Summer camp season is about to begin! In just a few short weeks, many kids will be exiting school and some will begin a summer that includes mission trips, work camps, NTS Camp (if you’ve not seen this one, you have to check it out!), or other overnight, away from home, mosquito-infested experience. And, although we hope they’re doing mostly analog things, many of them will have a smartphone to call home or text parents while they’re away. (BTW, did you know you don’t have to give your child an iPhone? We’ve tested kid-friendly devices that you might want to consider.) We’ve prepared three ste ..read more

Selena Gomez on Taking Breaks from Instagram Selena Gomez is a widely famous celebrity and with over 429M followers on Instagram, has more followers than any woman in the world. And yet, at the 2024 TIME 100 Summit, she said that getting off the app was one of the best things she ever did. “I took four years off of Instagram and I let my team post for me. I felt like it was the most rewarding gift I gave myself. I was more present I was happier.” She claimed it was “more human” to talk with her friends over the phone and hear about their lives, rather than posting and commenting. She also sha ..read more

Roblox Parental Controls Recently mentioned often in our parent presentations, Roblox is worth a mention! It’s not just one game. It’s 40M with 100M users! Roblox has also been on NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen List two years in a row. But, it does have some good controls. Our App Review explains how to make Roblox a safer digital space. Step-by-step. Chat-by-chat. We’ll show you how! Here are the Top Five Free Apps on Apple We believe it’s important to keep track of the most popular apps, so we can best inform you, busy moms and dads, of what’s currently trending. This week in Apple’s Top Free Apps: D ..read more

A Smartphone-based Childhood Ruins Kids “Smartphone-based life, it turns out, alters or interferes with a great number of developmental processes.” – Jonathan Haidt In his article for The Atlantic, Haidt explores the shift from flip phones to smartphones among kids in the early 2010s, noting that this transition facilitated a move towards online platforms, particularly social media, designed to capture attention and foster addiction. Jonathan Haidt suggests that the prevalence of smartphone-based lifestyles has significantly impacted various developmental processes, leading to negative outcom ..read more

A Smartphone-based Childhood Ruins Kids “Smartphone-based life, it turns out, alters or interferes with a great number of developmental processes.” – Jonathan Haidt In his article for The Atlantic, Haidt explores the shift from flip phones to smartphones among kids in the early 2010s, noting that this transition facilitated a move towards online platforms, particularly social media, designed to capture attention and foster addiction. Jonathan Haidt suggests that the prevalence of smartphone-based lifestyles has significantly impacted various developmental processes, leading to negative outcome ..read more

Pew Research Shows Fascinating Parent and Child Insights A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, which involved 1,453 adolescents aged 13 to 17 and their parents, revealed some interesting insights. According to the findings, 72% of American teenagers indicate that they frequently or occasionally experience feelings of tranquility when they are without their smartphones, while 44% admit to feeling anxious without them. It’s important to note that respondents were allowed to select multiple answers. Furthermore, the survey found that 69% of teens believe that smartphones facilita ..read more

Where Kids Use Tech Dictates How They Use Tech Parents can’t control all of the doorways that exist for a child to access the web. Creating a teach-ready home is one thing, but how many other ways exist for your child to watch YouTube without you knowing? While parents can’t control all of the places where their kids spend time, there are a few high-risk environments that warrant more attention. 5 Dangerous Places For Digital Kids This list is based on stories I’ve heard from real parents just like you. 1. Grandparent’s House Most of my sacred childhood memories are from spending time wit ..read more

Everything Caregivers Need to Know about AI and Deepfakes Artificial Intelligence – AI – is developing rapidly. It can create efficiency with certain tasks, including content creation and research. It’s also creating new, extremely difficult problems related to intellectual property and exploitation, including children. The Pope, The White House, and a global committee of 18 countries have all pushed for guidelines and mandates for the future of AI. But it’s evolving much faster than policy and government.  One of these terrifying evolutions is deepfake technology. It uses “deep” AI to cr ..read more

Sextortion is on the Rise Within the past three weeks, I’ve had two different families reach out to me with dire sextortion situations. In both cases, these were older kids! Ages 17 and 18, respectively. In other words, sextortion isn’t just a young kid issue. Here is a summary of one of the messages: was the message I received related to an 18-year-old who was sextorted: A stranger approached him on Discord, videoed him in sex acts, then told him to pay or she’d post his video on Instagram and email all his friends. He paid a few hundred dollars, all he had, but they wanted more. He asked hi ..read more

What is the dark web? You mean, there’s a deep web? I’ve never heard of that! You may have heard it called “the underbelly of the criminal world” or “the platform for all things illegal,” which can certainly be true. We want to expand your understanding and shine some light on both the dark web and the deep web, especially since TOR (The Onion Router, an encrypted search engine) is now available in the Apple App Store (rated 17+) and Google Play Store (rated Everyone, which makes no sense). Deep web and dark web explained. The dark web is part of the world-wide web but is hidden, secretive, a ..read more