child safety

While parents are still freaking out about Snapchat and the Momo challenge, the truth is there are some risky apps for kids that can fly right under our radar. Some of them seem completely innocuous -- while some are clearly bad news wai…

As part of our Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting , answering parents' top questions about family technology, we're sharing the best services and tools to help you monitor your kids on their gadgets. While most routers, phones, tablets …

We can't tell you how much debate we've seen over the simple question, "when is my kid ready for a smartphone?" It brings out nearly as much stress, passion and well, sanctimony, as questions about breastfeeding or sleep training. Well, …

Feeling inspired by Jordan Shapiro's interview on NPR with our former Spawned guest Anya Kamanetz , and reading his book for our upcoming interview with him on Spawned, I decided to let my tween daughter give TikTok (formerly Musical.ly)…

It's been a rough couple of weeks for YouTube, first with the news about their growing pedophile problem . And now, YouTube Kids is under fire. We know lots of parents, including us, have found a little sigh of relief letting kids watch …

Over the years, we've written about many issues that parents need to be aware of when it comes to the content on YouTube . But this recent report from Wired should really throw the huge red flag of caution up for parents, particularly if…

Last week, we had a lively discussion about inappropriate follow requests on Instagram in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group . Many parents bemoaned the challenges of trying to navigate this with their kids on Instagram, even on priva…

This beautiful necklace and bracelet just looks like... a beautiful necklace and bracelet, but when you double press the back, it can actually send a message to pre-selected emergency contacts, along with your location. It can even call …

If we're all perfectly honest with ourselves, then we know that Facebook has presented many privacy issues for a long time now. We've been writing about Facebook privacy issues since we started Cool Mom Tech in 2010. That's nine years. N…

If your kids are anything like ours, they've got a phone up high on their holiday wish list. And as much as you want Santa to make them squeal, you also know that a smartphone is a huge responsibility that they might not be ready for jus…

We've been longtime fans of the Tile Bluetooth trackers since we first discovered them years ago. They're pretty much a staple tech gadget in our home, allowing us to keep track of our keys, our phone, and pretty much every important thi…

This is a sponsored message from Relay So many parents want their kids to have the safety and security of a phone, and yet those kids aren't necessarily ready for all the responsibility and liability that comes with owning one. It's a ma…

We've been fans of the YouTube Kids app , but admittedly when so many questionable videos were making it onto their little eyeballs, we were waiting for them to make some updates to give parents more control over what their kids were see…

Keeping our kids safe and healthy is our number one job as parents. And with so many of them using smartphones and other electronic devices, their online safety has become a huge part of that. At Cool Mom Tech, we have always provided pa…

One of parents' biggest concerns about kids today, is the access they have to inappropriate content. Parents are often asking us for parental control devices, services and apps to help them moderate what kids' can see and keep them safe.…

If you thought your kids tech-savvy as toddlers, it's amazing to see how quickly they pick up video games when they get a little older. They know what's hot and what's not faster than Mario with a super star power-up. Turns out there are…

The good news: most teens know that sexting is a crime. The bad news: older teens are less likely to think sexting will have negative consequences. All this from a new study about teens and sexting, conducted by researchers at Boston Uni…

I am not going to say "I told you so!" when it comes to Snapchat , but it's mighty tempting after the recent launch of Cosmopolitan's new Cosmo After Dark stories that go live every Friday at 6pm EDT. And hey, I even wrote a book about s…

We've been fans of the YouTube Kids app ever since it launched a few years ago, but as more and more publishers are creating content on YouTube, it's not surprising that there have been some issues in terms of what ends up showing up as …

Back in 2017, we covered a story about hackers using Facebook quizzes to steal user data . And now, here we are in 2018 with the Cambridge Analytica scandal , where over 50 million users had their information pulled thanks to a personali…

Putting sunscreen on kids can be a battle, but with the new QSun , you might be able to save yourself some of the heartache. No, sorry, it doesn't automatically protect your kids from sun exposure, but it does alert you when you've reach…

Since CES 2018 , we've been featuring our favorite tech picks for parents and I'd be remiss if I didn't share the incredible new high-tech baby monitors that I got a chance to check out. While there are certainly a lot more that we'll be…

By now, everyone knows about Snapchat and kids right? It's like Snapchat has come to epitomize the "watch out for kids and their apps." But the truth is, there are so so many apps that can get kids into trouble, and it's hard to keep up …

We're all learning about new technology right along with our kids, which can put us at a bit of a disadvantage. Darn those growing brains. And if you've ever gotten a new cell phone and seen how much more your kid knows about it than you…