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…
Vault apps or locker apps appeared on my radar during the Canon City High School sexting scandal. At this high school, school officials discovered teens were sharing and trading inappropriate pictures of themselves. They were able to keep these pictures hidden away on their phones by using vault apps. Since then, I keep hearing about…
Recently, I had a friend ask me about a new app she discovered on her child’s phone. When it comes to apps, her kid is always two steps ahead of everyone else at middle school. Her new app is Wishbone. Wishbone launched in May 2015 and is gaining in popularity, especially with girls. If you have a child, who…
I remember as a new mom if I had a question, I had many places to go to for advice. I could call my mom, ask friends or consult a billion books. Granted, everyone’s advice was usually a bit different but it tended to coalesce around a guiding principle. When parenting in the digital world, there…
Sitting down together and drafting a phone contract is the best way for families to share values and expectation around appropriate online behavior. Most digital parenting organizations have their own phone contract template (including me). If you have not found the right one for your family, I have a fantastic digital tool that may help.…
On KidsPrivacy, I have the luxury of focusing exclusively on digital parenting. At home, it is a different story. I have spent many late nights researching tools to help teens deal with stress, how to parallel park, taking the SAT vs ACT, the list goes on and on. Thankfully, I can always find fantastic resources to help me deal with…
(To evaluate this product I was given a Live Demo and will receive a free subscription when released. Familoop Safeguard was not involved in the writing of this piece and all opinions are my own. In the future, I will be working with Familoop as their Digital Parenting Expert. To learn more about Familoop and digital parenting,…
June is Internet Safety Month. To celebrate, I am offering my ebook, Talking Digital: A Parent’s Guide to Teaching Kids How to Share Smart and Stay Safe Online, free until June 23. I will be releasing an updated version in Fall 2015. If there is a topic or question you would like included in the next…
YouNow is part of the new live streaming trend. The best way to describe YouNow is Live TV with audience participation. Instead of passively watching a video, teens can watch their favorite performer or classmate broadcast live and message them questions or comments. The person responds to them immediately during the live broadcast. YouNow has over 100 million sessions a month. Scrolling through these…
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