VIP Member Resources

Violent video games are a popular pastime for many students. While there are some positives to playing these games, there are also some dangers that parents should be aware of before letting their students play violent video games.

Apex Legends is a fun game compared to Fortnite but as a live shooter game, it has its own downsides that parents need to know about.

Fortnite is an extremely popular video game for students to play, but there are dangers that parents need to know.

Call of Duty is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Parents need to know why this game is listed in the SmartSocial Red Zone.

Overwatch is a multiplayer first-person shooter game available on multiple platforms that is incredibly popular with students. The game only works if players are matched onto teams with other real people which means that your child will be exposed to strangers in every match.

A smartphone and social media agreement can help families create healthy internet habits.

WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging apps in the world. As an alternative to SMS text messages, WhatsApp is easy to use and offers several free options for people around the world to connect, without using a data plan.

YouTube can be a fantastic source of education and entertainment. But, with users adding incredible amounts of new content each day, it is challenging to keep unsuitable content away from students. Learn about the top dangers and tips to keep your students safer on YouTube.

Finding access to controlled substances or illegal drugs is easier than ever thanks to social media. Learn what to look out for and how to help if you think your student or friend may have tried drugs.

Virtual reality headsets make it close to impossible for parents or teachers to see what students are seeing or hearing while they are interacting in augmented reality. In this resource, parents and teachers will learn tips to talk with students about safety on virtual reality games connected to the internet and how to select what games are appropriate for your students.

A recent study revealed that 91% of American teens use YouTube regularly. Learn 9 best practices for students on YouTube, like how to establish ground rules so your teen starts off on the right foot, how to make learning fun, and how to utilize free educational videos.

BeReal. is the latest social media app aimed at bringing online social interactions back to real life. Although the chance to see a more accurate glimpse into our friends’ lives may sound appealing, this new app poses a few dangers to students.

SmartSocial wants to hear from more students about social media! The SmartSocial Student Advisor program allows students to share their ideas with us and answer questions to help us create social media training resources for parents, teachers, and students!

We asked cybersecurity experts for best practices for employees, staff, teachers, and families to know about phishing, ransomware, and malicious downloads in their professional and personal communications.

Learn the dangerous aspects of Snapchat and how to keep students safe.

When parents set a positive example of online behaviors, have open discussions about the unrealistic standards social media can promote, and help students honor their accomplishments with gratitude, they can help their children avoid the negative effects of social media on mental health.

Learn how social media can negatively affect children's ability to sleep, trigger anxiety, increase body image issues, and what parents and educators can do to help.

Many parents are looking for ways to keep their children safe on Instagram and Snapchat. Learn how you can teach children how to be responsible online, what to do if your teen shares too much personal information online, and how to discuss Instagram and Snapchat safety.

BIGO LIVE is a live streaming, social media app where users can watch, create videos, or live stream their activities to share with friends and strangers across the world.

Learn what the Orbeez challenge is on TikTok and other social media platforms and tips to talk with your student if they are interested in toy guns or participating in this challenge.

Students, parents, & educators will learn how to use Instagram with a positive purpose, what dangers to steer clear of, and how to use the built-in settings to keep kids safer.

Reddit is an online community website and app that calls itself the "front page of the internet." Many parents are asking, "what is Reddit?" So, we created this parent app guide video to bring parents and educators up to speed on this popular website. Learn what types of content your student can access on Reddit, how posting can negatively effect a student's Google results, and more.

Learn how to use Google Play’s parental controls as an additional feature to filter inappropriate content on students’ devices.

Like most hobbies, playing videos games can be safe in moderation. Learn the negative effects of video games and how parents can keep students safe.

There’s so much bad publicity these days about students and social media. But there are also tweens and teens out there using social media in positive ways that show you’re never too young to make a difference. Read more about the stories of how 17 teens are using social media for good deeds.

Discord is a free voice, video, and text chat app. Learn how to keep your family safe on the Discord app.

Snapchat can be a fun way to keep in touch with friends, but there are downsides too. This post will explain to students and parents why Snapchat is dangerous.

The One Chip Challenge is a viral social media challenge in which participants must eat a chip made from the spiciest peppers in the world.

TikTok is a fun and creative outlet for users to post videos, but some of the content users post contain explicit language, suggestive themes, and lewd gestures. Smart Social recommends parents monitor their student’s use of the app both for what they view and what they post.

TikTok is highly addictive for any user, especially students. Learn how to set limits and help students have fun and stay safe online.

Learn about the different options of how to make sure your family doesn’t have to deal with annoying pop-ups or ads and how you can keep your online activity safe and secure.

The Benadryl Challenge encourages users to take excessive amounts of allergy medication with the hopes of hallucinating. If you find anyone who has overdosed on medication, seek medical assistance immediately. Learn how parents and educators can talk with students about this, and other, dangerous social media challenges.

The latest social media statistics from Common Sense Media shed light on teens’ changing social media habits. It will come as no surprise to many parents that teen social media has increased dramatically. Understanding the trends of teen social media use will help your student build a positive digital footprint.

Learn what Digital Wellbeing and Parental controls are available on Android devices

Apple AirDrop and Android Nearby Share are often left available for anyone in a similar location to share anything with your students. Learn how to find these features on Apple, Android, or Chrome OS devices, how to find settings to block strangers, and how to talk with students about the appropriate use and consequences of these features.

Find out what anime is and why your students want to watch it.

Being on apps or social media websites that encourage users to be anonymous or “your true self” is dangerous for students. Learn why they are dangerous and how to talk with students about these apps.

Apple Screen Time is a feature that allows users to set screen time limits and see reports of how a device has been used. The feature can be configured by parents to set limits in Downtime, restrict privacy and content, and set communication preferences.

Although social media allows you to connect with like-minded people from all over the world, every comment or photo you post could potentially harm your reputation later on in life. This is where a social media clean-up comes in handy. In this post, 32 experts share their best tips.

Tracking your student’s location with their smartphones or using Bluetooth chips to keep tabs on keys or easily lost items might be beneficial for families, but these technologies can be used against your family in the wrong hands. Being aware of your surroundings and the dangers of location sharing settings are smart ways to keep students safe online and in person.

The Door Kick or Heart Beat Challenge encourages participants to kick unsuspecting people’s doors on college campuses and in neighborhoods. Learn more about why a simple prank with popular song lyrics is causing concern across the country.

Scrolling through social media users see a variety of trending topics, including viral social media challenges. Parents and educators can help students understand the dangers of going “viral” on social media with these challenges. This guide will help adults understand what social media challenges are, how they work, why students are interested in them, and how to start and continue discussions with students to help them learn how to make good choices, even when faced with peer pressure.

The No Budge Walk Challenge encourages social media users to record themselves walking through a busy area (such as a school hallway) in the opposite direction from others, with the sole intention of bumping into people to incite anger.

The Netflix app allows users to stream or download popular movies and shows from a mobile device. Learn how to use the app’s new parental controls here.

While students say they tend to stay away from Facebook because it's too popular among their parents, it can be a great tool to help students Shine Online.

The Devious Licks or Bathroom Vandalism Challenge on TikTok encourages students to cause destruction in their school’s restroom. Schools across the country are reacting and asking for help from parents and guardians to help stop this trend.

Students can become quickly and easily distracted when they have access to the internet on devices like Chromebooks. Read this blog for 4 tips for parents & educators to help minimize Chromebook frustrations.

Schools are begging for parents and guardians to discuss social media trends and dangers with their students. Learn about cyberbullying and social media dangers and tips to talk with your students.

For today’s students, online presence is dramatically changing the process of applying for college, internships, and jobs. We asked 6 experts to share their best tactical tips for auditing a student's online presence.

Families with Starlink internet in rural North Carolina learn to keep students safe online with SmartSocial VIP membership.

Many parents have asked, what is digital citizenship? So we created this guide and short video to walk you through digital citizenship and the steps your student can take to shine online. Learn when your student should become public and how they can become good digital citizens.

Social media moves fast. It takes seconds to share a thought or a photo across multiple social media platforms, but those seconds can lead to long-term consequences when the posts become popular and widespread. We asked 8 experts on how parents and educators should handle a situation in which a student makes a mistake on social media.

Bullying prevention can help you keep your friends and siblings safe. In this course parents and students will learn how to identify cyberbullying and tips to help.

In this app guide, we walk you through the top ways kids cyberbully each other and signs that your student is being cyberbullied. Learn how students and parents can work together to prevent cyberbullying.

Our Parent App Guides are based on real questions we get from parents and educators all over the world. Instead of keeping our research private, we share our Parent App Guides with our audience to help them keep their family safe online.

FOMO is Fear Of Missing Out and as teens scroll through social media, it’s worse than ever. Learn 11 tips on how FOMO impacts students and how you can help your tweens and teens avoid it.

Educators are on the frontline of seeing and hearing the effects of social media on our students. In this course, educators will get an overview of the most popular teen apps and tips on how to help keep students safe online.

In this student-friendly course, Josh Ochs shares how to Shine Online. He shares some anti-bullying tips, Instagram safety, Google footprint tactics, and more.

The Milk Crate Challenge is a viral social media challenge that medical practitioners and law enforcement officers have strong warnings against. Most Milk Crate Challenge videos end in failure with the person falling, and sometimes, seriously injuring themselves.

Yik Yak is an anonymous messaging app that allows users to see messages of others within 5 miles of their current location. It was originally launched in 2013, discontinued in 2017, and is again available in 2021.

Sharing our memories and experiences on social media with our friends (or strangers) can be fun in the moment, but what we share can be used by hackers to gain access to our identity and personal information. Learn the top 10 social media activities that put you at risk, how to avoid making a security mistake on social media, and more.

School resource officers and law enforcement officers are faced with conflict from social media every day. This course will help SROs and LEOs learn about how the most popular social media apps and sites work.

Twitter is an online social network, which allows users to send instant messages (called Tweets) up to 280 characters in length. Tweets can include photos, videos, and links to other websites. Learn more about this app and why it is in the SmartSocial.com Green Zone.

Take this crash course to learn how to navigate social media and how to help students stay safe online with hidden app settings.

While settings and parental control apps can't replace the positive involvement from parents and trusted adults, many devices and apps help parents keep students safer on their smart devices.

The Venmo app allows users to easily pay each other through their smart devices. However, this app creates a social media presence for its users that may make them the target for scams, predators, or bullies. Learn the dangers of this app and the steps students and parents should consider when using the Venmo app.

VIP members have access to Smart Social events live with Josh Ochs. Register here!

Identifying bullying has changed over the years. Nowadays, mental bullying online can be more detrimental than physical bullying. Five experts share how to help students avoid and manage bullying.

Positive social media examples can help students' applications to college. Learn how to create a positive online reputation using Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest, and Medium in this course.

Online predators know how to play to their victims’ weaknesses to get what they want. Learn these 7 common approaches predators use to catch it sooner and 3 tips for students if they feel they, or one of their friends, are being targeted by a predator.

The negative effects of social media on teens and tweens can be obvious for parents and educators, but there are rarely discussions about the positive impact of social media. Here are 22 ways social media can have a positive impact on students.

Predators almost always find a way to communicate with teens and tweens online, 5 experts share tips to help students and parents recognize and respond when they are contacted by a stranger with bad intentions.

Many educators and college admission officers recommend that students start building their positive online presence while they’re in high school and YouTube can help do that. So, we asked 13 experts to share their best tips for students who want to Shine Online for college admissions.

Video games can be fun for students...when they have screen time limits and know what to stay away from in online games.

We asked 16 experts to share their favorite tools, tips, and resources for safe smartphone use. Learn how to create a teen cell phone agreement, how to have an open dialogue with your teen, and how to introduce the responsibility of having a smartphone early.

Our programs keep students safe so they can someday Shine Online! Learn how to use your membership.

YouTube is an app and website that can provide endless entertainment for students. It can also be a place for students to build their online reputation...if done right. Read the SmartSocial.com tips on how to build their online reputation safely.

According to a study, more than 82% of online sex crimes originate from social networking sites that predators use to gain insight into their victim’s habits and likes. Learn how parents can keep their students safe from online predators and tips for starting a digital safety dialog.

Telegram Messenger offers unlimited instant messaging. The app connects users to large Groups or unlimited Channels of other users, including a People Nearby feature. Large chat groups can easily get out of control with unknown members.

Whisper is an app that allows anonymous users to post their “real thoughts and feelings” for public viewing or send private messages that can be seen by anyone, especially those nearby. This app is dangerous for students in encouraging anonymous posts and live connections with strangers.

Are you wondering how families can incorporate technology in a positive way to make a connection between parents and children? We asked 16 experts for their ideas and tips for how to incorporate technology into your family time.

21 experts share their best tips that parents can use to help prevent digital devices from becoming distractions during their child's online classes or homework time.

There are now hundreds of apps that allow students to hide their inappropriate photos behind an innocent looking calculator app (or another style of app that looks innocent). These apps are popular because they help a student to hide their behavior from their parents or teachers.

Walkie-talkie apps turn phones and tablets into a two-way radios. It sounds innocent enough, but there are some stranger dangers and privacy issues that students, parents, and educators should know.

Internet technology changes so quickly, so it can feel challenging to stay on top of it. Do you wish you were more cyber-savvy as a parent or educator? Learn how to delegate research to the experts, discover teen trends, and simple tips to keep students safe online.

Research has shown that using social media at night creates side effects similar to the feelings travelers feel with jet lag. The cycle of social media jet lag effects and cyberloafing can make students (and adults) feel fatigued, make it harder to fall asleep when it is bedtime, and users can feel confused in daily tasks.

The Kik app offers one more opportunity to send individual and group chat messages with text-based messages, photos, or videos. Because students can easily connect with strangers on the app, parents need to stay aware of who their teens are chatting with online.

LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for taking control of your professional online presence. Learn how students can create a professional profile.

Students crave social connections and in the online world, those connections might seem safe with computer screens between users. However, young students who are eager to meet others can be exposed to foul language or nudity in live chats or can become victims of exploitation.

We asked 14 experts to share their best tips parents can use to limit screen time. Learn how you can create a daily routine for your family, how to encourage your students to earn screen time, how to model positive behaviors, how to take a social media break, and more.

Minecraft is often described as a virtual version of LEGO, but with various modes and chat features, there are some dangers parents and educators should be aware of. Learn how Minecraft works and how to make it safer for students in this app guide.

Roblox, a user-generated online gaming platform, offers millions of games created by users. It's targeted to kids ages 8+. This safety guide will help parents keep their students safe on Roblox.

Parents: should you be following your kids on social media? The Smart Social team consulted with 24 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.

Users record a video of themselves, often dancing, with a TikTok red filter applied that makes them look like a dark silhouette. But that filter doesn't protect users to the extent they think.

Eleven experts offer advice on how to combat unrealistic pressures and the fear of missing out that social media influencers create on teens and tweens.

MeWe is a social network marketed to users who want more privacy. While more privacy may be attractive for your students, the MeWe policies have left the door open for hate speech, pornography, and illegal activities.

OnlyFans is a website for adults where users post photos for other “fans” to view via a paywall. The site is popular among Instagram influencers, models, and celebrities for making money, but has become a hot spot for pornography and adult entertainers.

To help families prevent screen time addiction, depression, and other digital dangers during this difficult time, the Smart Social team reached out to experts for advice. Read 15 digital safety tips for families here.

Smartphones give students access to the world at their fingertips. Read about the dangers and tips to keep students safer with technology from SmartSocial.com.

When parents or other caregivers have different screen time and social media rules, it can be confusing and frustrating- for the kids and for everyone else involved. We asked 6 parents and tech experts how spouses, exes, and other guardians can agree to set screen time, social media, and technology rules.