Screenagers: Growing up in the Digital Age, a documentary film, follows a family as the grapple with buying their 12-year-old daughter a smartphone. The family struggles with what type of phone is age appropriate and what restrictions to place on the new phone. As we watch them weight the benefits and costs, we see how technology…
Happy National Cyber Security Awareness Month! Once again, KidsPrivacy is excited to be a Champion for this campaign. Every October, my Twitter feed lights up with security tips and tools for keeping devices safe and secure. Every year, I discover more new and updated security tips. One of the best places to find tips for…
While teens are not interested in Facebook, Facebook is still interested in them. Facebook is doing its best to draw them back in. Recently, Facebook launched a new app only for teens. I have doubts about the success of Lifestage (and this may be a subject for a future post). Where Facebook has been successful is splintering…
Last week, the National Cybersecurity Alliance in cooperation with Microsoft released the results of their study on the online safety attitudes and behaviors of families. They asked both kids and parents about their online lives including what problems they faced and how families worked together. Often parents were in the dark about their teen’s online activities. One…
Last week, Dona Fraser the Vice President of ESRB Privacy Certified explained the new COPPA rules. This week, we continue our conversation with some tips for how parents can help their kids choose the right apps. KidsPrivacy: Will the new COPPA rules include apps like Instagram or Vine that currently restricts to users to over 13? Dona Fraser: Many…
KidsPrivacy is back from summer break and scrambling to get ready for school. Like many families, the easy days of summer led to a softening of rules especially around tech. Without the pressure of homework and bedtime, phone chargers crept upstairs and screen time became all the time. For us, September is the month of…
Most parents do not allow their children to run out the door without telling them where they are going. In the same way, children should not be running around online without parents knowing where they are. Not every app or website is suitable for kids. By using filters and parental controls, parents can allow their…
Parents may approve an app for their teen then find out 6 months later it is filled with new features. After writing What Parents Need to Know about Musical.ly, Musical.ly added Direct.ly (direct messaging) and Live.ly (live streaming). Recently, a parent sent a question to AskKidsPrivacy about direct messaging on Musical.ly. Q: What is Direct.ly? Is…
Smartphones enable teens to connect and engage with their friends and the world. These devices can also capitalize on the impulsivity of teenagers. Add in hormones and boyfriend/girlfrend, teens may be tempted to take or share a sext. I wrote about sexting with Amy Lang, from Bird+Bees+Kids, almost 4 years ago. We collaborated on a script…
When I started writing, KidsPrivacy focused on how to protect children’s personal information online. As technology has expanded so too has KidsPrivacy. Recently, I returned to my roots for the Digital Parent Podcast. On the Digital Parent Podcast, Sedgrid Lewis and I chatted about protecting kids’ personal information online. I have followed Sedgrid for a while and was…
A couple of years ago, I attended a luncheon where a counselor from ReStart spoke about internet addiction. ReStart is a clinic here in Washington that specializes in treating internet addiction, video game addiction and phone over use. For a while now, I had this half-written post on internet addiction kicking around in my folder.…
On average, teens spend 9 hours a day online. While 9 hours seems excessive, it is a hard to tease out what is wasted time and what is not. Sure, part of that time is scrolling through their Instagram feed or taking silly snaps but it is also working on group projects together, planning club…
The results from a recent survey will not surprise parents with teenagers. According to the Piper Jaffray study “Taking Stock with Teens”, Snapchat is the number one social network for teens. For the first time, Snapchat surpasses Instagram with Snapchat receiving 28% of votes and Instagram a close second with 27%. When Snapchat first launched,…
Highlights, the first magazine for kids, is 70 years old! Back in the day, we used to thumb through issues of Highlights while waiting in the doctor’s office. I remember we were always excited to find one where someone else had not already circled the hidden pictures. Waiting in a doctor’s office today, children are not sitting…
Last week, I updated my parenting guides and invited readers to contact me with questions about apps. The next day, I received an email from a parent about musical.ly. I immediately downloaded and played around with it. After cruising around musicaly.ly, I am not surprised parents have questions. Musical.ly profiles are public and full of young faces. If…
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