If you have a child or teen that uses the internet on a regular basis, you’ve probably taught them about the importance of choosing a secure password and protecting their personal information online. However, you may not have talked to them about the importance of choosing a safe screen name. You yourself may not realize just how revealing a screen name can be. Here are some tips on screen name safety that you should definitely […]
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It’s not always easy to talk to your kids about cyberbullying, but it is important. Cyberbullying can have serious detrimental effects on your child’s mental and emotional well-being, and their social life. It can also be connected to physical bullying. And in some cases, cyberbullying has been linked to self-harm or suicide in teens. Talking to your children about cyberbullying can help prevent or minimize its harmful effects. Here are some tips for getting the […]
Limits on screen time are a hot topic in parent communities. There are many different ideas about how much screen time children should have and how that time should be used. After all, children can learn a lot from their various screens, from the television to the computer or laptop, to a mobile device like a tablet or phone. All of these formats offer educational games and programs, for instance, and there’s a good argument […]
If your child has a smartphone or mobile device, then they have access to a whole world of different apps that can be used to text, chat, and take, send, and receive photos. Chances are good that they use apps you’ve never even heard of. Some smartphone apps are useful and even educational, and some are just fun. Some, however, have hidden dangers that parent should know about. Take a look at a few of […]
There are few social media platforms that are as popular with today’s teens as Instagram. Everyone has a phone with a camera on it, and the stories of a teen’s life are told not in status updates, but largely in pictures. So it makes sense that a site exclusively dedicated to sharing pictures would be a big part of a teen’s online social circle. And unlike social media sites like Twitter, which is notorious for […]
Many of today’s teens don’t remember a world without smartphones or Facebook. That means, among other things, that they don’t remember a world where there was no way to find out a friend’s current location or home address with the touch of a few buttons. It can be difficult to help teens protect their privacy online when they don’t really have a concept of what it was like to have privacy in the first place. […]
Most teens love their smartphones, and there are good reasons for that. After all, smartphones are a huge part of a teen’s social life. Most of their friends have them, and communicating by text or instant message is as common and normal to people of their generation as passing notes was in earlier generations. On top of that, a smartphone is more than just a communication device — it may also be a study aid, […]
There are plenty of effective techniques, steps, and activities to teach your children coding. Coding is a unique, creative activity that nearly any child can engage in. Learning how to program, your child can begin experimenting with writing video games, designing websites, or even building mobile apps. Of course, this can greatly improve your kid’s critical thinking, problem solving, and persistence skills. Eventually, this will lead to high-paying job opportunities that help your children get […]
Kristen Daukas is the Editor-in-Chief of Ten to Twenty Parenting – the only site dedicated solely to the parents of tweens and teens. We recently asked for Kristen’s advice on how parents can better track what their kids are doing online and how to have conversations about smart, safe use of social media. Here’s what she had to say: Tell us about your background and interest in social media. I started my own social media/digital […]
Many parents of teenagers can remember when it was the height of cool for a teenager to have their own home phone line in their bedroom, or perhaps a pager so their friends could contact them when they were out and about. Today’s teens have little interest in a house phone in any room, and many wouldn’t be able to pick a beeper out of a lineup — and why should they? They and their […]
It seems like every time you turn around, there is a new app or website that parents need to be concerned about. Viber is one that parents should definitely be keeping an eye on — it’ s popular with teens right now, so you need to know what it does and what to look for if your child downloads this app to their phone. The following is your complete guide to Viber: what it is, […]
Teens are prone to pushing boundaries and testing to see what they can get away with. This is a normal part of growing up, and not a reflection on your teen’s character or your parenting. However, it’s your job to keep your teen safe and ensure that the boundaries meant to protect them are enforced, and that means keeping an eye on the apps your teen is using and the text messages they’re sending and […]
If you’re the parent of a teen today, there’s a pretty good chance that cyberbullying wasn’t a big problem when you went to school. You may remember being bullied or seeing bullying occur at school, but prior to the social media age, kids who were being bullied could at least escape the onslaught at home. Today’s bullies can follow their victims digitally, which means that almost nowhere is safe. And cyberbullying tends to be a […]
Part of being a parent is talking to your kids about safety. It starts when they’re small, when you warn them of the dangers of talking to strangers or running into the road, and continues into the teenage years and even young adulthood, with conversations about things like safe driving and avoiding illegal drugs. And when somewhere along the way you decide that your teen or pre-teen is ready to have their own smartphone, it’s […]
Through their computers, smartphones, and tablets, your teens have access to a plethora of great information sources from all over the world. It’s easier than it ever has been to do in-depth research for a school project or pursue hobbies that are obscure or unavailable in your local area. And of course, the internet is how teens communicate with their friends — and much of that communication is normal and healthy. Still, the internet also […]