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Internet & Social Media

Internet & Social Media

Internet & Social Media

Internet & Social Media

I’ve Met Someone Online. They Want to Meet in Person. Now What?

So, you met a guy online. Or a girl. (For purposes of stylistic ease, we are using the male pronoun here, but this person could be of any gender.) It could have been Facebook. Kik. Fortnite. He seems so nice. Flattering. Sweet. And he really likes you, it seems. He understands, accepts, and supports you like no one has before. You’re just a teenager, but you feel like you can

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I Caught My Teen Sexting. Now What?

You might have gotten the call from another parent, who was appalled. Or the school administrator. Or maybe you found out about it yourself. Inadvertently saw some of the photos on your teen’s phone. Read some of the racy texts. How you discovered it doesn’t matter. Ultimately, you caught your teen sexting. Help! My Teen is Sexting Sexting involves the exchange of sexually explicit content, such as messages or photographs,

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What Age Should My Child Get a Phone?

The time has come. Your child, or adolescent, is asking for a phone. But not just any phone will do, of course. They need a smartphone. Preferably the latest model.  “Everyone has one,” they’re telling you. (Which may not be 100% true, by the way.) But before you go and purchase said smartphone, you decide to research online. (For that we say, good going!) And here you are, wondering about

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Teens: These 9 Phrases Might Be Alerting Predators to Your Social Media Pages

When you hear about sex trafficking, you probably think, That will never happen to me. Teen sex trafficking occurs when an adolescent becomes dependent on someone who then uses her to provide sexual services for others. Sometimes, teens could become involved in a trafficking ring by force – such as via kidnapping. (Which is why it’s been ingrained in you by your parents, ever since you were a toddler, never

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TikTok: A Ticking Time Bomb for Teens

Some call the app “digital karaoke.” On it, teens can create 3-15-second videos of themselves singing, lip-syncing, dancing, or doing anything at all – antics and silly pranks included — to background music. The videos, by default, loop on repeat, making it often addictive to keep watching. Popular TikTok videos mostly show young adolescents, often provocatively dressed, dancing or singing to popular songs or lyrics from movies. Songs are often

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Does Your Teen Have a Finsta? The Dark Side of This Secret Instagram

You may have heard of Insta. It’s short for Instagram, a popular social media photo-sharing app that’s a favorite of teens and adolescents around the world. But Finsta? What is it? Finsta is a combination of two words: Fake and Instagram. It’s a secret account that can only be accessed if you know someone has one, and you know what their username is. Hence, it’s more private and exclusive. For

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In the News: The Link Between Adolescent Depression and Social Media Use

If you check online news feeds regularly, you’ve probably noticed a trend over the past three months: there’s been an abundance of headlines in national media outlets linking social media use with depression in adolescents. When we see these types of headlines, we take them with a grain of salt. Online news media survives by getting clicks. The best way to get clicks is to write a provocative headline. Sometimes

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Common Sense Media: Teen Social Media Use 2012-2018

The researchers at Common Sense Media deliver again: this time, with an in-depth look at social media use among adolescents. The report “Social Media, Social Life: Teens Reveal Their Experiences” examines answers to salient questions that adults – including parents, educators, mental health professionals, and public policy makers –  want to know about teen social media use. It’s a follow up on their 2012 report “Social Media, Social Life: How

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The Common Sense Census Part 1: A Report on Media Use by Tweens and Teens

In November 2015, Common Sense Media published a large-scale study that examines the way young people in the United States use media and technology. The study, conducted over six weeks in the early spring of 2015, included 2,658 children age eight to eighteen. Tweens were defined as children age eight to twelve. Teens were defined as children age thirteen to eighteen. The four primary goals of the Common Sense Media

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What Do You Want Your Parents to Know About Your Online Activity?

An article published in the Washington Post in January called What Teens Wish Their Parents Knew About Social Media got us thinking: what do teens really want their parents to know about what they’re doing online? Everything? Nothing? Somewhere in between? The article’s author interviewed teens about these very questions. But what we’re more interested in is you: What do you want your parents to know about what you do

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