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Why Banning Smartphones at School Sends the Wrong Message to our Kids About Digital Citizenship
By Tylar Bloch Schools across the country are tightening up their policies to minimize smartphone use, ranging from full-fledged smartphone bans to stricter guidelines around what constitutes permissible smartphone use during school hours. Research done in 2020 by the National Center for Education Statistics suggests that smartphone bans were implemented [...]
Ads So Good You Don’t Notice Them: Tips For Identifying Sponsored Content
By Tylar Bloch Advertising has evolved over the years, and the internet has ushered in a new era where ads can reach us 24/7 while tailoring to our individual tastes and experiences. But it’s gotten to a point where it can be hard to tell just exactly where an [...]
An Uncertain Vision (Pro) of the Future
By Tylar Bloch Apple certainly delivered on their commitment to surprising and delighting consumers when they introduced the Vision Pro earlier this month. The Vision Pro was presented as their first “spatial computer”, which overlays the user interface onto the physical world, and aims to populate our field of [...]
Exposure of Internet Dangers to Young Children
By Stephanie Olson With technology constantly advancing, it is almost impossible for children not to be exposed to it at such a young age, even 93 percent of children ages two to four spend at least some time on a mobile device (Klein, 2022). It is probably the best [...]
Parents: What You Should Know About the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media
By Tylar Bloch Last month, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on social media and its impact on the mental health of young people. This breakthrough advisory has received widespread recognition for its highly visible stance on the health risks associated with social media. Over the past few [...]
Welcome to Digital Parenting: What You Need to Know to Protect and Support Your Little One Online
By Megan Farnam. Most adults use technology, in some form, throughout their day. It can help to make tasks easier and more efficient. It can be a form of entertainment or a way to connect with others. We use technology to help keep children entertained and quiet while the adults [...]
Digital Permanence and Bullying
By Megan Farnam. If a tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? If my bullying disappears, and there is no proof of it, can I get away with it? Social media is a great way to connect, express yourself, [...]
Netflix Docuseries “Web of Lies: Sextortion” Discussion Questions
By Ellie Halpert The fourth episode of Netflix’s Docuseries, “Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies, and the Internet,” features one major warning: What you put on the internet stays on the internet. This case takes place in the small town of Belmont, where high schoolers are highly involved in the [...]
Calling The Video Game Industry – Toxic Waste Clean-Up on Aisle Everywhere
When it comes to the question of toxicity in video games, there really is little to argue about. It’s all too real. If your child is a gamer, there is no doubt that he or she has witnessed discrimination, harassment and hate of all kinds. And the hate, well, [...]
How Kids FEEL About Their Online Worlds Is More Important Than What They Do Online
At Savvy Cyber Kids, we get a lot of questions about gender based technology habits - if they differ from one another or if there are more risks for one than another. Articles and studies, including a recent one from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, will posit that [...]
Netflix Docuseries “Web of Lies: I’m Not A Nazi” Discussion Questions
By Ellie Halpert The third episode of Netflix’s cyber-warning docuseries, “Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies, and the Internet,” features a young woman and her descent into the alt-right and Nazi subculture. The episode discusses the idea that we are in an informational crisis, where it is impossible for [...]
Let’s Talk About Girl Gamers!
While boys spend more than two and a half times as much time playing video games as girls, the gaming industry reports that 46% of players worldwide are female (Fnatic, 2022). And it turns out that the benefits to girls who game are worth talking about! Since girls are [...]