Picking the Safest Smartphone: iPhone vs. Android Parental Control Apps Almost every teen has a smartphone; the devices are so commonplace in youth culture that their presence is pretty much a given. Parents, though, are often concerned about the access to content that smartphones grant to those under the age of 18. Smartphones are so much more than just an easy way to access the internet. Many popular smartphone apps let users send pictures, messages, […]
Webwatcher
147 posts
According to statistics from Pew Research Center, more than half of teens have been the victim of cyberbullying. But why has this dangerous behavior become so prevalent? Pew also reports that nearly all of American teens (a whopping 95 percent!) have a smartphone. Access to the internet, to social media and to constant connection to friends exists non-stop. It’s nearly impossible to know everything a teen does via that smartphone, and many parents wonder how […]
Your teen’s bargaining chip of “but all my friends have a smartphone” is not just another feeble exaggeration. All those teen friends do have a smartphone; in fact, Pew Research Center reports that 95 percent of teens have this device at their fingertips. But just why is this device so common? It is after all a luxury right? Maybe not so much. Just as landlines were used as a household must have for safety, convenience […]
For most middle school and high school students, owning a smartphone is simply a part of the teen experience. According to Pew Research nearly all teens have a smartphone. In fact, mobile technology is so commonplace that only 5 percent of teens lack access to these popular devices. But what makes the smart phone so popular? The allure rests in the device’s capabilities. Obviously, the phone opens up communication channels between teens and parents; if […]
If you’re familiar with Tinder, you probably know it as a dating app for adults. What you may not know is that Tinder also allows – and even encourages – teens to use their services. And Tinder is only one of several age-inappropriate apps that many teens regularly use to meet friends or romantic partners that may not be acceptable to you. Even more disturbing is that you may not know that your teen is […]
Trust in traditional news sources like mainstream newspapers and cable news channels is currently on a downward trend, leading more and more people to seek information outside of mainstream sources – often from internet-based resources like podcasts, blogs, and social media sites. While this is often discussed in terms of adults, the trend is affecting teens too. One way that teenagers are consuming and discussing news, current events, and controversial topics is through Instagram accounts […]
15-year-old Natalie Hall didn’t expect to get much money from trading in her old, broken iPhone. She was satisfied with the $11 discount on the price of a new phone that she was offered by a mall kiosk offering trade-ins. Her focus was on her new phone, and as far as she was concerned, the old iPhone with the shattered screen was junk anyway. She didn’t think much about her old phone – until she […]
If you’re like many parents, you probably have some concerns about your teenager’s smartphone use. Smartphones can be helpful and useful in many situations, but they can also distract your teen from things like schoolwork and family time. And it may be more than a simple distraction. A preliminary study suggests that smartphones may be triggering ADHD in teenagers. Take a look at what you need to know about this potential problem. The Study Researchers […]
Bullying has always been a problem that children and teens have had to deal with. And parents who remember their own childhoods may remember that girls and boys often experienced typical bullying very differently. A teen boy who was being bullied might come home with a black eye or other evidence of physical violence. A teen girl who was being bullied might be deliberately shunned by her classmates or have her reputation damaged by malicious […]
If you’re the parent of a teen who has a driver’s license and car keys, or if you will be soon, you’ve probably thought about the dangers of distracted driving. Texting behind the wheel is dangerous for any driver, but it may be particularly dangerous for teens who already have limited driving experience. And if your teen is still a pedestrian, there’s still reason to worry. Distracted walking may not be as potentially dangerous to […]
Online challenges can take a number of different forms. There are innocuous challenges that involve harmless actions like changing one’s social media status to reflect a particular message. There are challenges that are intended to raise money or awareness for some cause, like the Ice Bucket Challenge that was associated with ALS research and went viral in 2014. Then there are the challenges that sound and look incredibly dangerous (and stupid) like snorting condoms or […]
If your child has an iPhone, you have probably already figured out that there are positives and negatives to your child’s smartphone use. On the one hand, it can be nerve-wracking to allow your child to have unfettered access to messaging and the internet. On the other hand, it’s helpful to be able to reach your child anytime and anywhere, and the iPhone gives your child access to a number of fun and even educational […]
Does your child love music? Does your teen like to imagine that they’re their favorite rapper or rock star? If so, they might be enjoying the TikTok (formerly Musical.ly), a lip-synching app that allows users to record and share videos of themselves lip-synching along to their favorite tunes. That probably sounds harmless, and it can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there are also some concerning things about the app that parents should be aware […]
Businesses usually choose to outsource their software development requirements to IT consulting firms to benefit from cost savings and to extend their capabilities by bringing on tech expertise with specific skills and experience. Identifying successfully completed projects with similar tech stacks in the software development company’s portfolio could also prove beneficial for you when gauging who to outsource your needs to. To better determine which IT consulting firms will best deliver the most impressive results, […]
While your smartphone may seem like an irreplaceable part of your life, it’s important to remember that they’re still relatively new technology – if you’re the parent of a teenager, it’s likely that you yourself didn’t have a smartphone, or even a cell phone, when you were your child’s age. If smartphones have become so ubiquitous and important to daily life that they’ve changed the way that you behave as an adult, what are they […]