What Will They Text Next: Kids, Social Media, and Technology

The Screen Challenge Take a moment to total how much time you spend daily looking at a screen. Then, Take some time to estimate how much time your “kid-ager” spends looking at a screen.

Kids Today… 80+% of kids have cell phones/smartphones 30% of kids have a tablet 81% use social networking sites 8-18 year olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes to using entertainment media across a typical day Students have access to laptop and internet on a regular basis

POP Quiz!

What Social Media Are They Using?

What are they posting?

Dangers of Social Media What we know about kids: They are constantly trying to define themselves. They crave positive feedback to help them see how their identity fits into their world. They use social media for this feedback... but they are looking in a dangerous place. How is this harmful: The danger exists in the possibility of a very public rejection because negative feedback is there for anyone and everyone to see. Another danger is that kids ask for feedback without learning first that not everyone will respond in a supportive way.

What Can You Do In order to teach your children how to seek feedback from genuine sources, parents should start early by helping their children identify trustworthy sources. Most importantly, parents need to reinforce that the most influential voice should come from within.

Engage Your Family Engage your kid in meaningful conversation about internet use Talk to other parents, deans, counselors Validate your kid's reality and their need to be connected Engage your child in drafting the rules for the family: guidelines for use consequences for breaking those rules Model appropriate use of technology: minimize texting don't use cell phone/laptop at meals don't use cell phone in the car

Let Your Kid Know… That you have the right to check their laptop, phone, etc.. What apps/media are okay and what are not That you need to know their passwords What their online responsibilities are: Protecting their privacy Not engaging in cyber bullying

What Are You Worried About? Invading your kid’s privacy? Not feeling comfortable with being on social media? That they have secret accounts? Just as you would establish ground rules and do diligence in person, there is a need to do the same things - or even more - with the internet.

Other Parental Concern 81% are worried about how much advertisers can learn about their kid’s through their behavior online 72% are worried their kid is interacting with people they do not know online 70% are worried about how their online activity might affect their future academic or employment opportunities 60% are worried about their kids reputation online (Pew Research Center)

Apps to Protect Your Kid in the Car MamaBear Child Tracker (message monitoring) Rapid Protect (message monitoring) Travelers Insurance IntelliDrive (monitor driving behavior) Progressive's Snapshot (driving behavior) AT&T DriveMode (silence incoming calls, other actions) Sprint Drive First (distraction reduction) Cellcontrol (distraction reduction) Drive Scribe (driving coach)

Apps to Protect Your Kid’s Phone My Mobile Watchdog (text monitoring) Mobile Spy (call monitoring) WebWatcher (monitor, text, photos, web-surfing, GPS)

The Key: Empower I