Managing Kids and Technology Over Summer – CSC on The Morning Blend Milwaukee

/in , /by

Cyber Safety Consulting’s Liz Repking appeared on Milwaukee’s Morning Blend to talk about the balance between unstructured summer break time and the use of technology. See the segment here: Managing kids and tech over summer. Here are some suggestions offered to ease the pain and confrontation around kids’ increased screen time:

  • Reset the limits and boundaries around tech use. This is a good time to bring out that tech contract or even work with your child to create one for the summer. Talk about time limits, down time, apps, and of course, the appropriate use of tech.
  • Encourage your child to use technology in more productive ways than just scrolling through Instagram posts. Create a blog on a topic that they are interested in or create a website for fun. My daughter created a website for baking gluten and dairy free desserts. She loves baking and this combines her interests and the use of technology in constructive ways. Check out her site here.
  • Have your child make a list of non tech things he or she enjoys doing…reading, going to the pool, riding a bike. Sometimes the mere act of reminding ourselves what we enjoy not involving a screen can motivate us to put the device down and engage in some long, lost, fun activities. I once heard my son say, after the encouragement to find a non tech activity, “I forgot how much I like to read!”
  • Use technology with your child. Find a game that you can play together or create a summer bucket list of things to do and research it online.
  • See a movie or read a book together that centers around issues kids are dealing with online. Here is a long list of Young Adult books: Internet novels.
  • And like always, be involved and stay current on trends, news, apps, games and websites. Check out this article on Instagram’s new antibullying efforts.

Most importantly, find some non tech time this summer to spend as a family. It could be as simple as going for a walk together and talking or picking a day a week to go ‘tech free’ for the entire family. Decide together how to use non tech time and talk about it.

We hope you enjoy your summer!

New Updates to Instagram: Working to Reduce Cyberbullying

/in /by

Fingers are crossed, I hope this works! It is great to read that one of, if not, the leading social media platforms for kids is doing something to reduce the amount of online, cruel behavior that occurs. Instagram posts, comments, and DM’s have served as a too easy and convenient way for kids to bully. Now Instagram will use AI (artificial intelligence) to prompt users to reconsider the action before it is posted.

Is Instagram invoking the concept of “Pause B4 U Post”? This is one of the main objectives of our CASE (Cyber Awareness & Safety Education) curricula we use in schools across the country. The goal is to educate students to self monitor and self protect online. One main tenent of the curricula is to Pause B4 U Post; to think through your actions before that enter or post button is invoked. We suggest students consider one or more of the following questions during that pause:

  • What would happen if my mom or grandma saw this?
  • How will the other person feel when he or she sees this?
  • What story does this tell about me?

It does not matter what the question is as long as the students pause and think. Many students report back to us that when they slow down, pause and consider the consequences of the online post, they often change it, select different words, or skip the post all together.

Instagram is implementing a new feature to curb bullying on the site. AI is being used to flag comments that appear to be offensive or hurtful. It prompts the user with the question “Are you sure you want to post this?” The user then has the option to modify the post or remove it. The decision ultimately lies with the user.

This is a great opportunity to have a conversation with your children on the subject of social media, digital drama, and appropriate online behavior. Print out an article on the new functionality on Instagram, this one or one of the many others you find online. Ask their opinions on how they feel about what Instagram is adding. Listen to how they feel about it and if they think it will help. Kids have experiences and thoughts on what is happening not just on Instagram but all social media and this is an opportunity to hear them. After all, this is their virtual playground and they spend a lot of time there, as we all know.