Don't believe anything you hear about sexting causing an increase in teen pregnancy. There is no way it can be true. How can I say that? Because teen pregnancy in the US has plummeted since 2007. "For five years now, America's teen birth rate has plummeted at an unprecedented rate, falling faster and faster. Between 2007 and 2013, the number of babies born to teens annually fell by 38.4%," … [Read more...] about Sexting & the plummeting teen pregnancy rate
Risk & Safety
Kids’ top social media picks: New resource for parents
Here's a super starting point for a conversation with your children about social media: NetAware, a brand-new set of reviews of kids' top social media services. It's not the first such resource for parents, but two things set it apart: These are kids' own top social media picks. This isn't adult guesswork. Because part of its mission is to "ensure the voices of children are heard in … [Read more...] about Kids’ top social media picks: New resource for parents
Two 2014 anniversaries that say reams about our kids’ futures
We don't want to let 2014 slip away without marking two anniversaries that are very important to our children: those of an invention and a convention. This year was the 25th anniversary of Tim Berners-Lee's release of his computer code creating the World Wide Web, now with some 3 billion users worldwide, and the 25th anniversary of the UN's adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child … [Read more...] about Two 2014 anniversaries that say reams about our kids’ futures
An app for teens that promotes (& gets) positivity
Last spring I asked, "Will safety ever be baked in to social apps?" Well, it's actually starting to be. Let is a perfect example. A social app (mostly on Apple's iOS phones) with an overwhelmingly teen-aged user base that launched last March, its L.A.- and Marseilles-based creators seem to have grown a digital community in which teens and young adults, mostly girls, feel safe and help each other … [Read more...] about An app for teens that promotes (& gets) positivity
Sydney: A hashtag for a city (and world) in need of healing
"The city is now in mourning," wrote author, researcher and Sydney resident Nina Funnell to a group of colleagues in the wake of the horrific siege in a financial district chocolate shop. Australians (all of us, really) are trying to make sense of the attack, The Australian reported, invoking 9/11 and attacks since then in Madrid, London and Boston. "But out of all this horror, there have been … [Read more...] about Sydney: A hashtag for a city (and world) in need of healing