Welcome to Parent Pixels, a parenting newsletter filled with practical advice, news, and resources to support you and your kids in the digital age. This week:
What if the next time your child signs up for a social media platform, they’re faced with a health warning — the same kind of label you see on cigarettes?
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently called for a warning label that states social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. The statement comes after Murthy issued a health advisory in May 2023, warning that social media is contributing to the youth mental health crisis.
What is a warning label? You’ve likely seen these labels on tobacco and alcohol products. A surgeon general’s warning label is a public statement that calls attention to a critical public health issue.
Warning labels can’t be implemented without congressional approval, but Murthy’s statement furthers a growing movement for regulation on social media to help keep kids safe and minimize the dangers of addictive design features. For example, New York recently passed a measure that bans social media platforms from algorithmically recommending content to children.
It’s not over: Murthy acknowledges that a warning label, on its own, wouldn’t make social media safer for young people. He also urges legislators to:
“There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place, no assurance that trusted experts have investigated and ensured that these platforms are safe for our kids,” he wrote. “There are just parents and their children, trying to figure it out on their own, pitted against some of the best product engineers and most well-resourced companies in the world.”
Parents can help, too — by creating more phone-free experiences at home and at school, supervising kids’ social media use, and delaying giving kids access to phones until after middle school. Stay involved, ask questions, and understand what your child is doing on their devices.
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For today’s kids, digital literacy comes into play with everything from school projects to social media. When kids are skilled in digital literacy, they’re more capable of identifying reputable information and sources. Here’s how to raise digitally literate kids.
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.
You know you should talk to your child about what they’re doing on their phone, but it can feel awkward and intrusive. Here are some ways to start the conversation:
🎮 Is your child developing an unhealthy relationship with video games? Melanie Hempe of ScreenStrong shares a video game addiction test you can use today.
🔨 Apple recently announced a fix to a problematic Screen Time bug that allowed kids to view explicit content. (If your child is getting around Apple Screen Time, here are some troubleshooting tips.)
🎉 BrightCanary is now free for school teachers, counselors, and mental health professionals! Learn more in this letter from our CEO Karl Stillner.
