Oh, what we wouldn’t do to travel back in time to the days before smartphones kid-jacked our families, right? But here we are. Our kids are forever connected. And, it’s up to parents to help them navigate the risks — one of which is sexting. Ouch. Even reading the word may make any parent want to click off this post and run. But don’t. Stay

’Tis the season for giving and who better to give a giant headache to than the digital scammers working overtime to wreck our holidays? Can we spot and unravel every scam out there? Probably not. But, by taking a few minutes to get equipped to click, we can dodge common traps laid by cybercrooks and wreck their holidays before they get a chance to wreck ours

An issue that is brought up time and time again is how cell phones affect the human body. From concerns about when kids should get smartphones to concerns about the impact of too much screen time to claims that cell phones are linked to cancer found in the body, there are many concerns about these devices. The truth is that while their impact is being studie

When I was a teenager, my role model was Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton. I admired everything about her. I cut my hair like hers and brushed my teeth three times a day, determined to get my smile to sparkle like hers. I even started eating Wheaties when she endorsed them, thinking it would help me land my back handspring (spoiler alert: it didn’t). It

Technology trends move fast and the digital newsfeeds run non-stop. No worries, we’ve got your backs, parents. Here are three important headlines you may have missed about some of the ways kids are using their devices and how you can coach them around the risks. What’s Sadfishing and is Your Child Doing it Online? Sadfishing is the act of someon

In the past, it was not easy for parents to get children back home after a long day of playing outside. The little ones enjoyed the outdoors so much that they didn’t want the day to end. Such behavior kept creating a challenge for parents who wanted them back home. In the last decade, things have changed, and the outdoor activities were replaced by spending

One of my favorite binges of late is the Netflix series Halt and Catch Fire. It’s a story about the personal computer revolution of the 1980s. The lead character, Cameron Howe, is a brilliant, self-assured young woman who runs circles around her, mostly male, co-workers, with her mad coding skills. I remember being influenced by a similar female lead. It was

Did you know that searching for your favourite celebrities online may very well increase your chance of running into trouble? For the thirteenth year running, McAfee has put together its Most Dangerous Celebrities List which includes the celebrities who generate the riskiest search results that could potentially expose their fans to malicious websites and vi

The topics parents need to discuss with kids today can be tough compared to even a few years ago. The digital scams are getting more sophisticated and the social culture poses new, more inherent risks. Weekly, we have to breach very adult conversations with our kids. Significant conversations about sexting, bullying, online scams, identity fraud, hate speech

Someone recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year, and I had to think about it for a few minutes. I certainly don’t need any more stuff. However, if I could name one gift that would make me absolutely giddy, it would be getting a chunk of my privacy back. Like most people, the internet knows way too much about me — my age, address, phone

As a parent, it’s hard to keep track of what your child is up to at all times of the day. It becomes even more difficult when they start creating an identity online. While an online presence can encourage social connections, create a sense of belonging, allow creativity and enhance globalization, it can also have negative effects. A kid’s false sense of secu

While we talk about online safety each week on this blog, October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM), a time to come together and turn up the volume on the digital safety and security conversation worldwide. To kick off that effort, here’s a comprehensive Device and App Safety Guide to give your family quick ways to boost safety and secu

Over the years, I’ve been the star of a number of sub-stellar parenting moments. More than once, I found myself reprimanding my kids for doing things that kids do — things I never stopped to teach them otherwise. Like the time I reprimanded my son for not thanking his friend’s mother properly before we left a birthday party. He was seven when his

Adding hashtags to a social post has become second nature. In fact, it’s so common, few of us stop to consider that as fun and useful as hashtags can be, they can also have consequences if we misuse them. But hashtags are more than add-ons to a post, they are power tools. In fact, when we put the pound (#) sign in front of a word, we turn that word int

With winter almost gone, now is the perfect time to start planning your annual spring clean. When we think about our yearly sort out, most of us think about decluttering our chaotic linen cupboards or the wardrobes that we can’t close. But if you want to minimise the opportunities for a hacker to get their hands on your private online information then a clea