News
We scour the Internet and post the latest articles and thought pieces relating to digital parenting.
Parents, Sometimes You’re The Problem When It Comes To Tech Use
Parents of young kids pick up their phones an average of almost 70 times a day — often to escape a stressful parenting moment. Here's how to stop using your phone as a pacifier, for you or your kids. Full Story:...
read moreInstagram Adds New Anti-Bullying Measures, Including Comment Warnings and User Restrictions
Instagram is adding some new measures to help stamp out on-platform bullying, including new automated comment warnings and the capacity to restrict selected users. Full Story:...
read moreSocial Media Could Make It Impossible to Grow Up
Early internet scholars bemoaned the loss of childhood. In reality, the exact opposite is happening. Full Story:...
read moreThe most popular social media platforms with Gen Z
For social media, members of Gen Z gravitate toward Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, according to a survey by Business Insider. Full Story:...
read moreAt Your Wits’ End With A Screen-Obsessed Kid? Read This
NPR's Life Kit sent a parenting expert to help a family cope with its kids' device fixation. The family learned that setting media boundaries means more than limiting the time kids spend on screens. Full Story:...
read moreCan Screens Help Your Child’s Brain? 4 Tips To Get The Most From Kids’ Media
The family that plays video games together stays together. When parents become digital mentors, children can learn empathy and resilience and prepare for careers. Here's how to harness the advantages of screen time. Here's what to remember:- Whenever possible, share...
read moreThe inescapable social media crisis is about expectations, not addiction
If we change the way we talk about "phone addiction," we'll have a better shot at addressing it. Full Story:...
read moreHandling the power struggle between parents, kids when it comes to technology
"The struggles for parents have really changed, I believe because of technology," said local parenting expert Amy McCready. Full Story:...
read moreHave Anxiety About Your Kids and Screen Time? This Explainer Will Help Set Rules You Can Actually Follow
Experts and media warn against the dangers of screen time for kids and adults alike - but how worried should parents be, really? We spoke to tech experts, pediatricians and advocates to get smart advice on how to handle screen time for children in an educated,...
read more‘Screen Time’ Is Over
The phrase can't remotely capture our ever-shifting digital experience, social scientists say. Say hello to the "screenome." Full Story:...
read moreYour Kids Think You’re Addicted to Your Phone
While parents are, of course, worried about their teenagers' phone use, that concern goes both ways, a new study found. Full Story:...
read moreTeenagers need our support, not criticism, as they navigate life online
Nearly half of teens say the effect of social media is neither positive nor negative on them; it is just life as they know it. So let's support them through the highs and lows. Full Story:...
read moreParents and Kids Weigh in on Their Family’s Tech Protocol
What's your screen time scheme? Full Story: https://www.wired.com/story/kids-parenting-screen-time/
read moreWhy 3 hours is too much
What happens when you have an active, involved kid with good grades, who wants to play video games for three straight hours a day, every day? Full Story:...
read moreInstagram Test Hides the Number of Likes From News Feeds
It's part of a push to make the platform less competitive for users. Full Story: http://time.com/5580887/instagram-likes-new-features/
read moreMinecraft can increase problem solving, collaboration and learning – yes, at school
The supervised, structured and balanced use of Minecraft could allow students to fully benefit from the potential of this game to build skills and increase motivation. Full Story:...
read moreWorld health officials take a hard line on screen time for kids. But will busy parents comply?
The organization issued new guidelines for kids under five on how they should interact -- or avoid -- electronic screens. Full Story:...
read moreSchools cracking down on apps that let parents listen in on students
Lake Travis ISD says it doesn't want to stop parents from using GPS tracking apps or devices, but they become legally problematic when parents use them to listen in on their kids. Full Story:...
read moreWhat The Screen Time Experts Do With Their Own Kids
Many of these experts are also parents, and their work informs their approach to making rules with their kids about phones, TV and other media. Full Story:...
read moreParenting in a Digital Age: What Experts Are Saying (via Psychology Today)
New research reveals youth depression is on the rise. Full Story:...
read moreParents Can Police Screen Time — but Good Luck Telling Your Children That
Stories about its effects spook parents with children glued to YouTube. But do we even understand what we’re fighting? Full Story:...
read moreOpinion | Prince Harry Wants to Ban Fortnite? Here’s What He’s Missing
Don't think of it as an evil video game. Think of it as a rowdy block party. Full Story:...
read moreThese are the sneaky ways apps like Instagram, Facebook, Tinder lure you in and get you ‘addicted’
App developers use psychological tactics to keep us addicted to our smartphones. Full Story:...
read moreThis College Basketball Team Banned Smartphones. Now It’s in the Final Four
Texas Tech men's basketball team, the parents of America salute you. Our country's coaches also offer a hearty thanks, as does any teacher who's had... Full Story:...
read moreIs raising unplugged kids a terrible idea? Spawned Ep 146
On this episode of Spawned, author Jordan Shapiro chats about his refreshing approach to digital parenting, and how parents can embrace the challenges. Full Story:...
read moreMy Son’s Story of Electronics Addiction and Recovery
“If your child were addicted to drugs or alcohol, would you let him have just a little bit?” It was this question from Matthew’s cognitive behavior therapist that started my head spinning. My child… Full Story:...
read moreTeens aren’t socializing in the real world. And that’s making them super lonely
The percent of high school seniors who said they often felt lonely increased from 26 percent in 2012 to 39 percent in 2017. Full Story:...
read moreI Embraced Screen Time With My Daughter—and I Love It
Everyone frets about screen time, but what they should really be focusing on is something called connected parenting. Full Story:...
read moreHow Kids Are Using Google Docs to Bully Each Other
As a parent, you might walk past your child’s room and see her happily typing away on a Google Docs page. “Lovely!” you think. “She’s probably working on her science report or finishing up her essay on the rise of RBG.” Full Story:...
read moreParents, Stop Teenage Privacy NOW
There was a time, when teenagers could have privacy, and by that I mean, they could have one room where we could get away from the world, where they could shut the door, put on some music, open-up a notebook, and write the things that were on their hearts—a piece of...
read moreThe Real Threat to Your Children Isn’t the Momo Challenge
The “Momo challenge,” the latest iteration of the remarkably persistent teen suicide game scare, is a hoax born of parents’ media illiteracy and anxiety about what kids do online all by themselves. But the issue of internet-inflicted harm to minors is real, and...
read moreAfter Facebook’s Scandals, Mark Zuckerberg Says He’ll Shift Focus to Private Sharing
The Facebook chief executive said the next wave of social networking would be to enable private and encrypted discussions. Full Story:...
read moreYouTube bans comments on most videos featuring minors to fight child exploitation
YouTube will prevent users from commenting on most videos featuring minors, the Google-owned company said on Thursday, in response to growing concerns from users and advertisers that pedophiles were using comments to track and exploit children. Full Story:...
read moreFTC Hits TikTok With Record $5.7 Million Fine Over Children’s Privacy
TikTok announced on Wednesday that it was launching a separate portion of its app for children under 13, which “introduces additional safety and privacy protections designed specifically for this audience.” Full Story:...
read moreStop blaming teens’ mental health issues on “screen time”
How much screen time teens are getting is the wrong question. Full Story:...
read moreYouTube axes more than 400 channels over child exploitation controversy
YouTube has come under fire for allowing disturbing content, leading major companies to pull their ads Full Story:...
read moreWhat Your Teen Could Be Facing Online and What You Need to Know
Sexting scandals and online shaming is something your child will likely have to deal with at some point. Here's how to help. Full Story:...
read moreLet’s Talk, for real, about Nude Selfies: a Concerned Mom’s Response.
Let's talk nude selfies. Let's swap stories and opinions and be titillated and giggly, or serious and reflective. We can talk politicians and celebrities. We can debate the shaming of women versus our sexual liberation Full Story:...
read more3 fears about screen time for kids — and why they’re not true
We check our phones upwards of 50 times per day -- but when our kids play around with them, we get nervous. Are screens ruining childhood? Not according to children's media expert Sara DeWitt. In a talk that may make you feel a bit less guilty about handing a tablet...
read moreScreen Time Isn’t Harming Kids Much at All, Rigorous New Oxford Study Finds
Are phones making kids more depressed? No. More suicidal? More selfish? More isolated? The answer is no, no, and no again. Full Story:...
read moreDoes Social Media Push Teens to Depression? New Study Says No
Time spent on Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook probably isn't driving teenagers to depression, a new study contends. Full Story:...
read moreDear Therapist: I Looked Through My Daughter’s Phone, and I Didn’t Like What I Saw
I thought something was off about one of her new friends—and my suspicions were right. Full Story:...
read moreTeens Don’t Use Facebook, but They Can’t Escape It, Either
Gen Z appears mostly indifferent to Facebook, but they can't escape the social network; it’s their parents who are doing most of the posting. Full Story:...
read moreThe Atlantic’s Taylor Lorenz: Facebook is irrelevant to Gen-Z
"“Instagram is the perfect modern social network which allows kids to express their identity in a fluid way, which is what they want." Full Story:...
read moreHow social media is inspiring children to save the natural world
It’s true that many young people stare at screens instead of being out in the wild – but others use technology to form a global community of conservationists Full Story:...
read moreTwo Georgia Siblings Create an App to Help Prevent Teen Suicide
What if, when you're feeling vulnerable and alone and scared, you could push one button and the people who care about you most instantly came to help? That's the idea behind notOK, an app developed by the Lucas siblings, Hannah, 16, and Charlie, 13, of Cumming,...
read moreForeign laws decriminalize teen sexting
New laws in Australia will allow teens to take, keep, and share nude photos of themselves and others. It's a fine line between decriminalizing and encouraging, isn't it parentsIt's a fine line between decriminalizing and encouraging, isn't it parents Full Story:...
read moreThe Kids (Who Use Tech) Seem to Be All Right
A rigorous new paper uses a new scientific approach that shows the panic over teen screen time is likely overstated Full Story:...
read moreHow To Help Your Girl Take Back Control Of Her Social Media
Before I build a moat around my daughter, I have one big question: Why isn’t anyone teaching me (and her) how to use social media as a tool for her power? Full Story:...
read moreWhen Is Social Media Damaging for Teens ? Warning Signs to Look Out For
Social media isn't inherently good or bad. But the impact of social media on teenagers who are vulnerable or struggling may be dramatically different. Full Story:...
read moreForget Screen Time Rules – Lean In To Parenting Your Wired Child, Author Says
"One of the things I suggest in the book is that kids should be starting on social media much younger," he says. And, play more video games with your kids, too." Full Story:...
read moreScreen time: how much is too much?
A vast analysis tackles a defining question of the digital age. Full Story: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00137-6
read moreMicrosoft Bing not only shows child pornography, it suggests it
Illegal child exploitation imagery is easy to find on Microsoft’s Bing search engine. But even more alarming is that Bing will suggest related keywords and images that provide pedophiles with more child pornography. Following an anonymous tip, TechCrunch commissioned...
read moreDon’t fall for the moral panic over children’s screen time
Books liberated me when I was young. Phones and laptops do the same job today, says the Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik Full Story:...
read moreHave Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?
More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis. Full Story:...
read moreSocial media linked to higher risk of depression in teen girls
Teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to show depressive symptoms linked to social media use. Full Story:...
read more5 Media Resolutions Every Family Should Make in 2019
This year, find ways to be more mindful of your media and tech use -- and your kids will catch on. Advice from Common Sense Media editors. Full Story:...
read moreScreen time not intrinsically bad for children, say doctors
“It is important that we recognise that screens are a modern way of being,” he said. “Reading we see as a hugely positive thing, but it is largely a sedentary thing. We have never done studies to look at the link between reading and adiposity [being overweight] but it...
read moreCurb Your Screen Addiction: Make a tech-free sacred space in your home
It can be a place, like your bedroom, or even a piece of furniture, like the dinner table, or that one couch that’s so hard to get off of once you start scrolling through Facebook. Yeah, you know the one. Full Story:...
read morePart 1: Adolescent Tech Use and Mental Health: Expert Roundtable
The use of technology is also transforming the mental health landscape, with significant implications for clinicians who work with adolescents, in particular. Full Story:...
read moreHow much screen time? Silicon Valley parents are still trying to figure it out.
Even in super-aware Silicon Valley, parents know it's unrealistic to keep their kids off social media entirely. Full Story:...
read moreFortnite isn’t a game, it’s a place
Lots of ink has been spilled about whether or not Fortnite is addictive, bad for kids or whatever else, but few are telling the stories of how much better it feels to participate in a connected experience that isn't just arguing with internet trolls all day. Full...
read moreA Parent’s Guide to Fortnite: What is It—And Why Kids Love It
Mike Langlois, a psychotherapist specializing in gaming, social media, and psychology, bridges the gap between gaming kids and their parents. Langlois encourages parents to change their perspective of gaming. Instead of seeing it as an isolated activity, understand it...
read moreThe Tech Generation Desperately Needs Wilderness Therapy
Summit Achievement has been operating as a therapeutic wilderness school for teens ages 13 through 20 since the 1990s, but it’s only recently that we’ve seen such an influx of clients suffering from tech addiction. Parents are handing iPhones to their kids at a...
read moreHow Teens Turned Instagram Into a Dating App
Dating culture is thriving on Instagram and other platforms popular with youth. Full Story:...
read moreApp that works as panic button helped save Grand Junction teen from alleged kidnapping
The victim told police that he met a person he thought was a 13- or 14-year-old boy on a social media application called “Kik.” After communicating for several days, the person messaged him and said he was in town and wanting to meet him. Full Story:...
read moreOn Cultural and Technological Parenting
What are the lessons we can learn from the uses of media and public debate that the Ohio father, Matt Cox, who made his daughter walk to school five miles after she was kicked off the bus for bullying another student brought to the fore? Full Story:...
read moreOpinion | Rediscovering My Daughter Through Instagram
Few things are more painful than loving a 15-year-old girl, particularly when she is your child. Ask any mother who has been through a daughter’s adolescence and she will nod in sympathy, maybe even give you the hug you have been missing. Full Story:...
read moreGroundbreaking study examines effects of screen time on kids
If you have kids and wonder if all that time they spend on their smartphones endlessly scrolling, snapping and texting is affecting their brains, you might want to put down your own phone and pay attention. The federal government, through the National Institutes of...
read moreDoctors urge parents to go old school this Christmas: ‘No evidence … that screen time is good’
Play Doh or PlayStation? Board games or Game Boy? Coloring books or “Call of Duty?” Pediatricians are telling parents to go old school in buying gifts for children this holiday season and focus on simple toys that stimulate creativity instead of complicated gadgets....
read moreFortnite’s Minecraft-like creative mode launches tomorrow
Fortnite’s next major mode is coming very soon. Today, developer Epic unveiled “FortniteCreative,” a new mode that is coming as part of the game’s seventh season. From the sounds of it, creative is an expansion of the previous playground mode, putting an emphasis on...
read moreInstagram Now Lets You Share Pics With Just ‘Close Friends’
The Facebook-owned app is rolling out a new feature called Close Friends, which lets users create a separate list of followers to grant special viewing permissions. When posting a Story to Instagram, users will be able to differentiate between posting for everyone and...
read moreTeens Would Like You to Know Social Media Is Actually Good So Back Off, Mom
The internet gets a lot of flak for being a big, bad place where people get harassed and bullied and depressed and anxious and angry and upset and this list could go on forever. But it’s not all bad, especially if you’re a young person trying to make connections in...
read moreTeens selling provocative pictures and videos on social media, making thousands
"One girl in particular has made more than $10,000," said a local high school student. WPBF 25 News talked to a senior at a Palm Beach County school, who wants to remain anonymous. She showed us how her fellow classmates are taking racy photographs and videos and...
read moreFamilies opt for flip phone instead of smartphone: Here are 10 reasons why
Parents, we have a dilemma: you want to be able to communicate with your kids but you don’t want to fight with your kids all the time about overusing a smartphone. Manufacturers are realizing that some consumers actually want less from their phones and are coming out...
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