💡Young people have the solutions to screen time issues 💡
Celebrating young people!This week I want to celebrate thoughtful young people who want the next generation of kids and teens to have a safer, age-appropriate, easier experience online than they did growing up. It's one of my favorite times of the year right now - this is the season I partner with the Screen Time Action Network at Fairplay to lead a youth leadership program called NextGen Connect. I get to be part curriculum developer, part entertainment director and part matchmaker, as I select youth, plan their 12-week program, coach them on their projects and choose just the 1:1 right adult partner for them. What brings me so much hope is the youth projects - these young adults are serious about improving the digital world for children and teens. They're working on podcasts, PSAs, videos, legal briefs, legislative campaigns, interactive games, a technique to reset the nervous system and a guide to help teens craft their own digital philosophy to guide their interactions with social media and similar applications. Stay tuned for more! What is NextGen? Who can apply?NextGen Connect is open to 18-24 year olds in the U.S. who want to work on solutions to the problems young people face with harms on social media, cyberbullying, excessive gaming and other digital wellness issues. This year we were able to accept 15 youth leaders and they will each earn $3,000 for their project ideas and solutions. We're just finishing week 3 of 12, with the program culminating with youth leaders presenting solutions to our Advisory Board, funders and other organizations. To read more about NextGen's amazing youth leaders and their projects - go here! In celebration, P.S. If you'd like the young people in your life to apply for the next cohort of NextGen OR if you'd like to volunteer to be an adult partner, just reply to this email and I'll tell you more. Lisa Honold is a cyber safety educator working to keep kids safe and healthy, online and offline. As founder and director of the Center for Online Safety, Lisa is a national public speaker on digital wellness, cyber safety, intentional screens and peaceful parenting. Recent appearances: KING5 News, KOAT News & The Action Network Live |
Center for Online Safety®
This week I want to answer a reader question. What's the difference between filtering the internet and monitoring it? An internet filter Filtering the internet means you have a system to block some of the inappropriate internet content from your child's devices. A filter is like a front door on the house. It keeps most of the bad stuff out. It blocks content from getting delivered to your family members. Where do you find internet filters? Your router may have one, the box that connect your...
Yesterday over 50 organizations, including the Center For Online Safety, signed on to this full-page ad letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging him to bring the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to a vote in the U.S. Senate. Currently, KOSA has an astounding 67 bipartisan co-sponsors – putting it in excellent position to sail through a Senate floor vote and become the first federal legislation to protect kids online to pass in 25 years. Our message in the New York Times to Senator...
What's one thing that's bringing you hope right now? I just learned this definition of hope, from Parker Palmer: “Hope is holding a creative tension between what is, and what could and should be, and each day doing something to narrow the distance between the two.” Hope isn't just a passive wish. Hope is seeing what could and should be and holding that vision while we do what we can to improve what is. I am filled with hope that children and teens will have a safer experience on their phones...