If you’ve ever watched a kid try to make an actual phone call, you know it’s rapidly become a lost art. I’ve witnessed my own kids talk into the earpiece (as hilarious as it was ineffective), answer with “what?” instead of “hello,” and hang up before closing the conversation.
Even in 2026, phone skills are still important for personal and professional reasons. It’s become my mission to teach my kids how to use the phone, and I want to pass on what I’ve learned to you. Here are my tips for teaching phone skills to the texting generation.
Because kids need to learn how to do things like take messages for another person, relying on a cell phone for practice isn’t usually enough.
Here are some options for modern-day house phones:
Our kids are always watching, and they are excellent at mimicking adult behavior. Let your child see you taking and making phone calls, texting people, and putting the phone away when it’s appropriate to do so.
Want to keep track of what your child is doing and saying on their phone? Supervise text messages, direct messages, and more with BrightCanary child monitoring.
Start with low-pressure calls like grandparents or friends. This allows them to practice with less anxiety.
After they’ve had some practice, ask your child to put in a takeout order or call the pool to find out open swim hours. Just because it can be done on the internet, doesn’t mean it can’t be used to build phone skills instead.
Recently, my son wanted to use his allowance to buy a book. I had him call our neighborhood bookstore to see if it was in stock and then, when it wasn’t, ask them to order it for him. He resisted hard when I proposed the idea, but he really wanted that book, so he did it, and it went great (mostly!).
The thing that helped my son conquer his nerves and call the bookstore? I gave him some language to use when he called and what to say next based on a few possible responses he might get. Then he practiced out loud a few times.
The goal is for kids to make calls without a script, but giving them some tools as they start out is a great way to build these skills.
Most kids simply haven’t seen enough calls to have an innate sense of etiquette when they take or receive phone calls. Review these basics with them:
In addition to etiquette, go over these safety points with your child:
Did you know? Thousands of parents trust BrightCanary to make sure their kids are having safe conversations in their text messages.
Resist the mighty urge to hover and micromanage! Give them tips, help them practice, and provide gentle feedback after, but allow them to fall mightily on their face during the actual call.
Difficulty with auditory processing, lack of visual cues, and the unpredictable nature of answering an unknown call are a few reasons why phone calls can be extra difficult for neurodivergent people. If this is your kiddo, it’s important to be patient, give them plenty of encouragement, and provide them with extra support and coaching as needed.
Even for the texting generation, learning basic phone skills is still important. Provide your child with opportunities to practice, give them tips on basic phone etiquette and safety, and don’t be afraid to let them make mistakes along the way.
Do you know what to do if your child is talking to a predator online? We spoke with an expert — here’s what to do.
Messages encouraging self-harm, such as KYS (short for “kill yourself”), are a common cyberbullying tactic. But reporting incidents to social media platforms can do more harm than good, and police officers often aren’t properly trained on how to deal with cyberbullying.
I talked to Detective Rich Wistocki, child crime expert and founder of BeSure Consulting, about what to do if your child sends or receives KYS or other self-harm messages.
Wistocki says that kids may not realize how dangerous sending messages encouraging self-harm can be. He points to cases where kids have killed themselves because someone online convinced them they should.
“You have no idea what [they’re] going through at home. You don’t know if they have mental health issues. Maybe [your message] is the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” says Wistocki.
If your child receives self-harm messages, these are the steps to take:
It might surprise you to learn that reporting to social media platforms can make things worse. Wistocki warns that reporting self-harm messages to social media sites is a bad idea if you plan to also report the situation to the police. Most platforms respond by deleting the account of the person who sent or posted the messages, thereby destroying evidence that law enforcement needs in order to respond.
BrightCanary’s child monitoring tools make gathering evidence to give to the police much easier because everything is preserved, even deleted messages. Here are the steps Wistocki recommends for collecting and preserving evidence:
Type a statement detailing everything that occurred, including how the situation made your child feel.
Print a hard copy of your statement and all evidence.
Upload your statement and evidence to two thumb drives. Give one to the police; keep the other as backup.
I asked Wistocki how to decide whether to report self-harm messages to the police. “If the parents are friendly with each other, then I would handle it through [the] parents,” he said. But Wistocki also emphasized that a child who sends KYS messages to one child is likely doing it to many other kids. “They have to be held accountable, which would require a police report."
Unfortunately, Wistocki tells me that most of the patrol officers you will initially encounter if you want to make a report have zero training in dealing with cybercrime like KYS and self-harm messages. Many may even refuse to take a report.
Here are Wistocki’s tips for how to get your situation taken seriously by law enforcement:
If your child has been sending messages encouraging someone to hurt themselves, it’s important to take swift action.
If your child receives KYS or other self-harm messages, prioritize supporting them emotionally. Don't report to social media platforms, as this can destroy important evidence. Instead, collect screen captures, contact details, and a written statement, then bring everything to law enforcement. If officers are reluctant to help, escalate to an ICAC-trained detective.
If your child is the one sending harmful messages, address it immediately, get to the root cause, and monitor their activity online to ensure the behavior doesn’t continue.
Read next in our expert insights series: what to do if your child talks to a predator online.
You know you need to ask your children for their passwords so you can keep tabs on their online activity. But the thought of having that conversation causes you to break out into a cold sweat. What if they push back? What if they think you don’t trust them? Is this the internet equivalent of sneaking into their bedroom and reading their diary?
Even though your intentions are good, you have to tread lightly.
First, take a deep breath. You can do this. Remind yourself that you don’t need to have all the answers. You’ll make mistakes and you’ll course correct. The important thing is that you’re taking a crucial first step toward monitoring your child’s online activity.
After you’ve taken that deep breath (or two!), the next step is to have an open conversation with your child about why you need their logins. Here are some helpful tips for how to talk to them.
Free download: These passwords are the most important ones to have. Here's how to ask your child for them.
Listen more than you talk. Find out what your child’s online experience has been so far and if they have any concerns. Here are some examples of conversation starters:
Internet safety is an ongoing conversation and it’s important to create an open channel of communication right from the start.
Two of our biggest jobs as parents are to keep our children safe and to raise them into good adults. Let them know you aren’t interested in becoming a digital overlord spying on their every online move. Your goal is to respectfully guide them to develop responsible digital habits they’ll carry with them into adulthood.
It's like when you taught them how to cross the street. You didn’t just throw them into traffic as a toddler, did you? Of course not. You went from carrying them, to holding their hand, to walking next to them, until they were eventually ready to go it alone. Along the way you taught them to look both directions, pay attention, and use the crosswalk.
Think of Google or YouTube as the intersection of the internet—it’s your job to teach your kid how to safely get to the other side.
Kids need and want clear boundaries. (Not that they’ll ever admit it.) They feel safest and most confident when they know where the guiderails are.
And since you just talked about partnership, you can make expectation setting a collaborative effort. The more opportunity for input they have, the more buy-in you’re likely to get. You might even consider writing a digital family agreement together.
BrightCanary doesn't require passwords to monitor most apps, but you need your child's logins to monitor Google and YouTube. Text Message Plus users will also need their child's Apple ID — which requires a conversation about passwords.
The beauty about a monitoring service like BrightCanary is that you don’t need to directly monitor every little click and tap to know your child is safe. (And let’s be honest, that is bound to be a relief for both of you. Because who has time to scroll through hundreds of interactions?)
Let your child know what kinds of activities that will trigger an alert and your plan for following up when one occurs.
After a few weeks of having their logins, sit down again to discuss how it’s going for you both. Periodically checking in and giving your child space to voice any questions or concerns they may have is vital for building trust.
Now that you have a game plan, it’s time to set it into motion.
Asking your child for their passwords can be awkward, but you can do it while maintaining two-way trust and respect. First ask questions about what they've seen and experienced online and on social media. Set expectations, tell them how you plan to use their logins, and set a regular time to review their activity.
You have your plan in place, so go ahead and call your child in to talk. Except they probably can’t hear you over the YouTube video they’re watching. Try texting them. No, wait . . . kids don’t text anymore. You’ll need to DM them on Instagram. Better yet, just wait until they wander into the kitchen for a snack.
You’ve got this.
Learning your child is getting groomed by a predator is every parent's nightmare, but knowing what to do next makes all the difference.
I spoke with Detective Rich Wistocki, child crime expert and founder of BeSure Consulting, to get his step-by-step guidance on what to do if your child is talking to a predator online, from what evidence to gather to how to report it to law enforcement effectively.
Wistocki warns not to report a predator to social media sites if you plan to go to the police. That’s because most platforms respond by deleting the offending account, thereby destroying evidence. Don’t do it.
Instead, here are the steps Wistocki says to take if your child is targeted by an online predator.
Bringing evidence to law enforcement is key. BrightCanary’s monitoring tools make this much easier on iPhones and iPads because everything is preserved, even deleted messages.
Wistocki says to gather these items:
Type a statement detailing everything that occurred, including how it made your child feel.
People can delete messages, edit what they sent, or even delete their accounts. Print a hard copy of your statement and all evidence.
Upload your statement and evidence to two thumb drives. Give one to the police; keep the other as backup.
Report the situation to law enforcement following Wistocki’s instructions in the next section.
Get all these tips in a free downloadable guide:
Reporting an online predator to the police protects your child and prevents the perpetrator from abusing more children. The problem, says Wistocki, is that “most of the patrol officers that you will call to take a report have no training in cybercrime and child exploitation. None.”
Wistocki warns that this lack of training can hurt a family’s chances of getting law enforcement support. He says officers may insist it’s a civil matter and that there's nothing the police can do, which is incorrect. They may tell you they’ll handle everything, but not take a report or follow up. Or they might insist that if they take a report, they also have to arrest your child for taking inappropriate pictures. (This is false. “Officers are not going to arrest your child … I promise you,” says Wistocki.)
Here are Wistocki’s tips for getting the police to take your report seriously:
After you report a predator, an ICAC-trained detective will take over the case. What happens next depends on a few factors:
If naked, semi-nude, or sexual photos or videos of your child are online, Wistocki suggests visiting takeitdown.ncmec.org. Once you upload the material, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will obtain its digital DNA and work with participating websites such as Meta and Pornhub to remove all corresponding photos and videos from their platforms.
I asked Wistocki what advice he has for children who are hesitant to report a predatory situation. He said:
We must teach our kids that no one is allowed to make them feel bad about themselves online. No one is allowed to make them do something they should not be doing such as sextortion. If [a predator is] doing it to them, they are doing it to ten other people as well, and they need to be stopped. This is the only way.
If your child is targeted by an online predator, reporting it to the social media platform can lead to destroyed evidence. Instead, gather evidence and report it to the police, escalating to an ICAC-trained detective if necessary. Use takeitdown.ncmec.org to remove any inappropriate videos or images of your child from the internet.
BrightCanary and Life360 both appear in family safety app roundups, but they solve very different problems. Life360 is primarily a location and physical safety tool. BrightCanary is a digital monitoring and content safety tool built around knowing what your child is doing online.
Statistically, kids face significantly more danger online than they do outside the home, so it’s helpful to have a child monitoring app with online safety features. How do they compare? Here’s how BrightCanary and Life360 stack up.
| Feature | Life360 | BrightCanary |
|---|---|---|
| Content monitoring (apps, websites, messaging) | No | Yes, monitors everything your child types across all apps |
| Text message monitoring | No | Yes, including photos, group chats, and deleted texts |
| Real-time alerts for concerning content | No | Yes. Flags drug references, adult content, bullying, self-harm, and more |
| Social media monitoring | No | Yes, monitors direct messages and content across major social platforms |
| AI app monitoring (ChatGPT, Character.ai, etc.) | No | Yes, provides real-time alerts and insights for AI companion apps |
| Emotional well-being insights | No | Yes, highlights emotional state and activity trends alongside content alerts |
| GPS location tracking | Yes, real-time location sharing for all family members | No, this tool is included for free from Apple |
BrightCanary’s secure, on-device keyboard uses customized AI to monitor everything your child types across all apps.
Plus, you can try BrightCanary today with a seven-day free trial.
Life360 is a family location and physical safety app.
Choose BrightCanary if you want to:
Choose Life360 if you want to:
BrightCanary and Life360 protect your family in completely different ways. Life360 tells you where your child is physically, while BrightCanary tells you what they do in online spaces.
Many of Life360’s tools are things you may already have access to, such as roadside assistance through your car insurance and GPS tracking through Apple’s Find My. BrightCanary offers the most robust monitoring for iOS devices available.
If you’re concerned about your child’s online safety (and who isn’t?), BrightCanary provides monitoring that Life360 simply doesn’t offer.
Download BrightCanary today and start your free trial.
No. Life360 tracks your child’s physical location and driving behavior but doesn’t monitor their online activity, text messages, social media, or app usage. BrightCanary fills that gap.
No. Location tracking is included for free on all iOS devices, so BrightCanary opted not to include this feature.
Yes. Because they serve entirely different functions, many families use both. Life360 handles location and physical safety; BrightCanary handles online content and conversation monitoring.
No. Neither BrightCanary nor Life360 offers screen time controls, but those are already available for free through Apple Screen Time.
Absolutely. BrightCanary monitors only what your child types and doesn’t read passwords or private documents. Data is stored securely with encryption.
Autistic teens face significantly greater risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide than their non-autistic peers. Parents of autistic teens often miss the warning signs because they aren’t always obvious. Here’s what you need to know about the link between autism and depression in teens, including warning signs and how to support your autistic teen.
The statistics are unequivocal: autistic teens are at far greater risk for depression and suicide.
It’s important to understand the underlying reasons autistic teens face greater mental health risks when seeking ways to help them. Here’s what the experts say:
There are no validated screening tools to assess for suicidal thoughts and behaviors that across the full spectrum of autistic youth. Standard screening tools must be adapted for autistic patients, but not all clinicians possess the skill and training to do so.
As many as 80% of autistic people have alexithymia, meaning they have severe difficulty experiencing, identifying, and describing emotions — which can lead to a delay in getting help.
Autistic teens are more likely to experience bullying and rejection.
Involuntary repetitive thoughts are common with autism, and when teens get stuck in a suicidal thought loop, it can be difficult to interrupt with cognitive strategies that are effective for neurotypical brains.
Challenges with executive functioning make it more difficult for autistic teens to manage transitions and solve problems — both common suicide triggers.
Even though effective tools for treating autistic patients exist, many clinicians lack the necessary education and training.
Inpatient treatment facilities frequently include sensory elements that can exacerbate distress in autistic patients, like bright lights and confinement.
Autistic LGBTQ+ teens face intersecting stressors and higher rates of peer victimization due to their double minoritized identities.
Masking — the conscious or subconscious suppression of natural autistic traits in order to fit into a neurotypical world — can lead to increased mental health difficulties. Higher IQ autistic individuals are typically higher masking, which is thought to account for their greater rates of depression and suicide.
Here are the warning signs to watch for in your autistic teen:
Autistic teen mental health statistics are sobering. But as a parent, staying involved is a major way to support your autistic teen. Here’s how to talk about it:
You can check in with your teen verbally by asking questions, or nonverbally by offering gentle reassurance that fits their preferences for communication and touch. Simply sitting with them or engaging in their special interest can be comforting.
Autistic communication is often direct and literal, so it’s best to avoid vague language and euphemisms when addressing mental health concerns with your teen. Stick to concrete observations and specific questions. For example:
“I’ve noticed you aren’t spending as much time doing [specific example]. Are you feeling sad, overwhelmed, or anxious?”
If your teen wants you to spend time with them around their special interest, they could be reaching out for help. Engaging with them in this way not only provides comfort and signals support — it also gives them an opportunity to open up on their own terms.
Finding neurodiversity-affirming mental health providers shows your teen that you want to support them, not change them. Psychology Today offers a robust directory of therapists, and you can adjust the search filters to find therapists for neurodivergent teens.
Monitoring your autistic teen’s online activity with BrightCanary better positions you to catch early warning signs like changes in what they’re searching, their conversations, and the content they're consuming — before a crisis develops. BrightCanary’s emotional insights and real-time alerts are particularly useful, given that autistic teens’ distress may not be obvious at first glance.
Autistic teens face significantly greater risk of mental health issues than their non-autistic peers. Yet, autistic teen mental health issues often manifest atypically, making them hard for parents to spot. If you are the parent of an autistic teen, it’s important to educate yourself on the warning signs and engage with them about their mental health through direct communication and a neurodiversity-affirming approach.
Thousands of parents trust BrightCanary to stay informed about what their teens encounter online. It’s the only parental monitoring app recognized by the American Psychological Association’s APA Labs Digital Badge program. Download today to start your free trial.
BrightCanary provides robust insight into your child’s online activity by scanning everything they type across all apps, websites, and messaging platforms, and sending real-time alerts to any concerns. This allows for the level of freedom and privacy that you decide is appropriate for them, while giving you the insight you need to keep them safe.
In contrast, NetNanny focuses more on blocking and filtering your child online, an approach that provides short-term protection but doesn’t give you the insight you need to help your child learn to use the internet safely in the long term.
Let’s take a look at BrightCanary vs. Net Nanny to see how they each stack up, so you can decide which one better suits your family’s needs.
| Feature | Net Nanny | BrightCanary |
|---|---|---|
| Monitors all apps & websites | Partial. Filters only, no monitoring inside apps or websites | Yes |
| Text message monitoring | No | Yes, including photos, group chats, and deleted texts |
| AI app monitoring (ChatGPT, Character.ai, etc.) | No | Yes. Real-time alerts and insights for all AI platforms |
| Real-time alerts for concerning content | Partial. Alerts only for content a child tries to access, not their activity inside an app or website | Yes. Flags drug references, adult content, bullying, self-harm, and more |
| Conversation monitoring | No | Yes. Monitors all messaging platforms |
| Social media monitoring (Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, etc.) | Partial. App blocking and partial content filtering, no content monitoring | Yes. Monitors direct messages and content across all platforms |
| Emotional well-being insights | No | Yes. Highlights emotional state and activity trends alongside content alerts |
BrightCanary uses specially tailored AI to monitor everything your child types and alerts you to any issues.
NetNanny uses AI to analyze and filter dangerous content before your child sees it and provides tools for limiting their online activity.
BrightCanary complements Apple's built-in tools, which already block and filter apps and websites, show how your child spends their time online, and allow you to GPS track them. BrightCanary gives you additional insights and monitoring that fills in the gaps Apple leaves behind.
NetNanny is good for filtering and blocking content, but you can already do that for free on your Apple device. Plus, you only get insight into what your child tries to access, not what they actually do online.
For robust monitoring of your child's activity online and over text that fills in the gaps with Apple's built-in parental controls, BrightCanary is your best choice.
Net Nanny is good at what it does, but it primarily duplicates functions you can already do for free through Apple. It also doesn’t give you any insight into your child’s activity once they’ve gained access to a website or app.
BrightCanary complements Apple’s features by scanning everything your child types across all websites, apps, messaging platforms, and AI tools, and sends you real-time alerts when they encounter something concerning. You get the information you need to make decisions that are best for your child.
Download today and start your free trial.
BrightCanary offers robust text message monitoring, including photos and videos. You get real-time alerts if any concerns come up over text, and you can always access full transcripts if you want more insight. And because most kids don’t restrict their communication to texting, BrightCanary provides the same service for all messaging platforms and in-app messages.
NetNanny does not provide any message monitoring.
BrightCanary focuses on message visibility and emotional safety, not app blocking or screen time limits. Screen time controls are available for free through Apple Screen Time.
Absolutely! BrightCanary monitors only what your child types and doesn't read passwords or private documents. Data is stored securely with encryption.
Your child likely already uses Google Gemini because the AI assistant is baked into all of Google’s software. From Gmail to AI-powered summaries at the top of Google searches, Gemini is everywhere. But is Google Gemini safe for kids? Many experts say no, and after testing it for myself, I agree. Here’s why.
Gemini, Google’s suite of AI tools, includes:
When evaluating whether Google Gemini is safe for kids, we have to look at both the standalone products and the many ways Gemini is built into other Google products.
The fact that Google Gemini is entrenched in products your kids already use means it poses unique risks. Specifically:
When emails are drafted without a request and AI-powered search results return authoritative answers without clicking on a single link, it’s extremely easy to fall into AI autopilot.
As a parent, this frightens me more than any inappropriate answer my child might get from a chatbot because overreliance on AI and passive consumption of information can lead to these problems:
An analysis by the New York Times found AI-powered Google summaries gave incorrect information 10% of the time, and over half the time cited facts not fully supported by the provided sources.
With Google Gemini right there inside Google Drive, offering to write that essay or create that presentation, it’s easy for kids to stray into cheating and plagiarism territory.
I set up a test account for a fake 10-year-old. After I finally got it working, I posed two relatively mild questions about shoplifting, and my account was promptly deactivated. I didn’t see that as evidence of safeguards working — when Gemini refuses to engage, kids just bounce to another chatbot. That’s lazy and performative protection; it’s easier to shut kids out than to build them a truly safe system.
Because my test account was banned, most of my testing was done logged out, which is how kids can easily access Gemini. I did give obvious clues that I was a child, including outright stating I was a teenager.
Here’s a sampling of what Google Gemini told me:
Sort of. Kids under 13 need parental permission via Google Family Link, but beyond granting or denying access, Gemini’s parental controls are essentially nonexistent.
Gemini implemented safeguards to filter out inappropriate content for users under 13. However, my testing found two big issues with this:
If your child uses Google Gemini, here are four things you can do to help make it safer for them:
Google Gemini isn’t safe for kids. The suite of AI tools is heavily embedded in products your child already uses, and this prevalence increases the risk because kids aren’t as likely to think critically about how they use it. Gemini’s parental controls and safeguards for kids under 13 are ineffective. If your child uses Google Gemini, coach them on the risks and how to think critically about their AI use, and keep an eye on their prompts with a monitoring tool.
For the most comprehensive monitoring of your child’s AI use available, try BrightCanary. The app scans everything they type and sends you alerts about any concerns. Download today to get started for free.
The number of males hospitalized for eating disorders has risen 416% in the past two decades. Stigma and underreporting mean it’s likely that prevalence rates for eating disorders in males are vastly underestimated, but recent evidence suggests it’s now increasing faster among males than among females. Experts point to social media and influencer culture as a driving force behind this rise.
Parents can easily miss the warning signs because disordered eating often presents atypically in males, such as an intense focus on healthy eating or muscle building.
This article looks at the role internet culture plays in the rise of disordered eating in boys, and what you can do if your son shows warning signs.
For expert guidance, I turned to Maiken Wiese, a Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian-Nutritionist specializing in eating disorder recovery for teens and adults.
Wiese said she suspects some of the perceived increase in eating disorders in males is actually attributable to a rise in awareness and diagnosis, but that influencer culture definitely plays a huge role in the spread of disordered eating behaviors.
Here are some of the ways social media contributes to the rise:
According to Wiese, “[males] are less likely to get help for eating disorders because many are conditioned to not speak as openly about their struggles, so body dysmorphia and fear around food might not be as evident.”
She also points out that the body ideal that males strive for can vary more than for females, with some males seeking to be larger or more muscular and others striving to be thin. This makes spotting disordered eating in boys particularly tricky.
Here are some atypical warning signs to watch for:
Wiese cautioned parents with children of any gender to also keep an eye out for these standard warning signs:
Taking active steps to help encourage healthy food and eating behaviors is an often-overlooked protective factor. Here are some tips:
Wiese says, “Girl, boy, or nonbinary, it’s always hard to struggle with an eating disorder, and it can feel threatening for those behaviors to be noticed. It is incredibly important to address it, however!”
Here are her recommendations:
Eating disorders are on the rise for tween and teen boys, due in no small part to social media and influencer culture that promotes unhealthy messages about food, body image, and exercise. You should watch for warning signs in your son and intervene if you have concerns. If your son shows signs of disordered eating, educate yourself about eating disorders and keep your discussions with him about it calm, private, and fact-based.
Know what your child is worried about and interested in with BrightCanary child monitoring. Start your free trial today.
Reading skills among US students are at the lowest levels ever measured, with one in three American kids unable to read at a basic level. It’s not just their skills that are declining; it’s also their interest. The percentage of children who read for pleasure has dropped precipitously in recent decades. Given the numerous benefits of reading for kids, from cognitive to emotional to academic, this is a serious cause for alarm.
The benefits of reading for kids are strongly supported by science. Here’s what the research says:
Reading cultivates the imagination, which in turn fosters creativity and innovation. That’s especially important given that experts predict creativity will become increasingly valuable with the rise of AI.
There’s a strong relationship between reading and empathy because it exposes kids to new ideas, beliefs, and viewpoints.
Kids who read in their free time report feeling more confident than those who don’t.
Children build most of their vocabulary outside of a school setting, and reading for fun is one of the most effective mechanisms.
Reading for pleasure aids in healthy brain development, in part by literally changing its structure. This contributes to greater development of cognitive and executive functioning skills such as:
Reading for pleasure at a young age is associated with less mental health issues and greater well-being.
Reading at a young age is correlated with greater development in areas of the brain related to attention.
Although the number of kids who read for fun has decreased across all age groups in recent decades, the decline is most dramatic among teenagers. That’s also the age when many kids access social media for the first time — which is hardly a coincidence.
Here’s how screen time decreases reading for kids:
The more time students spend using devices for English and language arts schoolwork, the lower their reading proficiency scores.
In the U.S., children aged 8-18 spend an average of 7.5 hours per day on a screen. That doesn’t leave much time for reading.
More screen time is correlated with difficulty concentrating, a key skill needed for reading longer texts.
Here are six tips for how to get your kids to read more:
Start with what your child is already drawn to. From space to animals to hockey, if your kid is into it, there’s probably a book to match. It can even complement their screen habits; you’d be amazed how many books based on video games exist. They're not always the best literature, but it’s a great entry point for reluctant readers.
Use a parental monitoring tool like BrightCanary to see how much time your child spends on screen-based activities versus things like reading. Use this information to help them balance devices with more time for books.
Make reading easy with these tricks:
They may not look like they’re watching or act like they care, but letting your kid see you reading is one of the best ways to get them into the habit themselves.
Read aloud to your kid, even when they’re old enough to read independently. Reading next to your child is also a great habit. In my house, we like to do “snuggle reads,” where we all pile onto the couch and pick up a book.
I’m going to say it louder for the people in the back: Graphic novels are real books. I get so irked when a parent or teacher forbids graphic novels. The same goes for audiobooks and for books that you think are just plain not any good. With reading levels declining like they are, we should embrace any avenue that gets kids reading.
If you let your child read for pleasure without judgment, chances are, they’ll find their way to other books you deem more “worthy.” And if not? So what? At least they’re reading!
Kids’ skills and interest have both declined considerably in recent years, with excessive screen time playing a major role in the change. It’s an alarming trend because the benefits of reading for kids are numerous. Finding books that interest them, making reading accessible, and limiting screen time are all ways to get kids to read more.
Want more insight into your child’s interests? Parents love BrightCanary’s activity summaries because they show you what your child cares about, from books to movies. Download BrightCanary and get started today.
