between technology and human interaction through a philosophy she calls Slow Tech Parenting. In the book, she educates parents about the online culture tweens and teens enter the minute they go online, exploring issues like cyberbullying, friend fail, and sexting, as well as helping parents create their own iRules contracts to fit their families' needs. As funny as it is prescriptive, iRules will help parents figure out when to unplug and how to stay in sync with the changing world of technology, while teaching their children self-respect, integrity, and responsibility.

About Janell Burley Hofmann

Janell Burley Hofmann is a parent coach who writes about parenting and technology for the Huffington Post, has a weekly spot on NPR's "American Public Media Marketplace" as a tech etiquette consultant, and has been covered by Good Morning America. She lives in Sandwich, Massachusetts.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lance on April 04, 2017

I'm a big skeptic of books about technology and social media that work from any vantage point that implies they are irrelevant, detrimental, or outright harmful. That is, many works are written from a fear-based approach that denies youth's agency and often overplays supposed innocence. Hofmann does......more

Goodreads review by DeAnna on July 13, 2015

This book was VERY helpful for putting together our family tech rules. I'm still overwhelmed by managing tech with my kids, but at least I now have a framework for getting started.......more

Goodreads review by Munchi on October 12, 2021

Me ha gustado mucho. Este libro nos recuerda que no estamos educando solo para la tecnología, si no que la tecnología es parte de nuestra vida, y se le pueden aplicar las mismas normas y el mismo enfoque que a todo lo demás. Nos anima a involucrarnos, a conocer, y a equivocarnos acompañando a nuestr......more

Goodreads review by Kerry on July 01, 2014

In the age of technology where the kids are far more savvy than their parents a book like this is a must read. There are some common sense rules for online social interaction as well guidelines for children to protect themselves. More importantly, the book sets the tone for encouraging parents to be......more

Goodreads review by Leah on February 24, 2017

I read this book as part of a book club at my daughter's school. I think all parents should read this book. We are parenting in a new era where children not only have access to a vast amount of content, but they are able to create it. The author does a good job of giving parents guidelines, but ulti......more