Lakshmi
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The Dangers of Sharenting
Sharenting—a blend of the words “sharing” and “parenting”—refers to the growing practice of parents posting photos, videos, and other personal information about their children on social media. These are shared with the best of intentions: to celebrate milestones, connect with loved ones, or simply preserve memories. But just how common is sharenting? According to a…
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The Rise of Kidfluencers – What Parents Need to Know
Kidfluencers are children who’ve gained significant online followings by creating content on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram—often featuring toy reviews, family vlogs, or quirky challenges. While these pint-sized personalities light up screens across the world, the real producers are usually the parents, handling the filming, editing, and brand deals. Data from Statista. Behind the cuteness and…
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How to Choose the Right Parental Control App: 5 Key Features to Look For
A parental control app is a digital tool like Mobicip that helps parents monitor, manage, and guide their children’s online activities across smartphones, tablets, and computers. These apps can perform a range of functions from blocking inappropriate content and tracking screen time to alerting parents about potentially dangerous interactions. With many options on the market,…
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New Laws for Online Safety: How Governments Are Protecting Minors
Laws for online safety are being introduced worldwide to protect minors from the growing risks they face in digital spaces. This is critical given the amount of time children and teens are spending online. According to the United Nations, 77 percent of people aged 15 to 24 were using the internet in 2023, and this…
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Online Grooming & Platform Accountability: What Needs to Change
Online grooming—where predators manipulate children through digital platforms—has become a growing threat, raising urgent questions about the accountability of the very platforms that enable this abuse. This conversation is both timely and critical, especially in light of the following alarming statistics. Raising public awareness about online grooming and platform responsibility empowers parents, educators, and children…
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Parental Phubbing: How Ignoring Kids Impacts Their Development
Portmanteaus can be odd little things—word mashups that sometimes make us smile and sometimes make us think. One of the more recent and revealing ones is phubbing, short for “phone snubbing.” It describes the act of ignoring someone in favor of your phone. When parents do this to their children, it’s called parental phubbing—and it’s…
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AI Beauty Filters: Helping Kids See Through Digital Illusions
AI Beauty Filters allow users to modify their physical appearance in real-time using advanced artificial intelligence algorithms. While AI Beauty Filters can provide fun enhancements, they often distort a child’s self-perception by promoting unrealistic beauty standards. “No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl,” Marilyn Monroe once said. Those…
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Digital Drama at School: When Should Parents Step In?
School drama is nothing new. Written as early as the 1850s, Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield described the social conflicts, bullying, and peer pressure that children faced in school settings. These timeless stories demonstrate that teenage drama has always existed, albeit in different forms. Digital devices have complicated this even further, and Digital Drama is far…
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Group Chat Gossip: Monitoring Private Messaging Without Invading Privacy
Group chat gossip is not a new concept. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the noun “chat” emerged around 1520, initially referring to ‘“’chatter, frivolous talk.’ By the 1570s, it meant ‘familiar conversation,’ and later, in the 1960s, it referred to talk shows. The term ‘chat room,’ referring to online instant communication, appeared in the…
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Digital Footprints Don’t Fade: What Your Child Is Leaving Behind
Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Permanent Digital Footprints are the modern version of what the poet Longfellow called “footprints on the sands of time,” though he probably didn’t have TikTok, Snapchat, or Roblox in mind when…