Providing information and resources for parents, youth workers and educators to help kids navigate their digital world.
Teens teach seniors how to best use technology to reach out to loved ones, which has become increasingly important while they are forced to keep distance because of national COVID-19 concerns. Read the article here.
Millions of U.S. teenagers shut up in their homes and receiving their education online are turning for morale support and comic relief to each other – via immensely popular video sharing apps like TikTok. Read the article here.
A new social media challenge could have your child licking different public objects to possibly get the coronavirus. Read the article here.
A new survey by National 4-H Council and Microsoft Corp. found that teens without broadband Internet access are less optimistic about their social and economic mobility. Read the article here.
Video streaming has also seen a bump, up 12 percent during peak usage hours. Read the article here.
“I’ve been doing what Gen Z does. I’ve adapted, I’ve overcome, and I’ve been on my phone too much.” Read the article here.
Uncertainty during pandemic tough for teens. Read the article here.
Audiobook powerhouse Audible launches Audible Stories. Read the article here.
Students were upset, but worked out ways to prom from home. Read the article here.
This is TikTok on coronavirus, and much like the world around it, everything feels weird and different. Read the article here.
Researchers want to examine how adolescents and others use their phones to nearly the second; ‘The phone really is this mirror.’ Read the article here.
Research has found that social media use can affect self-esteem, and make typical teenage pressure and bullying worse, but it can also connect isolated teens and help them find supportive networks. Read the article here.
Online dating has grown in popularity, but many young women report experiencing some form of harassment on these platforms, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Read the article here.
The Xbox Series X is due out at the end of the year and will go head to head with Sony’s latest offering. Read the article here.
New research provides evidence that how people present themselves on Instagram can influence how many “likes” they receive. Read the article here.
Free to play online, and available to download starting at 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT Tuesday, “Warzone” lets up to 150 players compete in a last-man standing combat game. Read the article here.
How do you know when all that gaming becomes too much gaming? Read the article here.
But new research from Kantar reveals that while this generation is more active than any other age group on social media, their favorite social haunts aren’t YouTube, Facebook, Snap or TikTok. Read the article here.
The media’s obsession with Gen Z and TikTok is ever-present, but whether user levels are as high as reported is debatable. Read the article here.
To some, the Chinese-owned online video service is an unnerving black box that could be sharing information with the Chinese government, facilitating espionage, or just promoting videos and songs some parents consider lewd. Read the article here.
Apps allow parents and insurers to track teen drivers, though sometimes it backfires. Read the article here.
Young consumers want to wear items that look like Gucci or Lululemon, but don’t necessarily want to pay for them. Read the article here.
A technology used in a number of prisons is tracking students now too. Read the article here.
Now it’s safeguarding the app from predators while revealing a smart new feature for spinning up anonymous group chats, powered by $8 million in fresh funding. Read the article here.
“On the one hand, [our devices] are great fun and often fascinating, but on the other hand, they can be a continuous distraction from our real lives and can often make us feel tense, nervy and disconnected.” Read the article here.
The maker of Metabolism Drops, Rae Wellness, has issued a recall after teens began promoting this weight-loss supplement on TikTok. Read the article here.
The “skullbreaker challenge” is spreading through the internet. View the video here.
Researchers say stressing over which selfies to post could become problematic. Read the article here.
A pioneering schools project connects stressed-out young people to therapists miles away via computers. Read the article here.
Developers say that because the app monitors tens of thousands of teens, it can pick up on trends and understands the way teens communicate. Read the article here.
Many kids use a variety of acronyms shortcuts when texting — sometimes to keep parents in the dark. Read the article here.
Kids and teens hold a lot of spending power that’s extending into households. Read the article here.
Learn how what you post can hurt — and help — the admissions process. Read the article here.
Children of first-time mothers, those in home-based childcare log most screen time. Read the article here.
If you’ve ever wondered what a VSCO girl is, why your kids respond to your questions with “yeet,” or where the “Old Town Road” is located, there’s now a helpful guide for that. Read the article here.
Online gaming community content publisher Twitch is poised to top 40 million U.S. users, according to new estimates released this morning by eMarketer. Read the article here.
When adolescent girls spend too much time agonizing over which photo of themselves to post, or rely heavily on editing apps to alter their images, there may be cause for concern. Read the article here.
Snapchat has announced a new feature called “Here For You” that promises to “provide proactive in-app support to Snapchatters who may be experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis”. Read the article here.
Teens can achieve online stardom almost overnight. While that creates an opportunity for a generation of internet users, it also poses a new challenge for a generation of parents. Read the article here.
Regularly culling their feeds helps ensure teens are putting their best face forward and youthful transgressions don’t come back to haunt them. Read the article here.
Are more and more teens experiencing the negative effects of social media? Dr. Gillian Galen and Cosmopolitan’s Jessica Pels discuss in this video from MSNBC. View the video here.
Smartphones, and being on Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and the like may be taking a big toll on teens’ mental health, a new survey of collected data on the subject shows. Read the article here.
Called the “Skullbreaker Challenge,” authorities and parents are warning teenagers that the new social media craze, made popular on Tik Tok, could cause serious damage to participants. Read the article here.
Companies are cashing in on this top passionate point among today’s youth, sealing deals and inking partnerships that they hope will capture the attention of today’s young gamers. Read the article here.
Two psychiatrists offer key changes that social media platforms can make to stop doing harm and start doing good for those who may struggle with their mental health. Read the article here.
Is this ultra-personal sharing happening in the wrong forum? Read the article here.
A new report released Monday suggests that increasing smartphone and social media use could be contributing to mental health issues among teens, including depression, anxiety, stress and poor self-esteem. View the video here.
Teens, more than anyone, need time spent in solitude, where emotions are processed and the brain powers down. Read the article here.
A total of 1,000 British parents took part in the research, and 56% would rather talk to their children about sex and puberty than learn about new online features, trends, and gadgets. Read the article here.
At its core, TikTok is a video sharing application where people can post videos and use an array of soundtracks and Snapchat-style filters, which can morph faces or create other intriguing visual effects. Read the article here.
Teenagers want to be understood, are some of the answers on Reddit helpful for parents trying to understand? Read the article here.
Teenagers are using group accounts to flood Instagram with random user data that can’t be tied to a single person. Read the article here.
Memes can provide an opening for parents to talk to adolescents about serious issues like coronavirus or the possibility of war. Read the article here.
Kiona Osowski’s Grade 12 research project started with a question, based on her own experiences as a 17-year-old teenager: why are girls so often asked for nude photos? Read the article here.
The gaming defections also highlight the growing challenge that Twitch, which Amazon bought for nearly $1 billion more than five years ago, faces in an increasingly competitive market filled with other tech-backed rivals. Read the article here.
Some teens go looking for this X-rated content on the site Wattpad, but some just stumble across it, potentially thanks to the site’s “You’ll also like” recommendations. Read the article here.
Algorithms designed by social and streaming platforms have been working hard in the background to learn user behavior and serve up new content specifically catered to each individual’s specific interests. Read the article here.
BBFC report finds parents are in denial or largely unaware of what their children view online. Read the article here.
For social media influencers and oversharers, life is full of material. But what if their friends don’t want to be the co-stars? Read the article here.
Most American parents believe their teens spend too much time playing video games, but many underestimate the actual amount, a new survey shows. Read the article here.
44% said their familial disconnect is a result of their kids logging inordinate amounts of time on their phones during traditional “family time” in the evening. Read the article here.
Navigating this technology thing is not fun, for parents or our teens, but fighting the battle is worth it. Read the article here.
Kids should have no expectation of privacy on devices given to them by their parents. Read the article here.
Brands such as E.L.F., Chipotle, and KIND are using TikTok as a marketing platform. Read the article here.
More than ever before, young people on smartphones immerse themselves in a digital atmosphere of high drama where a subculture of depressed and suicidal teenagers thrives, out of sight of most adults. Read the article here.
As teens go through everyday life, they deal with the normal pressures of school, friends, and family. One escape from this stress can be social media, but there can be unintended consequences for their mental health, according to researchers. Read the full article here.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, has become the social media app of choice for many teens. Read the article here.
One TikTok user demonstrated how swapping AirPods and using Google Translate is an effective way to communicate secretly. Read the article here.
While Instagram and the like are key to keeping up with friends, some high-schoolers admit that they often need a break. Read the article here.
The #outletchallenge on the TikTok app presents significant electrical hazards. Read the article here.
Adults’ digital habits could be hazardous to children’s speech and language development. Read the article here.
Stay on top of the popular titles teens are already using. Read the post from Common Sense Media here.
eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver and vice president of research Jennifer Pearson discuss children’s behavior online, the screen time stigma and YouTube child policy changes. Listen to the podcast by clicking here.
Taking away screens and reading to our children during the formative years of birth to age 5 boosts brain development. Read the article here.
Teenagers are skipping meals, sleep and doing their homework to spend more time online, according to a new report which asked young people themselves how their time on the internet affected their lives. Read the article here.
Porn can actually warp consumers’ perceptions of realistic sexual situations, especially as they relate to strangers. Read the article here.
Here are TEN things to look out for this year as you raise kids in a hypersexualized porn culture AND what you can do about it! Read the article from Protect Young Minds here.
Nielsen’s look back at the video games of 2019. See the research here.
The wild variations of how to raise tiny people into adults become more obvious as our children become more aware of their peers — adding yet another challenge to the already weighty task of parenting. Read the article here.
Social media allows young people to explore how they express themselves, says one teenager. Read the article here.
Email is not the default for most teenagers, but it remains the primary avenue for colleges to communicate with prospective and current students. Read the article here.
Many families draft a personal contract that lays out the rules of cellphone usage for their children. Read the article here.
Are teens decompressing through video games? Read the article here.
Decades of research document myriad harms of pornography, hardly justifying a laissez faire attitude toward adolescent exposure to sexually explicit material. Read the article here.
The rise of short video-app TikTok in 2019 is a sure sign that what defines a social network will be very different in 2020. Read the article here.
When it comes down to who is looking for love on Tinder, Gen Z took over the swipe-focused dating app. Read the article here.
Loot boxes are mystery items embedded within games that can be purchased for randomised rewards, including “skins” which change the appearance of a character. The skins can then be used to trade on third-party websites for real money. Read the article here.
Common Sense Media provides tips for helping prevent kids from seeing inappropriate content with these easy Netflix settings. Read the article here.
This the first in a series that looks at how social media has changed the way teens learn about, and engage in, sex. Read the article here.
Google will impose some new restrictions on ads surrounding child-oriented videos that appear on the main YouTube.com site, but will continue to allow influencer marketing and product placement on the site, the company recently told a lawmaker. Read the article here.
The role of loneliness and attachment style in teen porn use. Read the article here.
Popular game draws images from players’ camera rolls at random, causing embarrassment, raising privacy concerns. Read the article here.
10 parents give their unique perspective on helping a child overcome the addictive pull of pornography. Read the article here.
No 11-year-old should have to deal with, or even know, about things like this. Read the article here.
Disney+ was the most searched term for the entire year. Read the article here.
Sticking to a new routine can stop your children from becoming screen zombies. Read the article here.
The December 2019 Game On! Newsletter from Nielsen. Read the newsletter here.
Why it feels like everything is going haywire. Read the article here.
Google recently announced it will bring its Smart Compose feature from Gmail over to Google Docs. What will that mean for language? Read the article here.