Today’s kids are more online than any generation before them. The internet is inextricably linked to nearly every part of their lives. That ever presence means it’s more important than ever to teach your child about digital literacy. But what is digital literacy, and why does it matter?
Digital literacy refers to both the technical and cognitive skills needed to navigate our online world. An important part of digital literacy is the ability to find information online and evaluate the reliability of that information. It also involves knowing how to make smart decisions about sharing information online.
For today’s kids, digital literacy comes into play with everything from school projects, to YouTube videos, to social media. When kids are skilled in digital literacy, they’re more capable of identifying reputable information and sources.
How we seek and share information has changed dramatically in recent years. In addition to resources like books, mainstream newspapers, and network news — all of which go through some form of validation or fact-checking process — we now have endless streams of information from anyone with an internet connection.
While many of these new online sources are reliable, plenty of others are from self proclaimed “experts” who don’t know their facts. Intentional disinformation, including deepfakes, is also a growing concern. And the rapid rise of artificial intelligence has further muddied the waters, generating information that sounds credible but oftentimes isn’t.
Here are several ways digital literacy skills help kids navigate this new information landscape:
The ability to find valid information online is not only useful for schoolwork. It’s a skill that will benefit them for the rest of their lives as they seek information about topics like their health, finances, employment, and news.
If a person posts a video where they speak authoritatively on a subject, it’s easy to take it at face value. Digital literacy helps kids evaluate the reliability of the people and information that comes across their feeds. For example, if someone is spouting mental health advice but isn’t actually a trained professional, your child should recognize that their information may not be entirely accurate.
Digital literacy is an important component of behaving responsibly in a digital world. It’s the difference between sharing credible information and misinformation. If your child recognizes that a source may not be trustworthy, they’ll know to tread carefully if friends are sharing conspiracy theories or other faulty information.
Digital literacy is such a broad concept that it can be daunting to know how to talk about it with your kids. Start small and build on their learning as they get older.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Teach your kids to look for sites that are backed by reputable organizations and run by people with expertise. It’s also a good idea to check the date on the article to make sure the information is current. Check out these additional tips on evaluating internet resources from Georgetown University Library.
Fake videos created by artificial intelligence (aka deepfakes) are on the rise. Teach your kids to be on the lookout for things like odd facial movements or pixelation — a few red flags that the video may be artificially generated.
Pausing to consider the validity of a post before sharing it helps prevent the spread of disinformation. If something online seems unbelievable, there’s a good chance it’s not trustworthy.
This also goes for original posts that your child makes. Explain that vague posts and unclear online communication can easily cause confusion and conflict. Learning what’s okay to share online and what’s not is a major part of developing digital literacy.
Help your child recognize why certain things come across their feeds. If they begin engaging with fringe theories and inflammatory content creators, they’ll see more of that content on their social media.
Stay involved in your child’s online life so you can continue to guide them toward greater digital literacy. Regular tech check-ins and using a child safety app like BrightCanary are great ways to stay in the loop about what your child is up to online.
Digital literacy isn’t only about evaluating other’s actions. It’s also about learning to be a responsible member of the online community. Help your children learn to live their values online by being intentional about their behavior.
PBS learning media’s Be MediaWise is a series of digital literacy lessons geared toward kids. The videos are short, fun, and informative. Check them out with your child to continue the conversation on digital literacy.
Like reading and writing, digital literacy is a core skill today’s kids need to succeed in the modern world. Help your child learn to be internet wise by teaching them how to check online sources, protect their privacy, and be a good digital citizen.
If you suspect your child might be deleting their text messages in an attempt to hide them from you, it’s natural to be concerned and want to investigate. If you’re trying to figure out how to see your child’s deleted texts on iPhone (and if you should even read them in the first place), then you’ve come to the right place. This article covers ways to access deleted texts and how to decide if this is the right approach for your circumstances.
First things first: spying on your child is generally not a good idea. It’s an invasion of their privacy and could jeopardize the mutual trust you’ve worked to build with them. If you feel it’s necessary to read your child’s deleted texts, it’s important to be transparent with them rather than going behind their back.
So, how do you decide if it’s necessary to read their deleted texts in the first place? Here are some tips:
The fact that your child is deleting texts probably isn’t enough on its own to warrant trying to access the missing messages. In fact, there are perfectly innocent reasons this may be happening, like the age-appropriate desire for privacy and independence.
There are, however, concerning reasons they may be concealing messages. If you suspect something more serious like drugs or alcohol, investigating further is a good idea.
If you suspect your child may be deleting their texts for a concerning reason, your first course of action should be to talk to them. Let them know you’re worried and your priority is their safety. Ask them what’s going on and give them the space to tell you without judgment.
After considering the above points, if you still feel it’s necessary to view your child’s deleted texts, here’s how to do it.
Available for: iOS 16 and above.
How far back you can restore texts: 30 days (in some cases, up to 40)
Steps to restore texts:
How far back you can restore texts: 30 days (in some cases, up to 40)
Important note: Because this method requires factory resetting your child’s iPhone settings, all of the data on their phone will be wiped out. So, it’s important to back up their data first, especially from the Messages app — or you’ll wipe out the very data you’re trying to access.
Steps to back up your child’s data:
Steps to restore texts:
This is definitely the easiest method to view your child’s deleted texts. (Just two steps!) BrightCanary is also the only child safety app that allows parents to review deleted texts on iOS devices.
How far back it can go: Monitoring begins as soon as your child’s account is connected to BrightCanary. Any texts your child sends, receives, or deletes after that point will remain in their text history.
Steps to view deleted texts:
If you haven’t set up text message monitoring with BrightCanary yet, here’s how to do it.
The best way to monitor your child’s text messages is to be proactive so you don’t need to read their deleted texts in the first place. Here are some ideas:
The best approach to monitoring your child’s text messages is open communication and the use of a monitoring app, such as BrightCanary. If you’re concerned and feel the need to read your child’s deleted texts, it’s best to be transparent with them about it first.
No, that’s not a typo. We don’t mean phishing. Smishing — phishing’s younger sibling — is an increasingly common form of cyberattack and one parents need to know about so they can help their kids stay safe. But what is smishing? Read on to learn what this scam entails and how to prevent it from happening to your child.
Like phishing, smishing is when a scammer sends a message attempting to steal information or money. But instead of using email, smishing is conducted over text.
Smishing gained its moniker because texting is also known as SMS (short message services). Scammers send messages, often including a link, to elicit the recipient to provide personal information.
Smishing is a relatively new phenomenon and one that’s on the rise. As spam filters have become increasingly sophisticated, it’s now much harder for email and phone scams to reach their intended targets. People are also much more likely to click on texts than they are email links. “Smishers” know this and take full advantage.
There are a number of common smishing scams. Here are a few that are most likely to fool kids:
These scams use multifactor authentication (MFA) to commit fraud. For smishers to pull this off, they must first obtain a victim’s username and password. Then, they pose as someone the victim knows, claiming to be locked out of their Instagram or Facebook account. They ask the victim to receive the code for them and pass it on.
Smishers may pretend to be customer service agents, choosing trusted brands like Amazon, Microsoft, or the victim’s wireless provider to try and catch the target off guard. It’s common for these messages to claim there’s a problem with the victim’s account or that they’re owed a refund or other unclaimed reward. These texts typically include a link that routes the victim to a fake website. There, the person is prompted to enter their credit card or banking information.
Scammers play the long game on this one, often over months or even years. They send a text that looks like it’s meant for someone else. When the victim responds that it’s the wrong number, the smisher strikes up a text conversation with the victim, attempting to gain their trust, friendship, or romantic affection. They then try to steal the victim’s money with a bogus request like asking to borrow money for a personal emergency.
For this type of scam, smishers pretend to be a common shipping company and claim there was an issue delivering a package. They say the recipient must pay a “delivery fee” or sign in to their account in order to get their package. Of course, the links go to fake sites where the smishers take the money or account information and disappear.
All those apps your teen likes to download could open them up to scams. Sometimes, smishers try to trick people into downloading seemingly legitimate apps that are actually malware or ransomware.
It’s critical that parents talk to their child about smishing and other scams and teach them how to protect themselves. Here are some talking points:
In addition to talking to kids about online safety, parents should also monitor their child’s phone to watch for any red flags. BrightCanary uses advanced technology to scan your child’s texts and let you know if there’s a problem.
If you think your child has been the victim of a smishing (or any type of scam), it’s important to report it. Here’s how:
Smishing scams are on the rise. In comparison to phishing, which can take place over email or phone, smishing happens over text messages. Parents need to be aware of them so they can help their kids stay protected.
If it feels like your previously communicative kiddo suddenly turned into the silent type when they became a teenager, you’re not alone. It’s common for teens to have a hard time talking to their parents.
Texting is often a good way to get them to open up because it removes a lot of the things that make communicating face-to-face difficult for teens. For example, teens may have a difficult time accurately interpreting adult’s tone and facial expressions. Texting eliminates that barrier.
But before you fire up your thumbs and start texting your kid, here are some important things you should know about texting teens:
It turns out teens have a lot of feelings about punctuation in texts. Here are some of the unofficial punctuation rules for texting your teen:
It’s pretty common for teens to text in all lowercase. (I know!) They may not expect you to match them in eschewing capital letters, but don’t give them a hard time when they do it — it’s just texting culture.
Don’t tell my 74-year-old father, but it is, in fact, possible to overdo it with emoji — especially when you’re communicating with Gen Alpha. Too many can earn you a giant eye roll. And if you do use emoji, please, I beg of you, make sure you know what they mean.
For all their skepticism of emoji, it turns out teens are wild about Bitmoji and find it hilarious when their parents use them in texts.
What is Bitmoji, you ask? It’s an app which allows you to personalize an avatar that looks like you, and you can use it to convey a whole host of things over text.
See, here’s me writing about my feelings toward all-lowercase texting:
Getting “left on read” means sending a text to someone without getting a response back, even though the sender can see the other person received the message. Teens don’t like to be ignored over text, and they get upset when you leave them on read. (Sound familiar?) It helps to let them know realistic timelines for replying.
Memes are another beloved form of visual communication among teens — one that they’ve taken to a whole new level. They use memes to express a variety of emotions, from humor to fear. Memes can also help teens engage with and talk about difficult subjects in a way that’s less overwhelming. Your teen might groan the first few times you send memes, but they’ll appreciate that you’re trying to speak their language.
It can be tempting to try and talk like your teen as a way to connect. But this can backfire. It’s okay to just use words and phrases that are true to how you really communicate. But if you really want to use the same slang you hear from your kids, be sure to confirm what it means first.
Parenting tweens and early teens is difficult and requires a nuanced approach because every kid matures differently. This is especially true for devices. As parents consider what’s right for their child, they may choose to read their kid’s texts when they’re first starting out with a phone. If your child has a phone and you want to read their texts, here are some things to keep in mind.
While there are plenty of solid reasons for 12-year-olds to have a phone, this age also needs the most guardrails, including close monitoring of their texts. At this age, you want to be more hands-on, reviewing who they’re texting and what the conversations are about.
Here are some tips for supervising your 12-year-old’s texts:
It’s a teenager’s job to push for freedom, and it’s a parent’s job to regulate that freedom so they can safely spread their wings. At this age, you may want to give them more independence and autonomy with their messaging if they’ve demonstrated their maturity and can follow family rules.
Here are some ways to strike a balance between texting privileges and rules:
The leap in maturity between 13 and 14 years old varies widely from kid to kid. Some kids may still need a level of close supervision. Here are some ways to decide how involved to be in your 14-year-old’s texts:
No matter how mature and responsible your child is, there are some topics you’ll want to monitor even through their late teens. Suicidal ideation, self harm, and drugs are top on that list.
But that doesn’t mean hovering. Reading every text may be an option when your child is younger, but they need some privacy as they grow older. Text message monitoring allows you to give your child autonomy and step in when anything potentially dangerous is detected.
Depending on your family’s values, some things you encounter in your child’s texts may be no big deal, such as moderate profanity or violence in the sports they follow. It’s okay to let some stuff go.
You know your child best, and every family has different ideas of what’s acceptable. Some monitoring apps allow you to customize what topics it scans for based on your priorities, so you’ll get fewer alerts for swear words but more alerts for potential dangers like self-harm and drugs.
There are three main ways to monitor your tween’s text messages, and they work best in conjunction with each other.
Parents should tailor their approach to reading their child’s texts based on their age, maturity, and temperament. Apps like BrightCanary are a great companion to other monitoring efforts, like regular check-ins and conversations about online safety.
If you’ve been monitoring your child’s phone since they were young, great job! But now they’re getting older, and they may want (and need) more freedom. Read on for tips on how to decide when to stop checking your child’s phone and how to support your teen online as they mature.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), parents should monitor their children’s social media until at least age 15. But not all children mature at the same rate. It’s not like a magical switch gets flipped on their 15th birthday, suddenly turning them into a responsible, independent young person. The human brain actually continues developing until around age 25.
Some children need a parent’s support longer than their peers do. In fact, a majority of parents who responded to a PC Magazine survey said they believed parents should actively monitor their child’s tech use until age 18. So, it’s up to parents to make a judgment call based on their child.
Chronological age is different from age of maturity, so there’s no hard-and-fast rule on when your child will be ready for you to stop monitoring their phone. (Wouldn’t it be easier if there were?)
Here are some factors to help you decide:
Even if your child still needs you to actively monitor their phone, it’s also important to prepare them for adulthood. As they grow older and display more maturity, look at ways to increase their autonomy and privacy.
As your child matures and you become more hands-off with their phone, there are some issues you’ll want to continue checking in with them about. This includes asking about their mental health and any challenges they may face online.
Fortunately, you can reduce your direct involvement while staying supportive. Start by keeping communication open. With less monitoring from you, it’s more important than ever that your child knows they can come to you if they run into trouble online. Make it clear you’ll support them without judgment. Period.
Check-in regularly. Ask your child what’s going on in their life — including online. We recommend having online safety check-ins on a regular cadence that works for your family.
Finally, use a customizable monitoring app. BrightCanary allows you to give your child space while keeping an eye on the big stuff. You can monitor their online activity, or you can just review the content reports that summarize potential red flags. After all, you may not feel the need to read all their texts, but you still want to know if your child encounters anything dangerous like drugs content or self-harm content.
Most children still need some level of parental monitoring beyond the age of 15. It’s also important for kids to have freedom and privacy as they get older so they can mature into adulthood. Parents of older teens should continue to check in with their child on major issues like mental health, while looking for ways to increase their autonomy.
You know that it’s a good idea to set rules around device use, like screen time limits and making sure your child is watching age-appropriate content. But should parents monitor their children’s phones? This question is a hot debate in parenting circles. It’s likely one you’ve asked yourself.
Forget for a moment about what your mom thread or the Reddit boards have to say. Instead, let’s dive into what the statistics say, what the research tells us, and what the experts recommend, so you can make an informed decision when it comes to your own child.
As more and more research emerges about the negative impacts of excessive phone use, experts now widely recommend supervising and limiting phone use for children.
For kids over the age of six, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) recommends that parents limit screen-based activities for their children and instead encourage them to form healthy, offline habits.
When it comes to explicit advice about monitoring, the American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that parents should monitor social media accounts for all kids under 15.
There aren’t strict recommendations about how much screen time kids should get each day, which makes regular monitoring even more important. Dr. Jenny Radesky, who researches how kids use media and technology, said in an interview with Today that parents should “focus on quality rather than the overall amount of time … The more important question is, what is the activity the child is doing?”
It’s clear that experts believe parents should monitor their children’s phones. But why have so many of them taken that stance in recent years?
For one thing, the data show a steep increase in anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide among adolescents in recent years, hitting Gen Z the hardest. Experts have proposed a connection between this alarming trend and the corresponding rise in smartphones and social media.
Research further supports those claims. For example, studies have shown that increased social media use is a reliable predictor of worse sleep, poor body image, low self-esteem, and increased symptoms of depression among adolescents. The U.S. Surgeon General recently weighed in, warning that social media is contributing to the youth mental health crisis.
And the impacts of phone use by adolescents extends beyond their childhood. This global study of over 27,000 young adults found a link between early phone use and worse mental health outcomes in adulthood.
While this all might sound alarming, research also offers hope. An analysis of existing research, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Development, found that parental monitoring can lower depressive symptoms and lead to fewer risky behaviors.
Given the clear and compelling reasons parents should supervise their kids on their devices, let’s dive into how that can be accomplished. Here are specific actions you can take to keep your child safe and healthy on their phone:
Experts recommend parents monitor their children’s phone use and those recommendations are born out by the research. Parents should take steps to keep their children safe and healthy on their phones, including regular check-ins and use of monitoring apps.
The term “iPad kid” is all over TikTok right now, thanks in part to the viral rants of Gen Z against what they see as a troubling trend in the generation below them. But what exactly is an iPad Kid? Should parents of young children be worried? And what should you do if you suspect you’re raising an iPad kid?
The term “iPad kid” loosely refers to certain Gen Alpha children — those born since 2010 — who seem constantly glued to their tablets, want technological stimulation at all times, and become upset when their devices are taken away.
The term also includes observations about how easy access to technology can impact parenting choices. Specifically, when parents routinely rely on devices to ease or avoid difficult moments, they sacrifice opportunities for their child to develop vital skills — like learning how to entertain themselves when they’re bored or behave appropriately in social situations.
Experts point to negative consequences of excessive screen time and overreliance on technology for kids, including tablets and iPads. Some of the risks include:
We’ve all seen the kid watching an iPad at a restaurant while their parents enjoy a meal.
While it’s totally understandable that overwhelmed and under-supported parents would want a bite in peace, there’s a downside to this convenience: it robs children of the chance to learn etiquette and proper behavior in public.
Observing and participating in dinner table conversation is also an important way that kids develop interpersonal skills, which they miss if they’re constantly on a device during social hour.
Additionally, when screens are regularly used to distract kids in situations that require them to wait, they may not develop basic skills such as patience and the ability to manage their frustrations.
When parents hand their child a device the minute they start to get upset, the child misses a chance to develop important coping skills like self-soothing and paying attention to their emotions. Instead, they learn to use screens to manage difficult feelings.
Boredom helps kids develop important skills, chiefly creativity. If they turn to screens the minute they feel an inkling of boredom, they miss the chance to find creative ways to occupy themselves.
For kids under three, too much time spent in the two-dimensional world of devices can lead to less developed fine motor skills and a lack of visual spatial awareness. Motor development and perceptual skills are developmentally important for kids, and they develop, in part, by interacting with the real world — not screens.
Eye doctors have noted an uptick in short sightedness among children, citing increased screen time as a major contributing factor.
If you’re concerned your child might be too dependent on a device, here are some signs to watch for:
It might be tempting to swing the pendulum in the other direction and issue an outright screen ban. But this can backfire and cause kids to use devices in secret, reducing the chance they’ll reach out to you for help if they encounter any problems online.
Banning screens entirely also means they miss out on the positive impacts of technology, like learning about new interests and talking to friends. It also limits your ability to teach them how to use devices responsibly — a necessary skill in our modern world.
Instead, rebalance your family’s relationship with devices using these tips:
The term “iPad kids” refers to a troubling trend of kids who are over-reliant on tablets. Parents should be mindful of their child’s device use and take steps to help them develop healthier screen time habits.
Parenting in the digital age is hard. When to let your child have their first phone, setting screen time limits, and deciding whether to monitor your kid’s device are among the difficult choices parents must make. But how do you navigate co-parenting and cell phones?
It’s common for parents to disagree on these issues, but separation or divorce adds even more complexity to maneuver. In fact, family law experts cite decisions about the use of devices as one of the most significant sources of conflict during divorce.
Hard as it may be, it’s vital that parents get on the same page about digital parenting rules. Read on for tips on negotiating the tricky waters of co-parenting and cell phone rules.
Children need boundaries. Not only do they help keep kids safe (and help them feel safe), but they’re also an important part of development. Boundaries help children develop self-discipline and learn to set their own limits.
When it comes to boundaries, technology is no exception. From safety issues like online predators to the negative consequences of too much tech, the evidence is clear that children need rules in the digital world.
You and your co-parent may not see eye-to-eye on things like how much screen time is okay for your child or what apps they’re allowed to download. But it’s important to find a middle ground, rather than arguing or talking behind each other’s back.
Research consistently points to the fact that parental conflict negatively affects children. Although conflict is normal and inevitable, how you fight matters. The biggest concern when it comes to children is destructive and unresolved conflicts between parents. These can contribute to a child’s emotional insecurity, which may lead to difficulties managing their emotions and behavior, mental health problems, and social and academic struggles.
If you’re actively going through a divorce or separation with your co-parent, this major transition can further overwhelm your child.
Children may not admit to liking boundaries, but they do need them; they make a child feel secure. On the other hand, unclear and inconsistent boundaries can set the stage for power struggles and conflict with your child. Therefore, it’s important to do everything you can to present a civil, united front with your co-parent.
Here are some tips on how to collaborate with your co-parent to create digital boundaries for your child:
It’s important to present a united front to your child, both while you’re hashing out digital rules and after you’ve come to an agreement that you and your co-parent can both live with.
Here are some tips:
Arguments between parents are adult issues. Keep your kid out of it, and resist the urge to badmouth your co-parent around your child. Not only is it emotionally harmful for your child to feel like they have to act as the go-between in parental conflict, but it’s also difficult to convince them to follow the rules if they know you disagreed when setting them in the first place.
It’s important to implement the new boundaries clearly and enforce them consistently. Consider putting your new rules in writing. Documenting expectations about digital behavior helps minimize future conflict and creates accountability for everyone involved. Including the rules, expectations, and consequences in a digital device contract that you, your co-parent, and your child regularly review and discuss.
Using a monitoring app ensures you and your co-parent operate with the same set of facts about your child’s online behavior, which can minimize conflict when enforcing digital rules. BrightCanary helps you supervise your child’s text messages on Apple devices, plus their activity on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Google.
With BrightCanary, you can share a subscription with your co-parent if you have Apple Family Sharing enabled in your iCloud settings. You’ll both need to create separate BrightCanary accounts and log into the platforms you wish to monitor for your child. Once set up, you can review their online activity and receive alerts for any concerning content directly from your phones.
Divorce and separation add to the difficulty of setting and enforcing digital parenting rules. But it’s important that co-parents align on tech boundaries and present a united front to their child.
You set limits with Apple Screen Time, but you have a suspicion that it’s not working the way it should. Now, you’re wondering, “Can my child turn off Screen Time?” If you’re frustrated that your child keeps finding a way around their screen time limits, you’re not alone. Our digital natives are good at staying a step ahead of us when it comes to tech. Read on to learn some common ways kids turn off Screen Time and what parents can do about it.
Here are some ways your child might try to work around their device restrictions:
You can set a passcode so your child can’t easily get past their Screen Time limits, but passcodes aren’t foolproof. Your child can learn the passcode by looking over your shoulder, screen recording to capture you entering the code, or old-fashioned deduction skills.
Even if you’ve restricted certain messaging apps, kids can still find ways to communicate with friends after-hours. By creating a shared note with a friend, anything either of them types in the note is visible to the other person.
Plus, if your kid takes a screenshot (of anything) and shares it, the screenshot will be sent as a text. Your kid can add a message to it, even if they’ve reached their limit on messages.
When kids reach their limit, they can hit Ask For More Time and then select One More Minute to eek out a little extra time.
Kids can still use Siri to send messages after their limit.
Deleting and then reinstalling an app removes any limitations on it.
Using the screen-recording tool allows kids to record a YouTube video to watch later from their Photo album.
If you set Screen Time limits during certain hours, it’s common for kids to adjust the time zone on their device to get around limits.
If you’ve blocked YouTube during Downtime but not messages, your child can still open any videos that are sent to them via text.
First, here’s a refresher on how to use iPhone parental controls and ways to troubleshoot if Screen Time isn’t working. These tips can help prevent the most common ways kids use to turn off Screen Time:
If a kid’s crafty enough, they’ll figure out a way around your restrictions. That’s why it’s important to couple them with other measures.
First, lean on your relationship. Let your child know you expect to be able to trust them to respect your rules and boundaries. Create a digital device contract and be clear about any consequences if they go around your limits.
Talk to your child about why it’s important to limit their screen time — especially if they’re having trouble sleeping. Stay informed about your child’s online activity through regular communication, online safety check-ins, and the use of a monitoring app.
Kids are savvy and can find ways around screen time limits. Parents should take steps to prevent their kids from hacking their limits, but also make other efforts such as staying engaged in their child’s online activity.
