iRules

Book excerpt: Tech enlightenment and empowerment for parents so they can create iRules contracts for their own families As Janell Burley Hofmann, mother of five, wrapped her thirteen-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 password 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 help parents create and modify their own iRules contract to fit their families needs.iRules will also help parents figure out when to unplug and how to stay in sync with the changing world of technology, while teaching teach their children self-respect, integrity, and responsibility.