As anyone from a big family should be able to attest to, privacy can be a hot commodity in a family.  But in today’s world of constant connection from cell phones, text messaging, instant messaging, and status updates on various social networks, privacy is something that is even more lacking.  Well, for gifts for girls this year, why not give the gift of PRIVACY??

Although tempting, if I actually wrote in my blogs and online sites everything I was thinking all the time, I could get myself in serious trouble!  Teen and tween girls these days have no out real outlet that is just for them. The problems with this “everybody sees all” culture are very apparent.  The issues include, cyber-bullying, friend list expulsion, posting of unflattering or just plain raunchy pictures, stalking and child predators having access to kid’s personal details. 

So, if privacy is the gift, what form should it take?  Their own room? Not likely in this economy if they don’t already have one.  Their own laptop or netbook?  Not a bad idea, but that could end up exacerbating the problem by keeping them even more connected. 

How about a good ol’ fashioned secret diary?! (I bet you knew where I was heading with the line of thought, right?) 

And I’m not talking about one of those open diaries that EVERYONE can see and comment on (what is the use of that??). 

How about a place where private thoughts, rants, raves, goofy made-up lyrics, doodles- anything can be written without any repercussions from friends, frenemys, or anybody else. 

Nowadays, it is amazing if a teen even knows how to write, so electronic diary software should be the thing so that they can type their entries.  One of the options is the completely private Secret Diary allows a tween or teens feelings to be totally private and will even provide health benefits that I’ve talked about before.

So, on top of the list of gifts for girls for 2009- let’s place PRIVACY!

-Haley

Many therapists and psychologists agree that diary keeping is a very therapeutic activity.  This activity allows us to be creative and our writing skills don’t matter, because some of the best diaries are the private kind.  You can create your diary in book or in an electronic diary using diary software or even online apps, which all make it easy to keep a diary. 

Diaries allow us to better understand ourselves and therefore make it a bit easier to navigate through life’s many obstacles.  Diaries are also thought to be a stress reliever and allow us to find solutions to disputes.  As stress can be a major health concern as we age and can be a factor in creating or compounding heart problems, an activity such as keeping a diary is an easy way to help us in this area.

Consistent expressive writing and its link to many health benefits has been studied in length, including benefits such as reducing depression, asthma, and even symptoms of terminal illness!  Research completed at the University of Texas at Austin even found that diary writing can strengthen our T-lymphocyte cells and immune system! It makes sense that putting our thought and emotions down within diary software helps us to better organize happenings in our lives.

Many do not want to keep a diary because they are worried that a diary lock will not keep out unwanted readers of their personal diary, but there are ways to make sure your secret diary remains secret.  More on that another day!