Negative social media use can lead to some serious consequences, like missed job opportunities or college rejections. Read these tips from social media safety experts to teach kids how to stay safe, positive, and responsible whenever they go online.
Digital Citizenship Blog at SmartSocial.com
Kahoot App: What Parents Need to Know
The Kahoot app makes learning fun. Teachers love it and kids do, too. We’ve thoroughly researched the Kahoot app and found all the great features– and some negative ways some students are now using it to cheat and cause classroom chaos. Our comprehensive guide has everything parents need to know.
Snapchat App Parent Guide
Snapchat is extremely popular among teens. It’s also widely regarded as dangerous among law enforcement. Teens can have a lot of fun using the photo and video messaging app, but there are some major privacy and safety concerns we want parents to know about.
Is the VSCO App Safe for Teens?
VSCO is a photo editing and sharing app, similar to Instagram, with various filters and photo enhancements. Users can’t set their profiles to private, which means anything teens are posting to VSCO can easily be viewed by strangers.
Threads by Instagram: Is it Safe for Kids?
Threads by Instagram is a brand new messaging app that allows users to stay in constant contact with their closest friends. One of the options in Threads raises some serious privacy concerns. Users can let the app track them and send out automatic updates on their behalf.
7 Teens using Social Media for Good Deeds
There’s so much bad publicity these days about kids and social media. But there are also kids and teens out there using social media in positive ways that show you’re never too young to make a difference. Learn how these 7 teens used social media for good deeds.
Fire Challenge: A Life-Threatening Internet Challenge
Some kids are lighting themselves on fire or letting their friends ignite them. The dangerous social media stunt called the “Fire Challenge” has landed some kids across the country in the hospital. Yet the life-threatening social media challenge continues. Click here to keep your kids safe.
How Kids Can Benefit from Good Posture, Eye Contact, Proper English, & Solid Handshakes
Working to build inner confidence is a gift that will continue to pay off throughout life. Students will benefit from good posture, great eye contact, solid handshakes, and using proper English.
Lasso App from Facebook: What is it?
The Lasso app lets users create and edit videos to share on the app. The app is very similar to the popular Tik Tok app. Kids can have fun using Lasso, but the Smart Social team wants parents to be aware that complete strangers can watch your kid’s videos.
Following Your Kids on Social Media: Tips for Parents
Parents: should you be following your kids on social media? The Smart Social team consulted with some experts and they all agree– yes! So how can parents keep their kids safe online and encourage good digital behavior without being too intrusive? Read our article to learn more.
The Amino Chat App is Risky for Teens
The Amino Chat App encourages users to join different communities based on a wide range of interests. But everyone using the chat app is anonymous and that poses some serious safety concerns for teens.
Kik Messenger: Why this app is trouble for teens
In September 2019, Kik announced that it will be shutting down. After learning that a 13-year-old girl communicated with her killer on the popular Kik Messenger app prior to her murder, a lot of parents are beginning to worry about the apps their kids use—and how they use them.
Bigo Live App: How to Keep Students Safe
BIGO LIVE is a live video streaming social media network that encourages users to randomly chat with strangers using their video calls feature. The emphasis of connecting with strangers on BIGO LIVE is a major red flag that this app is NOT safe for students.
Twenty App (formerly Mappen App) Safety Guide for Parents
Similar to Snapchat’s “Snap Map“, Mappen is a social media networking app that focuses on location sharing. The Mappen app is not safe for students to use and if your student has it, remove it immediately. Apps that use location sharing services make it easy for predators to target children.
What is Tumblr? Parent and Teacher Guide (Video)
Due to Tumblr’s popularity, we’ve updated this Parent App Guide to continue to help parents keep students safe. Learn why Tumblr is so popular with teens, important teen Tumblr statistics, why Tumblr is in our Red Zone, and what to do if your child has an account.
The Dangers of the TextNow App & How to Keep Kids Safe
The TextNow app turns any wifi connected device into a phone with its own phone number, even if the device doesn’t have a phone plan. There are several reports of predators using the app to target victims, so we created this parent guide to help you keep your kids safe.
10 Ways to Get Fired for Social Media
Everything you do online lives on in the public sphere, from your comments on Facebook, to pictures you are tagged in on Instagram. College admissions officers and future employers will search for you online and there are reports of students being kick out of school and fired for social media.
Life360 App Guide for Parents (Track Your Kids)
Life360 Family Locator is a real time location-sharing app that uses GPS location data to report the location of users. Users create geofences around their home, and other frequently visited destinations. If your family uses the app, be aware that your children can start sharing their location with their friends.
How to Handle Cyberbullying (Tips for Your Family)
Cyberbullying has become such a major issue that platforms like Instagram are releasing features to help reduce bullying. With recent statistics showing that only 20-30% of students tell an adult when they’re being bullied, it is more important than ever for parents to teach them how to handle cyberbullying.
Leadership Goals: This Principal Loves, Listens, Leads, and Learns with Students and Staff (With Guest Blain Watson)
Blain Watson is the Principal at Manuel E. Dominguez High School in the Compton Unified School District. Josh Ochs caught up with him to learn more about how he turned his school around in less than two years while setting leadership goals.