Skip to main content
  • English
  • Français

Footer Social Media Icons

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • TikTok
Home
  • Home
  • Digital Media Literacy
    • General Information
    • Media Issues
    • Digital Issues
    • Educational Games
    • Media Literacy Week
    • Workshops
  • Research and Evaluation
    • Our Approach
    • What We Do
    • Research Reports
    • Young Canadians in a Wireless World
  • For Parents
  • Teacher Resources
    • Find Lessons & Resources
    • Digital Media Literacy Outcomes by Province & Territory
    • Digital Media Literacy Framework
    • Media Literacy 101
    • Digital Literacy 101
  • Blog
  • Get Involved
    • Become a donor
    • Become a volunteer
    • Become a Corporate Partner
    • Media Literacy Week
    • Teen Fact-Checking Network

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  • Texting, and communication, has changed

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 7 May 2025

    There is one place getting more attention lately for increasing the quality of conversations: in-person.

    Cell Phones and Texting
    Digital Health
    Instant Messaging
    Parents
  • I’m overwhelmed online. Now what?

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 27 January 2025

    I probably could, and maybe should, write about all of the social media changes we are seeing. The troubling updates to Meta’s content moderation policies and the removal of their fact-checking program, the complicated TikTok ban in the US, all of it.

    Authenticating Information
    Digital Citizenship
    Digital Health
    Parents
    Social Networking
  • What parents need to know about tech and sleep

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 10 June 2024

    While tech has become integrated in the lives of parents and teens, there are positives and negatives that come with it. One problem? When our handheld devices affect our sleep – and this is a particular issue for teens.

    Digital Health
    Parents
  • Setting family goals and intentions after the New Year

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 8 February 2024

    Now that we’re past the flurry of people posting about their January New Year’s resolutions (maybe some of them were realistic and easy to follow and some of them less so), it’s a good time to sit back and think about how we can start off a fresh year with intention, particularly when it comes to screen use.  

    Digital Health
    Parents
  • How parents can be prepared for the school year 

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 29 August 2023

    It’s that time of year again when parents (and kids) are either counting down the days until school begins, or feeling a sense of overwhelming worry that the summer hasn’t lasted long enough. Admittedly, I’m in the latter category. However, our family has begun to prepare for the new school year.  

    Digital Health
    Parents
  • The Family That Plays Together… 

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 1 August 2023
    It’s the summertime and if you have older kids and teens, you may be balancing a variety of schedules. Older kids make plans with friends by themselves, have jobs (and usually require some parental driving), stay up later than little ones do, and may be asleep long after your first cup of coffee or work email is done.  
    Digital Health
    Parents
    Video Games
  • As Tech Evolves, Why Am I Stepping Away More?

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 30 May 2023

    Technology has changed and often improved the way we work, live, shop and play, but it can feel overwhelming at times. I think I’m at the age where new technology feels like too much and I hate change and I don’t want to learn something new. This is why I’m still not really using TikTok I guess.  

    Cell Phones and Texting
    Digital Health
    Internet & Mobile
  • What do teens really think about screen time?

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 29 July 2022

    Screen time is a common topic for parents to try and manage today. Are we allowing too much? How do we make it safe? We will ask our friends and fellow parents for their thoughts or advice or learn tips from resources (like MediaSmarts!) to help us navigate this new aspect of parenting. When I was my kids’ age, we were just loading Netscape 2.0 onto our computers, and we’d check our ICQ messages before putting in a VHS to watch a movie or playing some Super Mario RPG.  The online world is so different now.

    Digital Health
    Internet & Mobile
    Movies
    Parents
    Social Networking
    Television
  • The summer screen plan

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 23 June 2022

    Recently in my Facebook memories, a photo from years ago appeared. In the caption, I had written about how I was telling the kids they couldn’t spend their summer on their screens and that in reply, my eldest, likely about 10 years old at the time, pulled out his recorder from school to give an impromptu concert. The photo I shared was a picture of him playing it. I suspect, based on my post, that I not only appreciated his reply to my statement (as sarcastic as it may have been), but that they did, in fact, end up with plenty of screen time.  

    Digital Health
    Parents
    Television
  • Electronic gifts for preteens and teens (other than video games)

    Submitted by Rebecca Stanisic on 30 November 2021

    As your kids grow older, their gift requests may start to look a lot different than when they were younger. While they once circled all the toys in the holiday catalogues that arrived at the door, now they are sending parents text messages or Google Docs with links to their wish list items.

    Digital Health
    Marketing & Consumerism
    Media Production
    Parents
    Video Games

Pagination

  • Page 1
  • Next page ››

Categories

  • 2SLGBTQ+ Representation
  • Alcohol Marketing
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Authenticating Information
  • Blogging
  • Body Image
  • Cell Phones and Texting
  • Comics
  • Crime Portrayal
  • Cyber Security
  • Cyberbullying
  • Digital Citizenship
  • Digital Health
  • Diversity in Media
  • Environment
  • Events
  • Excessive Internet Use
  • File Sharing
  • Food Marketing
  • Gender Representation
  • Global Development Portrayal
  • Human Rights
  • Indigenous People
  • Instant Messaging
  • Intellectual Property
  • Internet & Mobile
  • Journalism & News
  • Marketing & Consumerism
  • Media Literacy 101
  • Media Production
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Online Ethics
  • Online Gambling
  • Online Hate
  • Online Marketing
  • Parents
  • Persons with Disabilities
  • Pornography
  • Privacy
  • Privilege in the Media
  • Professional Development
  • Religion
  • Resources
  • Sexting
  • Sexual Exploitation
  • Social Networking
  • Sports
  • Stereotyping
  • Television
  • Tobacco Marketing
  • Video Games
  • Video Sharing
  • Violence
  • Visible Minorities
  • Young Canadians In A Wired World
+More
+Less

Blog Archives

  • May 2025 (2)
  • April 2025 (1)
  • February 2025 (1)
  • January 2025 (1)
  • December 2024 (2)
  • October 2024 (2)
  • September 2024 (1)
  • August 2024 (1)
  • July 2024 (1)
  • June 2024 (2)
  • May 2024 (1)
  • April 2024 (1)
  • March 2024 (2)
  • February 2024 (1)
  • January 2024 (1)
  • November 2023 (1)
  • October 2023 (3)
  • August 2023 (2)
  • June 2023 (1)
  • May 2023 (2)
  • April 2023 (2)
  • March 2023 (1)
  • February 2023 (1)
  • December 2022 (1)
  • November 2022 (1)
  • October 2022 (2)
  • September 2022 (1)
  • July 2022 (1)
  • June 2022 (2)
  • May 2022 (2)
  • April 2022 (4)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • January 2022 (1)
  • November 2021 (3)
  • October 2021 (2)
  • July 2021 (1)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (1)
  • April 2021 (1)
  • March 2021 (2)
  • January 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • November 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (3)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (2)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • November 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (1)
  • April 2018 (1)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (3)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • April 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • February 2017 (1)
  • December 2016 (2)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • July 2016 (2)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • April 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (4)
  • November 2015 (5)
  • October 2015 (3)
  • September 2015 (2)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (1)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (1)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • February 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (3)
  • December 2014 (1)
  • November 2014 (2)
  • October 2014 (3)
  • September 2014 (3)
  • July 2014 (2)
  • June 2014 (2)
  • May 2014 (2)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (6)
  • January 2014 (3)
  • December 2013 (2)
  • November 2013 (3)
  • October 2013 (5)
  • September 2013 (1)
  • August 2013 (2)
  • July 2013 (3)
  • June 2013 (3)
  • May 2013 (2)
  • April 2013 (6)
  • March 2013 (2)
  • February 2013 (5)
  • January 2013 (2)
  • December 2012 (1)
  • November 2012 (2)
  • October 2012 (1)
  • September 2012 (1)
  • August 2012 (2)
  • July 2012 (1)
  • June 2012 (1)
  • May 2012 (1)
  • April 2012 (1)
  • February 2012 (1)
  • January 2012 (1)
  • November 2011 (1)
  • October 2011 (1)
  • September 2011 (2)
  • July 2011 (1)
  • June 2011 (1)
  • May 2011 (1)
  • April 2011 (1)
  • March 2011 (1)
  • February 2011 (1)
  • January 2011 (1)
  • December 2010 (1)
  • October 2010 (2)
  • September 2010 (1)
  • August 2010 (1)
  • July 2010 (2)
  • June 2010 (2)
  • April 2010 (2)
  • March 2010 (3)
  • February 2010 (3)
  • January 2010 (1)
  • December 2009 (3)
  • November 2009 (3)
  • October 2009 (3)
  • September 2009 (1)
  • July 2009 (2)
  • June 2009 (3)
  • May 2009 (1)
  • April 2009 (2)
  • March 2009 (2)
  • February 2009 (4)
  • January 2009 (2)
  • December 2008 (1)
  • November 2008 (2)
  • October 2008 (3)
  • September 2008 (3)
  • August 2008 (3)
  • July 2008 (5)
  • June 2008 (1)
  • May 2008 (2)
  • April 2008 (3)
  • March 2008 (4)
  • February 2008 (3)
  • January 2008 (8)
+More
+Less

MediaSmarts Blogger - Rebecca Stanisic

Rebecca Stanisic,
MediaSmarts Blogger

See all of Rebecca's posts.

MediaSmarts Blogger - Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson,
Director of Education

See all of Matthew's posts.

MediaSmarts Blogger - Lynn Jatania

Lynn Jatania

Lynn Jatania,
MediaSmarts Parent

See all of Lynn's posts.

Sign up & Follow Us

Stay informed with daily news and updates!

Learn More

Stay connected with us on social media!

How to Support Us

Interested in supporting MediaSmarts? Find out how you can get involved. Charitable Registration No. 89018 1092 RR0001

Learn More

Find Teacher Resources

Corporate Partners

  • APTN
  • Amazon
  • Bell
  • Google
  • Meta
  • NFB
  • TELUS Wise
  • TikTok
  • YouTube

MediaSmarts

MediaSmarts is a non-partisan registered charity that receives funding from government and corporate partners to support the development of original research and educational content. Our funders and corporate partners do not influence our work, and any resources that offer guidance on specific digital tools and platforms do not constitute an endorsement.

Footer - This Site

  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer - About Us

  • Press Centre
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • English
  • Français