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Data Defenders Guide for Parents
The Data Defenders game teaches children and pre-teens about personal information and its value, and introduces them to the different ways they can manage and protect their personal information on the websites and apps they enjoy.
Knowing My Password
My three kids all know the password to my phone. It’s because I rely on them to play secretary for me when I’m driving. If the phone rings or there is a bing of a text, 99% of the time it’s a member of my immediate family trying to get in touch with something relatively pressing.
Digital Skills for Democracy: Assessing online information to make civic choices
In this activity, students : think about the importance of making sure they have trustworthy information before they make a decision on a political or electoral issue explore a series of scenarios designed to teach five strategies for verifying information: find the original, verify the source, check other information, read factchecking articles, and turn to places you trust reflect on the impact of false and misleading information in politicsA Co-Viewing Christmas: Dealing with Problematic Classics
Many families have media traditions around the holidays – whether that’s watching A Charlie Brown Christmas together or staging a Mario Kart tournament on New Year’s Day. It’s great to make media a family activity, and it’s also an opportunity to co-view with your kids. In fact, holiday movies practically demand co-viewing: whether your tastes run to It’s a Wonderful Life, Die Hard or Christmas Vacation, odds that that if you watch with your (appropriately-aged) kids you’ll see something that makes you uncomfortable. Maybe it’s a racist stereotype in a cartoon, or a scene that makes stalking and harassment look romantic, or yet another kids’ movie with just one female character. What do you say?
Building Better Tech Habits: A Guide to Digital Well-being
Screen time is one of parents’ top tech-related concerns, according to MediaSmarts’ research, and it’s the most common source of tech-related conflict between parents and young people in Canada. Kids are worried about their screen use too: almost half say they spend too much time on their phones.
Frequent tropes in news
Tropes in news function as shorthand for audiences, allowing for more efficient narrative construction and reducing cognitive load, often at the cost of flattening complex realities.
Managing media with tweens (10-13 years old)
Helping Kids Build Safe and Smart Digital HabitsThere are four main strategies to help kids become resilient to online risks. We can:Curate our kids’ media experiences;Control who can access our kids and their data;