Brave Parenting

YouTube is ingrained into the fiber of our kids lives – even our young kids know and crave YouTube! So is YouTube Kids a safer alternative? Is it worth setting up accounts for our kids here or just letting them use the standard YouTube. We’ll answer all these questions in this episode as we review the YouTube kids app and website.

As the world grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, children and parents finds themselves both working and schooling from home. In this episode we talk with long-time homeschool and work-from-home Mom, Chelsea Hezel, who will lead us how we can best adjust to our new roles at home.

TikTok has been at the #1 free app for nearly all of 2020 and as more kids join we learn more about its influence on culture and character. We cover the basics of the app as well as the controversies and what parents need to know before allowing the app on a child’s phone.

YouTube is a powerful force and influence in our children’s lives. In this episode we discuss the importance of ongoing conversations about YouTube with your children no matter what their age. We also review facts the YouTube Music app and whether or not YouTube music is the best streaming music app for your children to use.

Snapchat: so many nuances and potential issues/dangers with this app. In this episode we cover Snap’s announcement to roll out a mental health feature of the app. We also review the recently popular app Hoop., which serves as an adjunct app to Snapchat enabling Snap users to “meet new friends”.

Today, our teenage children’s culture tends to blend social media and social life together. Can one help improve the other – or – is one be a detriment to the other? These are important questions we’ll examine as we look at the IRL – Social Calendar app and discuss what it means to have a social life in a social media driven world.

Innovative ideas are springing up across the country as schools try to balance education and smartphones. Today, we highlight one principal in Iowa’s successful new ‘No Phones, New Friends Friday’ lunchtime tradition. Our app of focus is on AMINO and we’ll share a story from this past summer about one 10 year-old’s experience on Amino. We also discuss what it means to be passionate – and what to do if your kids are ONLY showing passionate behavior towards video games and screen-related activities.

In this episode we discuss the app Houseparty, the new trend of OK Boomer, the character focus of Empathy, and the Common Sense Media 2019 Census.