HSHSP Ep 178: What’s Good and Bad about Tech for Teens, Interview with Leah Nieman

This week on HSHSP Ep 178: What's Good and Bad about Tech for Teens, Interview with Leah Nieman.   HSHSP Ep 178: What's Good and Bad about Tech for Teens, Interview with Leah Nieman Many of us homeschool moms are *digital immigrants*, we were around in the days before the internet and always feel like we are a step behind our kids in the things going on in the digital world. Our kids, on the other hand, are *digital natives* and tend to be very comfortable there. We moms worry about the safety of our children and teens when they are online. That's why I asked our friend and fellow homeschool mom, Leah Nieman (our favorite technology expert) to join us for a realistic discussion about the world of technology for those of us homeschool moms who are not experts ourselves. She shares with us what's good and bad about tech for teens. Leah Nieman. Photo used with permission. The key issues that parents need to know about the online world include: * Privacy * Education of parents * Leah reminds us that where the parents are the teens don't want to go. When parents are on Facebook, kids go to Instagram, then Snapchat, etc. So we need to stay up to date on information and maintain open communication with our homeschool high schoolers (and youngers). * Education of teens * Appropriate behavior in online classrooms, * Appropriate behavior and company outside the classroom * Safety on social platforms What's Good and Bad about Tech for Teens: Social Apps It's easy to read bad reports on the internet about social apps that only cover bad news. However, we don't have to go to extremes and keep our homeschoolers off all social media. Rather, we need to be discerning and wise. When our young people come to us and want to download a new app, do some research and discuss what you find with them. Parents should research: * What are the privacy settings. Can I limit who sees my child's information? * Can I block and eliminate this app if it proves to be a poor choice? * Is my child's location private? * Is the app targeted to kids but has *content buckets* (content buckets are sections of the app for different ages, children in one bucket, adults in another bucket). Can adults jump out of their content bucket into your kid's bucket? * An example: Some apps have 2 content buckets. It's easy for adults to get out of their bucket into the younger people's bucket. This raises safety concerns because a young person may take at face value that a person is who they say they are. Vicki, in her job as mental health counselor has worked with young teens who thought they were talking with a peer on a social app but found out the hard way they were dealing with a predator. Parents should keep conversations going: When we parents are uneducated or overwhelmed we often want to stop the conversation about technology. However, we need to watch out when conversation stops! Kids get their information from peers if it doesn't come from parents. Although we are uncomfortable we need to lean into uncomfortable topics by: * Being curious, ask questions * What do you like about it? * What is the draw for you? * Listening and allowing your kids to educate you. (Also, do your own research at LeahNieman.com) * Understand first, then ask questions. * Being open about your feelings, listen and be educated * Any topic we avoid is an open entry for danger Some social apps that middle school and high schoolers use (don't forget, mom,