Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

By JEAN M. TWENGE | SEPTEMBER 2017 ISSUE, THE ATLANTIC More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis. One day last summer, around noon, I called Athena, a 13-year-old who lives in Houston, Texas. She answered her phone—she’s had an iPhone since she was …

The House just voted to wipe away the FCC’s landmark Internet privacy protections

The Senate and House have voted to repeal an FCC ruling that protects your Internet privacy and data from ISPs. Here’s all the steps you can take to protect yourself. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) Congress sent proposed legislation to President Trump on Tuesday that wipes away landmark online privacy protections, the first salvo in what is likely to become a …

Media Exposure During Infancy and Early Childhood

Media Exposure During Infancy and Early Childhood The Effects of Content and Context on Learning and Development Editors: Barr, Rachel, Linebarger, Deborah Nichols (Eds.) Examines effects of broad-based media – television, touchscreens, apps, video-mediated interaction (e.g., Skype) – on early child development Offers commentary from media and technology leaders, early childhood advocates, and science journalists Analyzes preschool television programming content …

Streaming Instead of Dreaming

  Problems Associated With Use of Mobile Devices in the Sleep Environment Children today have unprecedented access to technology and media, the use of which is no longer limited to waking hours now that mobile devices have invaded the bedroom. According to a recent National Sleep Foundation poll, half of school-age children in America have active, light-emitting electronic devices in …

Viacom, Mattel, Hasbro Agree to Stop Online Child Tracker

Should companies that make some of the most popular toys and cartoons in the U.S. be tracking the online habits of kids under 13 years old? New York’s top cop says no, obviously not. The state’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said on Tuesday that he reached settlements with four companies including Viacom Inc. and Mattel Inc. for violating the Children’s …

Talking to Your Kids About…Porn

Seriously. It’s become an insidious part of teen culture that you should address. Harold S. Koplewicz, MD Parents have always struggled with how to talk with their kids about sex, but in a world where pornography is a mouse click away, the conversation is more complicated than ever. A rather alarming number of adolescents—girls as well as boys—seem to be …