Family Helps for Technology Use
There are many resources to help parents set limits and navigate the discussions about how and when technology use is appropriate.
Digital Literacy and Technology Safety Resources for Parents and Families
When looking at safety, it is important for parents to consider:
- Who can see and communicate with my child through the social media account?
- What content can my children see through social media?
- What data is collected and used by the company about me, my child, my computer?
Social media sites have a section to help parents understand the product and offer safety tips. They explain why it is illegal for students to sign up on their own before age 13, but also provide important safety tips for parents. Here are a few:
On the company website, parents can also find privacy policies of social media, for example, this link from Vimeo explains what they do with personal information and how they track users.
There are also a variety of parent-friendly sites dedicated to helping educate families about online social media safety.
- Connect Safety (they review many products, including their parent guide to Snapchat)
- Common Sense Media (they rate a variety of popular media and give parents talking points to help guide decisions about media use; they also have an important section on cyberbullying)
- Screenagers Parenting Apps (a review of various supports for parents to monitor their children’s online activity)