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Being Intentional With Technology: How We Introduced Our Kids to Social Media and Devices
Raising kids in a fast-moving digital world is hard—here’s the intentional plan our family used to make it manageable.
The Personal Pocket Computer: What Gen Z Knows About Growing Up Online
I often call the smartphone a Personal Pocket Computer because that is what it really is. Think about how much time you spent today talking to someone on your “phone” compared with how much time you spent searching, scrolling, watching, shopping, working, taking pictures, checking directions, sending messages or consuming information. Making phone calls may be one of the things we do least with it.
More Than a Profile: Remembering the Human Behind the Screen
After spending hours on social media, a person can begin to feel like little more than something in the scroll. A human being becomes a photograph, a username, a comment, or a brief collection of LED pixels that appears for a few seconds before we swipe to whatever comes next.
The Last Generation to Grow Up Before the Digital World
I remember when a stick could become a sword, a rifle or a tool for exploring a creek, and today I can take a picture of that same stick and ask an artificial intelligence system what kind of tree it came from. I feel blessed to have experienced both.
Some Teens Are Using AI for Mental Health Advice Before They Talk to Adults
It makes sense that a student walking into a counseling office may have already tried to sort things out with AI first. They may have asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Snapchat’s My AI, Character.AI, or another chatbot about stress, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, relationships, family conflict, friendship problems, or something they were not ready to say out loud yet.
GRWM Videos, Social Media, and the Great Shift Toward a More Sexualized Childhood
As social media platforms evolve, the behavior on those platforms evolves too. The content gets faster, the trends get more extreme, and the pressure to be noticed gets stronger. The line between entertainment, identity, popularity, attention, and sexuality gets blurrier, and our kids are watching all of it.
The Great Shift: Childhood Did Not Move Online Overnight
The Great Shift: Childhood Did Not Move Online Overnight My generation, Gen X, has had the unique experience of growing up almost completely offline, watching the evolution of technology unfold in real time, and now living in an always-connected world. We remember what life felt like before everything had a screen, a password, a profile,…
Kik, Kids, and Online Predators: Why This App Still Matters
Kids need to understand why private messaging with strangers is different from talking to friends. They need to understand why usernames, anonymous profiles, hidden chats, disappearing messages, and secretive conversations can create danger.