For Parents - Smartphone-Free Childhood?

There's a lot of talk going on right now about a smartphone-free childhood. Statements such as 'all under 16's should be banned from owning a smartphone' are neither practical nor possible, but all of this makes things very difficult for parents who want clear information to make an informed decision.

Thankfully Internet Matters have lots of clear information which should be useful for parents. In THIS article Internet Matters look at a number of aspects such as balancing concerns with safety and limiting risk. In THIS article there's a parents guide to smart phones versus dumb phones. Together these articles and the links within the articles have lots of up to date, useful information to help them make a decision.

For Parents - Video Games and Children

Unicef have shared an article with some nice, clear and simple advice for parents/carers about online gaming. The article covers how to create a positive and safe gaming environment, how parents can engage with their children, what the benefits or gaming are and more.

You can view the article on the Unicef website HERE.

YouTube - Parental Controls for Teens

Google (YouTube) have, in the past, always argued that YouTube is strictly for over 13's, much like most other social platforms. This age is predominantly for marketing/advertising purposes. However, that argument has never stood up given that Google have never had a means to prevent under 13's using the platform with or without an account. 

Back in 2021 YouTube introduced new parental features, called Supervised Experience, and this was for parents of children under 13 who were using YouTube.

Now, it looks like YouTube is extending Supervised Experience for parents of teenagers. In early September they announced that parents/carers will be able to link their teenagers account to the parent account where parents will have the ability to see some limited information such as number of video uploads, comments etc. 

I think some parents may be disappointed that this is quite a limited set of features and I would agree. You can read more about this HERE.

For Parents - Gaming Tips for Parents of Neurodivergent Children.

Internet Matters have released another really useful guide, this time it's all about online gaming safety tips for parents and carers of neurodivergent children. It's a simple 5-page guide covering the research, example games, some of the challenges which parents face and the all-important benefits.

It's a great little guide which you can download HERE.

For Parents - The ABC Online safety Checklist.

Internet Matters have done it again, this time with a really simple guide for parents using Activate, Balance and Check.

The ABC's are broken down by age to make this as simple as possible for parents: all ages, under 5's, 6-10, 11-13 and 14+. Definitely worth sharing with your parents and I'll definitely be using it in my parent training sessions.

You can download the guide HERE.