A new study indicates that a lot of parents who monitor their kids online and on phones do so without their children knowing it. The study – "The Online Generation Gap," just released by the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) – found that 70% of parents check the text messages on their teens' phones, while only 30% of the teens are aware they do, and 84% of parents monitor their teens' Web use, … [Read more...] about The trust factor in parenting online kids
Filtering, monitoring, etc.
Holiday help: Parental control tools for tablets
With tablets showing up on more and more kids' holiday wish lists (littler and littler kids!), parents will appreciate any help they can get with keep tablet use safe as well as fun. And there's help over at TechHive, which reports that Amazon Kindle Fire HD, Barnes & Noble Nook HD, and Apple’s iPad, all have some built-in parental controls (e.g., FreeTime on the Kindle Fire and Restrictions … [Read more...] about Holiday help: Parental control tools for tablets
Does tracking our kids’ every move make them safer?
Reflecting on a cellphone app developer's claim, I'm thinking that tracking our kids' movements, moment by moment, isn't the best way to enhance "family awareness." Those are the words of Chris Hull, CEO of the company that developed the Life360 tracking app, in an interview for Time. Is that "awareness" as in "surveillance"? Oddly, Time interpreted Hull's reference to be "family awareness" as … [Read more...] about Does tracking our kids’ every move make them safer?
Peering thoughtfully through this window into our kids’ lives
Back in 2005, a friend in Massachusetts referred to his daughters' constant instant messaging (remember that?!) as "a window into their lives that I wouldn't have otherwise. [My daughter] leaves her computer on a table beside my desk, and I get to watch a bunch of this stuff happening. Sort of like me working while she and a friend talk right inside her open bedroom door while I am working on the … [Read more...] about Peering thoughtfully through this window into our kids’ lives
Parenting & the mobile app ratings in the works
As mobile apps multiply like rabbits and the number of kids downloading and playing with them seems to keep growing, the usefulness of app ratings to parents seems to be growing too. CTIA – the mobile phone industry trade association – gets this. It recently announced an app rating system it has been working on since 2010, Investors.com reports. The system, which CTIA worked on with the … [Read more...] about Parenting & the mobile app ratings in the works