MediaSmarts Blog

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Who owns the moment?

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 18 Dec 2019.

My youngest daughter has a brand new Instagram account, and she’s excited about it. Unlike my older two, she actually does use it to post. Since she doesn’t have a cell phone she uses her tablet at home, so her posts are always things we are doing around the house: artwork or craft projects she’s done, what we’re having for dinner, or the occasional nice outfit she wants to share.

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Internet & Mobile, Parents, Social Networking

Getting paranoid about our smart speaker

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 27 Nov 2019.

The other day I was on the phone with my sister – our land line, not a cell phone – and I said to her, “You’re my person.” This is a well-known phrase from the TV show Grey’s Anatomy; Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang used to say it to each other to cement the closeness of their friendship.

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Cyber Security, Internet & Mobile, Parents, Privacy

For kids, social media isn’t always social

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 04 Nov 2019.

Here’s a weird thing: my kids don’t use social media to be, you know, social.

The other day, I was scrolling through my own Instagram feed, while my youngest daughter was looking over my shoulder. She was asking why I follow every account I follow. I explained time and again that each account was a friend of mine – some closer than others, but, for the most part, people I’ve met at some point in life and who I wanted to keep in touch with.

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Digital Health, Parents, Social Networking

Back to school – cell phone free

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 14 Oct 2019.

My two oldest kids started grades 10 and 11 in September. As usual, they took their smartphones with them the first day.

When they arrived home, I asked them how their classes had went, and they said that every single class had talked about the Ontario government’s new policy about cell phones in school – that is, that cell phones are to be used only for educational purposes, or health or special needs, during class time.

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Cell Phones and Texting, Digital Health, Excessive Internet Use

What do you meme it’s not legal?

Submitted by Lynn Jatania on 03 Sep 2019.

My daughter – age 14 – is all about Instagram. It’s her primary source of entertainment: if she’s on her phone, she’s likely looking at memes or laughing at silly posts made by her friends. It’s also the main way she communicates with them, as they use its messaging service much more than things like texting or video chat.

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Digital Citizenship, Intellectual Property, Internet & Mobile, Online Ethics, Parents

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