Media Safety Tips: Tweens (10-13 years old)

Two big changes happen at this age: the beginning of adolescence and (for most kids) starting to use phones and social media. While younger kids use digital tech, for tweens it is often an essential part of how they develop and grow. They are aware of online risks like privacy invasions and stranger contact but more often in the abstract sense, having been told of them by teachers or parents instead of peers. This often leads to a disconnect between how risky they think things are and what they actually do.

Family Online Rules

MediaSmarts’ research has shown that kids with household rules about Internet use are less likely to do things like post their contact information, visit gambling sites, seek out online pornography and talk to strangers online. Having a family agreement or set of rules for using the Internet is also a great way for parents and kids to work together on how to be safe, wise and responsible online.

Fan Frenzy: Is technology helping or hindering?

So, parents, you may or may not have noticed that Taylor Swift has announced a tour that will in fact include six Toronto dates.

Ohhhh, you have noticed? Because you tried to get nearly impossible-to-get tickets like 38 million other people did?

Yeah, you aren’t alone.

Sexting: Shifting the Focus from Victim-Blaming to Respect and Consent

Few issues capture our anxiety about young people and digital media so perfectly as sexting. As with technologies at least as far back as the telegraph, much of this anxiety has focused specifically on girls and women.

Cyberbullying Overview

For most youth, the internet is all about socializing, and while most of these social interactions are positive, some use the technology to intimidate and harass others – a phenomenon known as cyberbullying.

Sexual Exploitation – Overview

The Internet offers young people important opportunities to socialize with their friends and families as well as to find people who share common interests and communities that can provide emotional support. It is also inevitable that at an age where young people are starting to explore their sexuality offline, they will do so online in these interactive environments as well.