Providing information and resources for parents, youth workers and educators to help kids navigate their digital world.
Generation Z now has $143 billion in buying power and is entering a back-to-school season with more purchasing happening on smartphones than ever. Read the article here.
Ever wonder what teens do on their phones all day? Read the article here.
A new survey from computer and smartphone maker Lenovo shows that pretty much all around the world, technology trumps parental intervention when it comes to helping kids with homework. Read the article here.
Generation Z has never known a world without the internet, smartphones and social media and their behavior is a constant source of fascination for companies who want to understand how to reach them with the next big thing. Read the article here.
American teenager Kyle Giersdorf won $3 million on Sunday in New York after taking the top prize in a tournament for the popular online video game Fortnite. Read the article here.
There’s a rise in cyberbullying nationwide, with three times as many girls reporting being harassed online or by text message than boys, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Read the article here.
Social media is helping spur the e-cigarette epidemic among America’s teens, a new study suggests. Read the article here.
Spending too much time scrolling through social media and watching more television has been linked with symptoms of depression in young people — and a new study reveals to what extent screen time and depression may be intertwined. Read the article here.
New legislation is set to crackdown on a phenomenon called “nomophobia,” which means living in fear of losing your mobile and having no internet connection. Read the article here.
Having come of age in a world in which virtual “likes” determine personal worth, more than half of Gen Z and Millennials admit to daydreaming about life without social media. Read the article here.
Less than a year after its U.S. launch, the platform is poised to dominate the American social-media landscape and upend the creator ecosystem. Read the article here.
For a fee as high as $200, so-called “screen time consultants” are helping parents figure out how to get their kids off of their devices. View the video from Good Morning America here.
Teenagers and young adults are moving away from Facebook in favor of platforms like YouTube and Snapchat, a new survey conducted by Business Insider found. Read the article here.
Two forces are at work to make avoiding porn next to impossible. Read the full article from Harvest USA here.
Colorado’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling last week that required a juvenile boy to register as a sex offender after sexting and trading erotic pictures with two girls roughly his age, a split decision that highlights states’ recent struggles with applying laws passed in a less tech-heavy age. Read the article here.
University of Texas Medical Branch researchers say that when older teens are sexting – sharing sexually explicit pictures and videos over mobile phones – it may simply be a healthy part of growing up. Read the full article here.
Technology overuse ranked as the No. 1 fear of parents of teenagers in a national survey last year. Read this story from NPR’s Life Kit series here.
Thanks to ongoing brain development and increased sensitivity to dopamine (a neurotransmitter associated with motivation, pleasure and reward), teenagers are more likely to crave reward-based experiences. And, because their prefrontal cortex (the area associated with understanding, evaluation and decision-making) is still developing, social interactions greatly shape impulse control and critical thinking.
Read the rest of the article here.
Adolescents overwhelmingly prefer their digital detox during their time at sleep-away camp. Read the article here.
The wild-and-wacky short videos of TikTok continue to gain popularity among kids, adults, and even celebrities. Check out some easy tips from Common Sense Media to help you manage your kid’s Tik Tok experience by clicking here.
Millennials were the first generation to grow up with widespread access to video games, and they’re just as active gamers as they were when they were growing up—if not more so. Read the research here.
Now that esports is in high schools across the country, your teen gamer can justify gaming as “training” — and maybe even win a college scholarship. Read the blog from Common Sense Media here.
YOLO is the hottest app out according to the app store, but more people are realizing the negative aspects of the anonymous question and answer app. Read the article here.
But whether there’s a causal link, and in which direction, remains uncertain. Read the article here.
With the power of the Internet at their fingertips, parents have to consider an important question: “When should kids get smartphones?” Read the survey results here.
TikTok has been downloaded more than a billion times around the world, with more downloads last year than any other non-game app besides WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Facebook. And teens are driving much of its popularity and success. Read the article here.
People are sending Boomeranged solicited nudes to one another. Read the article here.
New research suggests such campaigns can harm vulnerable populations in ways not yet fully understood. Read the article here.
Four out of five teenagers with mobile devices keep them in their rooms overnight — and nearly a third of those bring them into their beds while sleeping — according a study Wednesday that offered new evidence that mobile devices undermine the rest necessary for peak health. Read the article here.
A monthly report from Nielsen looking at video game trends. Read the newsletter here.
Underlying problems may make some young people particularly vulnerable to what they find on social media, an expert says. Read the article here.
In a deal with Emerge Gaming, a developer of online eSports and casual gaming tournament platforms, Viacom’s Nickelodeon will launch NickX, an interactive esports tournament platform on Nickelodeon. Read the article here.
Nip screen-time excesses in the bud with summer screen rules that start today. Read this blog post for suggestions from Common Sense Media here.
Nielsen’s SuperData unit, its video gaming research business, says millennials ages 22 to 30 watch almost six hours a week of game video content, on such platforms as YouTube or the video-gaming centric platform Twitch. Read the article here.
From Common Sense Media: The latest addition to the New Normal research series explores how smartphones and other mobile devices have changed families’ morning and evening routines and in-person relationships. For the first time, parents and teens reveal their habits around screens and sleep, from where they keep phones at night to how often digital notifications wake them up (and why). Access the full report here.
When it comes to teaching children about money, chore charts are out, electronic accounts are in. Read the article here.
A porn studio called Naughty America is under fire from Snapchat after the app banned them from promoting themselves on the app, but the studio returned with new insidious ways to market themselves to users. Read the article here.
Our society is addicted to spectacle. How do we keep our eyes are fixed on Christ? Read a review of a new book from Tony Reinke, titled Competing Spectacles: Treasuring Christ in the Media Age, by clicking here.
Many children growing up today will discover that their digital footprint began in utero and didn’t stop there. This phenomenon has come to be known as “sharenting”—when parents share pictures and videos of their kids on social media, creating an indelible trail of digital bread crumbs. Watch a video report covering this issue here.
What parents need to know about AirDrop, the Apple feature that lets you instantly share photos, files, and other content and can expose kids and teens to inappropriate content. Read the article from Common Sense Media here.
The three teenagers regularly shared silly videos, trying to one-up each other and trusting the group text messages would remain private.
But one especially sensitive text did not stay among them – landing the teen who first sent it at the center of a novel court case over a sexually explicit video she made of herself and shared.
Read the rest of the article here.
My teenagers face a constant stream of information and a culture encouraging them to never unplug. No wonder our kids are under pressure. Read the rest of this opinion piece here.
People are literally risking their lives for the “gram.” So what could be so worth it to risk it all for a sensational self-portrait? Read the article here.
Time Elmore takes a look at the issue of teens using burner phones. Read his blog post here.
Reducing blue light exposure at night may decrease fatigue and mood swings, researchers find. Read the article here.
A generation that lives online is redefining dating; ‘We only met for 20 minutes and that was the first and last time we ever saw each other.’ Read the article here.
The massively popular dating app claims to block underage users. The only workaround? Lying. And everyone is doing it. Read the article here.
Selena Gomez is voicing her concern about the “terrible” effect that social media has had on her generation, and says she advocates taking breaks from the platforms. Read the article here.
The internet is a dangerous place for a lonely teen to be. Read the article here.
One South Carolina family confiscated multiple phones their daughter had gotten from school friends or elsewhere. Read the article here.
Just how much is social media use affecting children? Read the article here.
Today’s cyberbullies no longer rely on chat-based venues, such as texting or instant messages. Instead, social media platforms, sometimes used anonymously, are employed to strengthen mob mentalities and the shame of victims. Read the article here.
Netflix’s UK office explained a little bit more about how the lists work via its Twitter account on Thursday. Read the article here.
The singer says her children’s lives became dominated by the technology. Read the article here.
How should some recent experiments and changes on Instagram inform our leadership? Read the blog post from Tim Elmore here.
A look at esports and other video game insights from Neilsen. Download the report here.
One of the world’s foremost authorities on child mental health today warns that technology is threatening child development by disrupting the crucial learning relationship between adults and children. Read the article here.
US video gamers spend more time watching video game content on streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube than watching esports tournaments. Read the report to learn more by clicking here.
While other generations got their start in life before the internet or smartphones, today’s teens have been online since they could walk and talk. They are the first generation of teenagers to experience the world through their smartphones. Read the insights from Viacom here.
Sometimes just have to put the phone down and admire the view across the harbor. Read the article here.
Only about 1 in 10 teenagers say they share personal, religious or political beliefs on social media, according to a recent survey from Pew Research Center. Read the article here.
If two minors share nude photos, are they felons? A change in state law signed recently by Gov. Jay Inslee clarifies the issue. Read the article here.
The NPD Group has released its report for the month, shining a light on the best-performing consoles and games in March. Read the article here.
Teenagers are eating banana peels, candy wrappers and more in a new viral competition dubbed the “shell on challenge.” Read the article here.
Pink, like many celebrities — and, in fairness, like most of the world — is active on social media. But recently she’s decided to change her posting habits, especially as related to her children. View the video clip here.
Listen to Albert Mohler talk about plastic surgery and the selfie culture on his The Briefing podcast. Listen to the episode or read the transcript here.
The male K-Pop group’s latest song notched 100 million views in less than 48 hours. It is the quickest to ever hit the milestone on YouTube. Learn more here.
From the Momo Challenge to the Mannequin Challenge, internet stunts can be funny — or completely frightening — for kids. Read this post from Common Sense Media here.
Some teenagers develop a craving to use a cell phone during inappropriate times, and new research suggests it is not something that is likely to change as they become young adults. Read the article here.
Does posting photos of children online endanger them? Read the article here.
There has been a recent surge in research examining the impacts of screen time on children and adolescents amid rising concerns that too much time in front of smartphones and constant access to social media is disrupting development and increases the risk of behavior, mental, and mood disorders. Read the article here.
Gone are the days of the male-dominated gaming landscape, as the activity has expanded to include a wider variety of players on more devices. Read the article here.
Distracted driving is already enough of a hazard—thousands are killed each year in accidents where a driver is messing with a phone, texting or reading a text, talking, whatever. Read the full article here.
The video-sharing app by the Chinese-owned Bytedance, the world’s most valuable startup, has a younger audience than Facebook, an algorithm that learns you, and different ideas about free speech. Read the article here.
Cloud Gaming holds the promise of a future where high-fidelity gaming is accessible across every device and available to everyone – streamed effortlessly, with no lag or latency. Read the latest Game On! Newsletter from Nielsen here.
The adult industry saw the highest number of mobile users at 84% for the third straight year, followed by gambling at 80%. Read the article here.
Gone are the days of the male-dominated gaming landscape, as the activity has expanded to include a wider variety of players on more devices. Read the research here.
Tim Elmore lists five rules of thumb for adults using social media. Read his blog post here.
Through their social media feeds, teens have access to a constant flow of news and information. Research suggests that this is taking a toll on them and increasing their anxiety. Read the article here.
NBA commissioner says many of the stars he meets are unhappy. The criticism they face on Twitter and Instagram could be to blame. Read the article here.
Is Instagram safe? How does it work? And what’s a “finsta”? Everything parents need to know about this popular image-sharing app. Read the article from Common Sense Media here.
Distracted driving is putting emergency first responders at risk, according to a new study. Read the article here.
Love it or hate it, parents have made their way on to social media, and seem to be there to stay. Read the article here.
L.A.-based startup Imbellus plans to upset the SAT and ACT’s monopoly with a test it says accurately gauges critical thinking. Read the article here.
From the Growing Leaders blog:
“A recent article on the Fortnite epidemic found that alarmed doctors are now treating Fortnite-obsessed kids for mental and physical health problems; including everything from “carpal tunnel to sedentary obesity.” Dr. Kate Roberts, a psychologist from Wenham, Massachusetts found that the most disturbing part of the addictive trend is how it changes young kids’ behavior.”
Read the rest of the blog post here.
As social change has altered the structure of family households in the US, digital technology has brought its own transformations. Amid these developments, parenthood today has characteristics that simply didn’t exist a couple generations ago. Read the report here.
Phone calls are made to the family demanding ransom money, but the scammers don’t actually have the child held hostage—they’re getting information from the parents’ social media. Read the article here.
Smartphones and social media are now an almost universal feature of teenage life in the United States. More than nine-in-ten U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 say they have access to a smartphone or use social media, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey. Read the research here.
Preschoolers who spend too much time in front of the bedroom TV are at risk of not getting enough physical and social interactions to promote proper physical and socio-emotional development, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatric Research. Read the article here.
The mobile era is also largely the app era, with mobile apps now dominating our time and web usage. View an infographic here.
A new study finds that young people are reporting loneliness in increasing numbers and at a rate outpacing that of their elderly counterparts. Read the article here.
Social media is a constant river of change. Whether it’s the users, the platform, or the content being shared, it is evolving relentlessly. We’re steadily into 2019 and there are a lot of new trends hitting the surface and innovative ways users are utilizing social media. Read the article here.
The impact of porn on men has been studied, but little is known about how it could affect women. Read the article here.
Gaming brands are developing streaming services. Read the article here.
While YouTube’s popularity doesn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon, a recent phenomenon is making many people question the safety of this giant video platform, especially for kids. Read the article here.
What makes an effective influencer is “mass popularity and a continual personal narrative — where they party, who they date, where they shop. It’s all just part of the fantasy lifestyles that regular people want to live.” Read the rest of the article here.
How a writing tool became the new default way to pass notes in class. Read the article here.
Up to a third of young men now experience erectile dysfunction. Some are turning to extreme measures such as penile implants – but is kicking their pornography habit the only solution? Read the article here.
Is TikTok safe? How does it work? And can I do a duet with my kid? Everything you need to know about this popular musical singing and sharing app. Read the article from Common Sense Media here.