Family phone contract for school breaks: rules that hold
The AAP dropped fixed screen time limits in 2026. Here’s how to write a break-time contract your kids will follow — and ramp school rules back up.
News & Articles
In-depth pieces on the stories, scams, and platform changes parents ask about most.
The articles here cover the scams, platform changes and policy shifts parents ask about, in more depth than a setup guide allows. They explain what actually changed and what to do differently, rather than reporting news for its own sake. Each carries the date it was written, because this material ages faster than the device guides do and an undated claim about a platform is worth very little.
Articles
Why every app suddenly wants to check your kid’s age
Roblox, Discord, YouTube and Snapchat all added age checks in nine months. What they fix, what they don’t, and what to do differently.
Group chats and screenshots: teaching kids that nothing is private
A “private” group chat is one screenshot away from the whole school. What to teach your child before they learn it the hard way.
AI homework helpers vs. cheating: a parent’s guide to school AI policies
84% of students use AI for homework, but most schools still lack clear rules. How to find your school’s policy, spot the line between help and cheating, and set ground rules at home.
“Get paid to test games”: the scam turning teens into money mules
Fake paid game-tester jobs promise teens $100/hour — then use them to move stolen money. How the pipeline works and the five red flags to share now.
Snapchat’s Family Center in 2026: what parents can finally see
Screen-time insights and “how do they know this friend?” signals landed this year. The 10-minute setup and the honest limits.
The new scam-link playbook targeting kids in 2026
Fake Roblox and Fortnite “free V-Bucks” links are still the #1 way kids give up an account. Here’s how to spot and kill them fast.
What KOSA and COPPA updates actually mean for K–12 families
Cutting through the headlines: what changes for schools, what changes for parents, and what you can do at home today.
AI chatbots and kids: what parents need to know in 2026
Character.AI, Replika, Snapchat My AI, ChatGPT. The real risks, the real conversations, and how to set limits that work.
Online safety for teens: the conversation guide
A script parents can adapt. No lectures, no scare tactics — just the talks that actually stick with a 14-year-old.
Sextortion: what parents should do in the first 24 hours
Calm, step-by-step actions. Take It Down, evidence preservation, reporting, and what to say to your kid first.
Screen-time rules for over-10s that actually work
Why hard-number limits fail — and what to replace them with.
Roblox and Fortnite safety for parents
Chat settings, purchase locks, stranger-contact risks, and the “free skin” scams draining V-Bucks.
When should my kid get social media?
A plain-English age-by-age guide to Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and what COPPA actually says about 13.
Cyberbullying: a parent’s response guide
What to save, who to tell, and when to escalate to school or law enforcement.
Location sharing: useful or creepy?
Life360, Find My, Snap Maps. What’s healthy family practice and what crosses into surveillance.
If something just happened: parent emergency response
Scam, stranger, leaked image, self-harm content. First steps that actually help.
Discord for parents: the actual risks (and non-risks)
What Discord is, where the real risks sit (DMs and unknown servers), and how to keep kids on the safe side.
AI deepfakes in middle schools: what parents should know
Deepfake nude generators are being used against classmates. Here’s what’s happening and what to do.
First phone: the 10-minute setup that pays off for years
Why a first phone’s controls go on before the box opens, and the three conversations that matter on day one.
Why a $0 router setting beats most paid filters
Family DNS services (NextDNS, Cloudflare Families, OpenDNS) and why they belong in every home.
When parental controls change
Parental controls get renamed and moved without announcement. Roughly monthly we send new guides, changes to controls like these, and scams worth knowing about.
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