Tweens and teens are increasingly using Internet and cell phone technology to communicate with each other. Gone are the days of pen pals and snail mail; today it's webcams and text messaging. Producers have taken notice of these trends and incorporated these new technologies into two popular television shows.

Nickelodeon's i-Carly
targets tweens through both TV and an interactive website. Tweens can log on to the site, upload their videos or pictures, and see them broadcast on the show. The combination of Internet technology and television is innovative and sure to spawn replicas.

On the CW's adolescent soap opera, Gossip Girl, Manhattan's elite teens receive text updates from "Gossip Girl," an anonymous blogger keeping tabs on the scandals of the rich and misbehaved. The characters also regularly snap incriminating photos and record video on their phones that are quickly distributed amongst the student body. The show features sex, drugs, drinking, and gambling…pretty much everything you hope your child is not doing; but teens love it and the integration of technology with the high school social hierarchy is both perceptive and accurate.

NBC's quarterlife aims at a slightly more mature audience, but it too follows the trend of straddling the line between computer and television technology. The series was first produced for the Internet, but later moved onto television. The show centers around the blogging activities of the main character, as she writes about and outs her friends' secrets.

As technology becomes an ever-increasing factor in your child's life, it will play an even larger role in how they watch television. Our advice? Tune in with your child to get a feel for how your tween or teen is using the Internet and cell phones. Stay ahead of the TV shows so you won't be so surprised by what you see and remind your kids it's just entertainment.

The Internet and other new technologies raise many concerns for parents and guardians, especially those with teens. There are risks associated with these new advances in technology; however, there are also positive ways in which technology can be used. This is exactly why concerned parents are challenging the New York City Department of Education's cell phone ban. They argue that cell phones are the only way to keep in touch with children commuting to school, oftentimes for one to two hours across boroughs.

One of the petitioners cites the time when her 12-year-old daughter was threatened on her way home from school; luckily she was able to use her cell phone to call for help. NYC parents are also quick to recall the terrorist attacks on 9/11 when cell phones provided vital communication between family members affected by the tragedy. Without cell phones, these lines of communication may be closed.

There are risks associated with teens carrying phones to school (the NYC Department of Education lists cheating through text messaging or phone cameras, and gangs summoning members to fights among others), but teens are capable of using their cell phones in responsible, even life-saving ways. Here are some examples of cell phones being used in potentially life-saving circumstances.

In 2006, a teen, allegedly kidnapped by a man posing as a law-enforcement officer, was held in an underground bunker for ten days. It was only when she sent a text message to her mom that authorities were able to track her down and rescue her.

In 2003, a fifteen year old boy prevented his alleged kidnapping by using his cell phone camera to take pictures of a man trying to lure him into a car. The teen also took pictures of the license plate, which led to the man's arrest the next day.

In these situations, technology facilitated communication between the quick thinking teens in danger and someone who could help them. Without the use of a cell phone, no one knows what would have happened. Although teens mostly use their cell phones to keep in touch with friends, the accessibility and speed of communication can also be used for their protection, and in these circumstances, the rewards may just be worth the risks.