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Today, teens spend significant time online, building friendships, sharing milestones, and expressing their personalities through social media. But beneath these positive interactions, there’s a real risk that too few parents know about: sextortion.
The lazy days of summer seem to be fading into a distant memory, but what remains is the constant use of cell phones by our kids. Summer is a time of freedom and a time to decompress from the rigor of the school year. Many parents relax their boundaries around device use over the summer, but this may come back to bite you in the butt when summer ends and it's time to buckle back up and hit the books. Those feel-good chemicals that kids get from devices and social media use are flowing freely and now they are expected to do without. This is the perfect recipe for disaster.
Austin, Texas (August 13, 2024) – Pinwheel, an Austin-based startup behind a best-selling smartphone designed specifically for kids, announced today that it ranks No. 212 on the prestigiousInc. 5000 2024, the publication’s annual list of the fastest growing companies in America.
This summer, Pinwheel invited families to capture and celebrate the vibrant moments that define the season through our 2024 Summer 'Shot-On-Pinwheel' Photo Contest. The response was nothing short of incredible, with submissions pouring in from across the globe, each showcasing the unique perspectives and creativity of our young photographers.
Pinwheel announced today that its popular Pinwheel smartphone for kids is now available for sale in Canada, making it the first smartphone designed specifically for safe use by children ages 8-14 available to families there.
Artificial intelligence used to be something dreamed up in movies like SmartHouse or HER. But this technology is here and will continually evolve exponentially. AI’s integration into the lives of children is parents, guardians, and teachers to monitor and evaluate the use of the AI by children, while learning about it themselves.
You may have heard that recently (Jan 31, 2024) the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing caught the nation's attention, CEOs from leading social media giants including Meta, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) were called to testify on one of the biggest topics that we face as parents, children’s online safety. This pivotal moment moves the needle forward for awareness and action among parents striving to navigate the digital landscape with their children.
In this crazy world of digital innovation, parents everywhere have the challenge of raising tech-savvy kids while instilling healthy habits. We find ourselves in the middle of a digital revolution, shaping a generation that has grown up surrounded by screens and instant digital experiences. However, a timeless lesson from the past holds significant value in this digital era—a lesson that can guide our children toward balanced technology usage.
Austin, Texas (October 26, 2023) – Pinwheel, maker of the best-selling Pinwheel smartphone for kids, announced today the launch of its Hand It In Phone Upcycling Program, which allows parents to send in their old phone and get a kid-specific phone at a discounted price for their children.
Phones serve many purposes, like creating connections with family and friends, providing entertainment and, unfortunately, often serving as a permanent prop in our children's stories.
Kids and smartphones seem inseparable, and a new report from Common Sense Media validates that feeling. The research aimed to understand the roles and impacts of media and technology in kids' lives---hearing directly from the kids themselves. This new report bridges an important gap in understanding how teenagers use their smartphones.
"Teens told us that the draw of their smartphone is both complicated and powerful," Common Sense Media states in their press release. "They're managing a barrage of notifications from the apps on their phones—buzzing almost constantly."
Working with kids aged 11 to 17, the study unveils the digital phenomenon that's become deeply ingrained in our society.
School policies differ widely across the nation, and while it would be great if 97% of kids are picking up their phones to check their grades or use the calculator function, the details share a different story. Most of the apps used were social media, video games, and YouTube.
For my school, we do have a phone policy and we're not technically allowed to have it out during class, but a lot of people do in spite of that. And definitely, I think if you track kids at my school, their phone usage, you would definitely see them checking their phones, and then checking Snapchat during class.
—10th grader
The study found that 60% of kids aged 11 to 17 were wide awake and glued to their screens during the witching hours, specifically between midnight and 5 a.m. Research on the negative effects that sleep deprivation has on overall well-being and academic performance is clearly documented.
I might say that for certain apps, like TikTok, it's really hard to fall asleep once you use it close to when you're gonna go to sleep. I can't use it within an hour, or else I'd struggle … and then I'll just get back on the app 'cause I'm not sleeping anyway.
—10th grader
Imagine your phone buzzing, pinging, and chiming relentlessly throughout the day. For more than 50% of kids in this study, that's their reality, receiving almost 10 notifications per hour each day. Some teens reported receiving 4,500 notifications per day.
Snapchat and Discord have mastered the art of keeping teens tethered to their screens with an incessant stream of alerts and updates, showcasing the competitive nature of the tech industry, where user engagement is key to success.
Yeah, for me, I have notifications on for the apps that are messaging apps, but then for the other ones, I don't have notifications on for YouTube or Instagram … For me, I don't like the notifications that just tell you to go back on the app or just something random like that, like an update or something. I don't really care about those ones. But the ones I do like getting are the ones that are from the messaging apps, like if someone sends me a text, I wanna know what it says.
—10th grader
One platform has managed to capture the hearts and minds of teenagers by offering bite-sized pleasure and effortless interaction, all seamlessly tailored to the user's interests and mood. 50% of participants had TikTok installed on their phones, and they weren't just casual users. On average, these teens spent a median of one hour and 52 minutes per day on the platform while some clocked in upwards of seven hours daily.
The app's algorithm quickly adapts to the individual's preferences, serving up content that aligns with their interests or current mood, all while catering to the modern attention span with short, snappy videos.
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