Digital Smarts Blog

Teachers and parents are taking steps to help kids recognize "fake" news online, but in reality, consumers of all ages can have trouble distinguishing between accurate and biased media. NewsGuard co-founder Steven Brill suggests teachers and parents take steps to educate kids on spotting informative news and reminds everyone that a site’s suffix, such as dot.com versus dot.org, is not a safeguard against bad information. While some of those sites might appear reliable, such as those that are “charity organizations”, others have missions. These days many dot.org sites are funded by political action committees and for example, they write wonderful puff pieces about whoever the local state representative is, or congressman that they’re backing. Then they write negative pieces about their opponent. That can create real issues for kids (and others) doing research and thinking that they are looking at unbiased sources with a dot.org suffix.

Party Place is a new feature on Roblox being beta tested that allows kids to create private, mini-social networks exclusively with friends to chat, hang out, and plan which games to play. The venue itself doesn’t offer any activities or games, but rather serves as a private place for Roblox users to gather — for example, for a virtual birthday party, a remote learning activity with classmates, for virtual playdates, or anything else. From Party Place, the group can chat and hang out as they decide which Roblox game they plan to play next.

For today’s younger players, platforms like Fortnite and Roblox are becoming their own version of a social network. The kids don’t just go online to play. They socialize, chat and hang out with a mix of real-life friends and virtual ones, blurring the lines between online and offline in ways that traditional social networks, like Facebook, do not. Of course this also opens up another avenue for cyberbullying, so as with all forms of social media be sure to monitor for the symptoms that your child may be a target.

Former Democratic presidential candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang wants to see technology and media companies accept more responsibility for their impact on children, even if we don’t yet have research showing exactly what that impact is. Yang, in particular, calls for the government to drastically fund more research and step in, if needed, to incentivize tech companies to educate children, rather than entertain them and  collect ad dollars. (The children’s digital advertising market is expected to be worth $1.7 billion by 2021, according to a report from PwC.)

“Right now, the interests of parents are directly at odds with the interests of the technology companies,” writes Yang in “Our Kids are Walking Around with Slot Machines in their Pockets.” “They’re monetizing our attention and profiting off of our time. As they say, the addictive nature of smartphones is a feature, not a bug. We parents are outgunned and at a total loss.”

As quarantine boredom sinks to new lows, kids are turning to random-video-chat platforms like Omegle to see what other bored kids are doing. But it's not recommended. Omegle is a website that pairs random visitors through video and text chat and has spiked in popularity over the last four months. The site is similar to the once wildly popular Chatroulette, which is also experiencing a renaissance of sorts, in that it is free, requires no registration, and promises a surprising social experience. Visitors can submit keywords to filter for people with shared interests. Those in college can enter a .edu email address, which the site uses for verification to find other students. There is also, predictably, an “adult” section. But as the site disclaims, predators and bullies has been known to use the platform and recommends that no one under 13 use the service. Keep this in mind if you hear your kids mention this app so you can monitor their use and remind them about not giving away any personal information - especially during a video chat. They could unintentionally be giving away personal information simply by being in a room with pictures in the background or other clues to their whereabouts, their family, their school or other personal information.

The researchers at Common Sense Media have been examining existing studies on kids and mental health and found that, with a few exceptions, we need to look beyond screens and social media for the causes of mental health problems. Check out this video of their findings. They also advise that we should reframe our perspective on digital tools—especially during a pandemic—if we're going to support our kids through this strange phase in our lives. To that end they give six tips for protecting kids' mental health right now. They suggest that it may ne time to recognize that kids may need to enter social media at a younger age just to stay in touch with friends. They also recommend reserving judgement about screen time, keeping in mind that what kids are doing online is more important than the time they spend with digital devices. Beyond these recommendations, it seems most experts are in agreement that more research is necessary.

TikTok, the video sharing app, takes a lot of heat for falsehoods and propaganda that often shows up in user-created content. To help rehabilitate its image, TikTok has partnered with the National Association for Media Literacy Education to launch a "Be Informed" campaign that features top influencers in humorous infomercial-style videos educating users about how to identify misinformation. The five videos cover topics including "Fact vs. Opinion," "Question the Source" and "When to Share vs. When to Report."

About 17 million school-age children -- including one-third of students in Black, Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native households -- do not have at-home Internet access, and 7.3 million lack access to a computer at home, according to an analysis from the Urban League, UnidosUS, the National Indian Education Association and the Alliance for Excellent Education. The groups are calling for $6.8 billion from the federal E-rate program to be directed to close the "homework gap."

The recent fast-spreading cryptocurrency scam involving the Twitter accounts of major companies and individuals, including former President Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Apple, is "small potatoes compared with the much worse things a malefactor could do with access to Twitter's highest profile accounts," such as President Donald Trump's, writes Ina Fried. Twitter attributed the breach to a "coordinated social engineering attack" on its own employees that enabled the hackers to access "internal systems and tools." If there was ever a reason to chat with your kids about vetting online posts, this is a good one.

Chances are very good that you have heard of the video sharing app called TikTok and have maybe even bonded with your kids over the choreographed dances featured on the app during the lockdown. The video-sharing app has become so popular, it's made everyone from parents to President Trump nervous – that latter because of its possible connections to China. What makes it a rare social media platform though, is that it is more about laughs than politics. If  you don’t know much about the app you may want to check out this primer on the Common Sense Media site called the Parent’s Ultimate Guide to TikTok.

Families are expecting to spend more on back-to-school shopping this year, partly because of e-learning tech needs spurred by the pandemic, a survey finds. Laptops, tablets, speakers and headphones are likely to be big sellers, with the average K-12 family expected to spend nearly $800.

Now that President Trump and Secretary of State have both threatened to ban the video app, TikTok, for its possible Chinese connections, a competitor called Byte is being downloaded at a record pace from the Apple App store. TikTok, a current favorite of teens and tweens, is still around, but it looks like young users aren’t taking any chances of losing the ability to easily shoot and share short videos.

The University of Michigan has developed an online program, InPACT at Home, to help kids remain active while learning remotely. The free video series, targeted at K-12 students, is available nationwide and is aimed at replacing exercises that kids would have received at school via recess, physical education and, in some cases, their daily walk to school.

Although some influencers and celebrities have come under fire for tone deaf posts during the pandemic, a study by United Talent Agency Marketing reveals 60% of consumers are following more celebrities and influencers during the outbreak and 61% don't mind celebrity content that's produced in collaboration with a brand. The research also found brands using celebrity influencers on Instagram experienced a1.5 times lift in traffic this year compared with 2019.

Google says it will no longer allow ads for products or services marketed for the purposes of tracking or monitoring another person without their authorization. In a blog post, Google said this will apply to spyware and technology used for intimate partner surveillance, like tech used to monitor texts, phone calls or browsing history. The ban also applies to GPS trackers marketed to spy on someone without their consent, along with surveillance equipment such as cameras, audio recorders, dash cams and nanny cams advertised with the purpose of spying. Google said private investigation services and products and services for parents to track or monitor their underage children will not apply. The "Enabling Dishonest Behavior" policy update will be enforced beginning Aug. 11.

 eSports played at the high school level has received lots of positive attention, but as Elliot Levine points out in this article entitled Addressing the 800-pound gorillas in scholastic esports, challenges still exist. While fun, spirited “trash talk” has become part of online gaming culture, harassing and bullying other players crosses the line. In fact, a 2019 survey from the Anti-Defamation League found that 65 percent of players reported experiencing “severe harassment” including physical threats, sustained harassing and stalking. Prolonged play can also lead to physical injuries, including eye fatigue and neck, back, wrist and hand pain. These are all things to be aware of and keep in mind if your children decide to take up eSports.

The US government is examining TikTok, the video app popular with tweens and teens, and is considering banning the app for US users amid concerns the Chinese-backed firm is being used by the government to surveil individuals and spread propaganda, says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. TikTok was recently banned from India over national security and privacy concerns

Only 39% of students reported learning a lot daily during remote instruction, according to a survey by YouthTruth of 20,000 students in nine states. About half of students reported feeling depressed or stressed, and many students said they had obstacles to remote learning, such as distractions at home. These are interesting statistics given getting back to school is just around the corner for many students, and while not all states and districts have decided how to handle instruction this year during Covid -19, virtual learning in some capacity is sure to be a reality.

You don't always have to pay big bucks for great educational games, apps, and websites. Lots of outstanding free options are only a click away. Since the subjects on this list from Common Sense Media range from reading to math skills, kids can find all sorts of fun practice on all kinds of topics. The best part is that kids can check them out and move on if a title isn't a great fit—and it won't affect your wallet! Some favorites are Civilisations AR, National Geographic Kids, and Mission US: Flight to Freedom.

Screen limits, content filters, and even a driving report are all baked into a forthcoming parental control app available for Microsoft 365 Family subscribers. If you interested in a free preview of the app, check in with Microsoft at this link or take a look at this video. When the app is rolled out later this year you will need a Microsoft 365 Family subscription, which costs $99.99 and comes with numerous other features and benefits as well.

Here are some factoids that might highlight the ballooning issue of disinformation for you: Facebook took down 3 billion fake accounts in 2019. 3 billion. One study suggested that 15% of Twitter’s 330 million monthly users are bots. Bots have a massive multiplier effect on disinformation because they are far more prolific than humans, tweeting hundreds of times a day. Some studies estimate that more than 60% of Trump’s 80+ million followers are bots.

People often talk about how we should be worried about Russian trolls on social media sites and Twitter, but the fact is that it is domestic disinformation that is running rampant. Americans are intentionally feeding other Americans with wrong or factually inaccurate information about Covid-19, the George Floyd demonstrations and other conspiracy theories, and we are going to see much more as the election approaches.

As a parent, what can you do to help your kids navigate all of this “fake news”? First we need to recognize that many conspiracy theories are very seductive. We often want to go along with that particular explanation because it goes along with our own (sometimes hidden) prejudices and biases. Second, you and your kids need to learn to vet information and not to be satisfied with what comes up as one of the first few entries in a web search. Be prepared to search and read different viewpoints on a topic to get at the facts.