Tag Archives: smartphones

Two parent presentations on digital parenting coming up in Montreal area

Interested in attending “Smartphones, Sexting & Social Media: Practical Strategies for Parents?” There are two upcoming opportunities in the Montreal area on February 13th and March 1st. While both are free, they do ask for RSVP.

Join me on either date for a practical discussion about what you should know when it comes to kids and digital technology, and what you can do to promote safe, responsible, creative and productive use of these wonderful tools.

  • Learn what it means to raise a “digital citizen”
  • Understand how technology use has changed the way kids socialize, do schoolwork and sleep
  • Set up effective household rules to complement what they are learning in school
  • Create and enforce reasonable limits on use of digital devices
  • Keep your kids talking to you about what’s on their mind and what’s happening at school
  • Build positive online “footprints” for future school and job applications
  • How to (mostly) stop worrying by being prepared.

Featured session for parents
(LCEEQ conference)

When: Monday, February 13th, 7:30 p.m.
How: (Click here to register by noon Sunday, Feb 12th)

Where: Sheraton Laval (click for Google Map)

Sklar LCEEQ digital parenting kids

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Trafalgar School for Girls –
session for parents

When: Wednesday, March 1st, 6 p.m.
How: Open to the public. Please RSVP here. 
Where: Trafalgar School for Girls, 3495 Rue Simpson (corner Dr. Penfield)
Montreal QC  H3G 2J7 (Click for Google Maps)

Trafalgar Sklar Digital Parenting Workshop

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iPhone and Android are tracking your locations: How, where and what to do about it

Kids smartphones settings privacy location

Creative Commons license by Geração conectada

It’s hard enough to teach our kids safe, responsible use of the digital technologies we understand without worrying about all the stuff we don’t know. For example, did you realize that your (or your kids’) iPhone or Android device is tracking and recording all the locations you visit?

I had no idea. And it’s safe to say that most kids and parents don’t know about this either, since the setting is buried layers deep.

What does this mean? Anyone with access to your kids’ iPhone or Android device can view and map the places they visit frequently, the dates and times they were there. Their home. Their school. Their friends’ houses, favourite hangouts, the hockey arena, soccer pitch or dance studio where they go every week.

Apple, which included this feature in their iOS 7.0 update, insists this information isn’t stored anywhere on the cloud, so it’s totally safe. Unless, of course, someone gets hold of your phone and manages to access your data.It’s also unclear how this data is used when you access apps with location services, such as requesting a map with roads near you.

If you have an Android device it’s even worse, because this data is recorded through your Google account, accessible by hackers on any device. They don’t need your kid’s phone to hack into this information.

One of the challenges in keeping ourselves – and our kids – safe in a digital era is understanding the many ways data is collected about our activities. This is a worthwhile conversation to have with your kids – get them involved in adjusting the settings, so they understand why it’s important to manage personal data.

How do I change the settings? Changing the settings isn’t hard, but it ca be confusing, because it is buried layers deep. The step-by-step instructions for iPhone are listed below with screenshots.

How will this affect my use of the phone and apps? Not at all. You can still access Google Maps, Yelp and any other location-based app as long as location services are enabled.

Step 1: Go to Settings and click on Privacy.

iPhone settings safety location privacy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2: Click on Location Services

iPhone privacy settings kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Click on System Services – you may need to scroll down to the bottom of a long list of apps.

iPhone location services settings kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4: Select Frequent Locations click to turn it off.

iPhone Frequent Locations settings kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 6: You can click on any of the items in the list to see specific locations mapped with details of dates and times.

iPhone My Locations settings kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have an Android device? Follow the step-by-step instructions in this video to disable the settings, or follow the screenshots at the bottom of this page at Today.com.

 

 

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Teens recommend educational apps

teens recommend educational appsThey may spend plenty of time on Tumblr, Snapchat and Instagram, but many of today’s kids are also learning to use digital technologies in responsible ways for creative, productive projects as well.

This month’s educational column of Montreal Families Magazine was co-written by my 14-year-old twin daughters, Sophie and Alex. They list and describe some helpful apps kids can for school. Check out the article here. Show your kids how to put French verbs right at their fingertips, turn their smartphones or tablets into scientific calculators, and even compress the amount of data they use (reducing your monthly bills in the process).

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