News

Study: Kids Need Help Deciphering Real from Fake news

Posted on March 12, 2017

If you wondered whether we need to do more to help our kids recognize “fake news,” a new report makes it clear the answer is a resounding yes.

Although 44% of tweens and teens in a recent survey said they can tell the difference between fake news stories and real ones, more than 30% who said they shared a news story online during the past six months admitted that they didn’t get it exactly right.

They said they later found out that a story they shared was wrong or inaccurate, according to the survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization focused on helping parents, kids and educators negotiate media and technology.

The survey of 853 children ages 10 to 18 in the United States also asked kids how much they trust the information they received from each of their news sources.

Family got higher marks than teachers, news organizations and friends. Sixty-six percent of tweens and teens said they trust the information they received from family, compared with 48% for teachers and other adults, 25% for news organizations and just 17% for friends.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/10/health/fake-news-kids-common-sense-media/index.html

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Parenting

When to Let Your Child Use Social Media & Teen Screen Time Guidance (TIPS)

Posted on April 3, 2016

When is a good time to start letting your child use social media? What is the most effective way to curb a teen from using their mobile device for too long during the day? In this increasingly digital world we live in where children as young as 4 or 5, sometimes, own smart phones and know their way around an iPad app; and where everyone in the family may have their own device, parents now have a new set of challenges in reigning in all that screen time.

A little while ago, Emmy nominated series Larry King Now focused on the health and wellness of social media. During the show, Larry King welcomed a panel of social media experts and influencers including Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Nicholas Carr, to evaluate the good, the bad, and the ugly of the ever-expanding digital world.

I was most interested in the segments related to social media and mobile phone use by children. Clinical psychologist Dr. Jeff Nalin discusses the appropriate age for children to start using social media and provides tips for lessening use among children who already have access to smartphones and apps.

Watch the brief clip below about this topic and then watch the full episode on Ora.TV HERE!

I also highly recommend parents head over to CommonSense Media to find tons of tips, guides and information for parents (and educators) on helping their children navigate the digital world safely.

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BumpNews

STUDY: Teens Spend more Time on Digital Screens than Sleeping or Learning in School

Posted on November 4, 2015

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that a new report found that teens and tweens spend a lot of time watching TV, videos and movies, playing video games, reading, listening to music and checking social media, but you might be somewhat shocked (I was!) by just how much time.

On any given day, teens in the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment, according to the report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on helping children, parents and educators navigate the world of media and technology.

Let’s just put nine hours in context for a second. That’s more time than teens typically spend sleeping, and more time than they spend with their parents and teachers. And the nine hours does not include time spent using media at school or for their homework.

Tweens, identified as children 8 to 12, spend about six hours, on average, consuming media, the report found.

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BumpNews

Eva Marcille’s Girls Weekend in Caribbean: THIS is how to Maximize a large Instagram Following

Posted on January 8, 2014

America’s Next Top Model Cycle 3 winner and actress Eva Marcille has shown how to use Instagram to market an event. The mom-to-be and TV hostess offered some of the young women among her nearly half a million people who follow her on Instagram and nearly quarter million on Twitter a chance to hang out with her in the Caribbean this May.

We suppose this will be a post baby trip as the former reality TV star and her beau music producer Kevin McCall are expecting their daughter pretty soon.

Starcast

It took less than 3 days for the 20 spots to fill up in each of the countries/properties on her tour: Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, Barbados and Anguilla. For packages starting at $800, the All Girls Caribbean Weekend includes hanging with Eva, professional photo shoots, make overs, fashion and beauty tips, relationship talks and more. Those who pay the $2,000 each for the 5 Platinum spots on each stop get a shoot with Eva and their photos published in a non-specified magazine.

That’s not a bad deal if you can afford it and have the time off from work and/or flexibility. And it is also for social good as a portion of the proceeds from the weekends will go to a group called The Right to Rights Foundation, which appears to promote awareness of Human Rights abuse and violations.

And who knows, if she gets consent from participants, she could partner with a production company to film parts of the adventure to sell as a short-run docu series to a cable network.

NBCUniversal

She previously starred with her girlfriends in the 2012 Oxygen channel reality TV show she produced called Girlfriend Confidential: LA which got a pretty good review as a mostly positive show about the importance of strong female friendships from Common Sense Media. It didn’t get picked up for a second season, meanwhile BadGirls Club is on Season 17. (hmmm. Marinate on that for a bit)

Anywhoo….each day, we see in Instagram and social media, fashion bloggers wearing clothes provided to them by brands who pay the most popular ones upwards to thousands of dollars in promotional funds to do so. It’s great to see these partnerships between influentials and companies take off.

Some people just love social media for its ability to connect with friends, old and new. Others for just clowning around, sharing, news links and memes and getting a distraction from their daily day and life.

And then there are others who use it fully to maximize entrepreneurial and brand promotional opportunities.

Kudos to Eva for using her celeb status and ample following to connect with her fans and followers.

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