child safety

This week's Washington Post article about the teenage boy sextortion scam by Chris Moody is all I've been thinking about. In part because I know a kid who was targeted in this way, and it was a terrible situation. But to learn that this …

With back-to-school here, or just around the corner for some of us, I like to take the time to have reinforce some basic tech rules with my kids and have some important tech conversations before things get super hectic. Whether your kids…

I know firsthand how hard it is to decide when is the best age for kids to have their own cell phone . On one hand, we want them to be able to reach us if soccer practice gets out early or they want to leave a sleepover at 1am, but expos…

You may have seen this hilarious sketch on SNL that has a bunch of adults using the app BeReal during a rather tense situation. (if you haven't seen it yet, go watch now! I'll wait.) This sketch does a great job explaining what BeReal is…

This is a sponsored message from the pixsee Baby Monitor If you have been looking for the high-tech baby monitor that "does it all" -- and more -- you'll be amazed by the pixsee baby monitor . It's not just an incredible (and adorable) c…

We recently got a question in our Out Tech Your Kids group asking about apps that read texts out loud while you drive, which got me started thinking about some tips and apps to help minimize distracted driving for teens. As parents, we n…

Parents of tweens and teens, we've got good news! YouTube is launching new parental controls specifically for kids in this age group. What a relief to those of us who see the value in letting them watch some of the content on YouTube...b…

With school going online this fall, we're starting a whole new phase of parent-sanctioned screen time at my house, which is why I've been on the hunt for blue light glasses for kids. The jury's still out concerning exactly how much these…

With the news last week that Zoom had some big security concerns to patch up, educators of all kinds started seeking out Zoom alternatives for schools and other kinds of remote learning. Especially after the NYC DOE took the big step of …

Every now and then I'll spot a fantastic article shared by one of my Facebook friends, only to discover it was written a few years ago. Womp, womp. But in a few cases, like this Vice article about what screens are doing to our eyes (and …

If you've got a kid on an iPhone or an iPad, this week's iOS 13.3 update (as well as iPad OS 13.3 )has some serious parental controls that we think you'll be happy to know about. Introducing Communication Limits Starting his week, there'…

This past week, my 11-year old daughter and I had a long conversation about Snapchat. She's been begging me for awhile now, but lately, it's amped up because pretty much all her friends use it exclusively to communicate. I've been very r…

Our team watched this CNN Business video with our jaw dropped when we saw how easily hacker Rachel Tobac was able to get information about journalist Donie O' Sullivan . Just from looking at his social media, she was able to do everythin…

So your kids are obsessed with watching other people play video games and you can't quite wrap your mind around it. We decided to ask video gaming expert Dr. Rachel Kowert to weigh in on this phenomenon and tell us what we need to know. …

With someone who's got two teens on Instagram, I was pleased to hear that they recently added Restrict, an anti-bullying feature that, as Instagram describes, "allows users to quietly protect their account while still keeping an eye on t…

Whether your kids have had a smartphone for awhile now, or you're considering getting them started with one, it's important that they understand how to use it. And as we all know, when it comes to a smartphone, it's not as simple as dial…

My son just texted me: "Mom, Say 18 to Siri , but then watch your screen." Sure enough, a countdown for calling 911 pops up. Thankfully, I was watching my screen like he told me to and I was able to stop it. Related: The first thing your…

YouTube has come under major scrutiny in the last couple of years with inappropriate videos showing up on their popular YouTube Kids apps, from awful parodies to suicide how-to videos . So according to a recent report, they've decided to…

As someone who works on a smartphone and computer all day long, I've become very diligent about wearing my blue light blocking glasses . I even have a pair for my kids, but no surprise here, they rarely remember to wear them. And well, c…

This is a sponsored message from Relay So many parents want their kids to have the safety and security of a phone, especially over the summer when kids have a little more freedom, and a little more run-around-outside time. And yet, those…

If it looks like your kids are hard at work on their laptop or Chromebook, they might actually be messaging with their friends. Turns out, tweens and teens are using Google Docs to chat with each other, and it's honestly pretty brilliant…

When it comes to digital parenting , there's a seemingly endless number of conversations we need to have with our tweens and teens. And according to a recent survey, moving " how to make a strong password " to the top of the list is pret…

As someone who uses ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft pretty frequently (and is often distracted by what's happening on my phone), I know how easy it can be to just hop in a car that pulls up in front of me without checking everything…

We couldn't create an Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting without including tips about how to keep your kids safe on social media. After all, for our tweens and teens, the Internet is social media, and they could sooner give up the games…