My niece has a smartphone.

Up until a year ago, I had a flip phone. And the screen didn’t even work. Once I finally upgraded, my niece had to sit me down and explain all the features of my new phone. Sound familiar to you?

If you’re a parent who still fires up the PC, or thinks they’re tech-savvy because you use a laptop, or even if you navigate well through your apps and smartphone features, beware: Your kids learn faster than you do, especially when it comes to managing their digital footprint on the Internet.

If the talk about cell phones hasn’t come up, it will.  There comes a point where you can't say no anymore.  Making that determination depends on whether you feel your child is ready to handle this important step and maturity has a ton to do with it.  Here are some questions to help you out. 

What reason do you have to buy your child a cell phone?  Great reasons include sports practice, living in a two family household, dropping landline for cell phones, emergency purposes and your child being old enough to stay at home until you come back from work.  If the reason is just as important as those listed a cell phone may be in the cards.  Giving your child a cell phone for no reason is not an option. 

Would you give your child an iPhone for Christmas? What if it came with a strcit contract?  We posted a blog from the Huffington Post earlier this morning about a mom that did just that, and here are her reflections and what she learned one year later. 

Deciding whether your child is ready for Instagram has to be determined on how much knowledge you give them in navigating Instagram's security. When someone posts pictures on Instagram, security features are there, but they can be misleading in how many ways a predator can work around them. Take a look at some of the methods predators can use to look in on your child's photos and how you may have to take individual action to make sure this doesn't happen.

The Problem with Using Fake Names

Your kids have to be educated on how the mind of a predator works. While that might intimidate your child discussing such things, it's a bitter reality they have to learn. One of those is in how predators can so easily create fake accounts and names to gain access to specific accounts.

Think your 7th grader isn't sexting? Might be time to think again.

A new study was published online today by the American Academy of Pediatrics about the sexting habits of at-risk seventh graders.

Here are some of the most shocking statistics:

• 22 percent of at-risk seventh graders participated in sexting.

• 17 percent sending texts only.

• 5 percent sending texts and photos.

• Higher perceptions of approval for sexual behavior from parents, peers and the media, higher intentions to engage in sexual behavior, lower emotional awareness, and lower emotional self-efficacy.

In 2011, a fifteen-year-old girl was released from the hospital following a failed suicide attempt. However, when she got out of the hospital, the girls who had been bullying her by using a text bombing website to send her multiple text messages, picked up right where they left off.

Her second suicide attempt was successful.

An important part of parental intelligence is understanding what text bombing is, and how kids are using it to cyberbully and harass each other. With new apps being developed every day, it doesn't matter that the Google App store has banned two of the apps responsible for allowing kids to demonstrate this type of behavior - SMSBomber and SMSBarrage. 

These apps are a new form of cyberbullying and allow kids to download them and then send multiple text messages to the same person. By using the app, a kid can send thousands of different text messages to the same person during the course of the day. Even as an adult, imagine receiving a thousand different text messages from the same place during one day. Perhaps the messages said something like, "Your wife is cheating on you", "I saw her with someone else today", or "Your marriage is over." Even if you feel relatively solid within your marriage, getting so many of those text messages all at once is sure to at least make you doubt the faithfulness of your wife. 

For kids, the feeling is amplified even more.

If you are a teenager who likes to use your cell phone all day long, there are a few things that you should understand. First of all, you need to realize that sometimes you will be in a situation where you have to put down the phone for a while for your own safety and for the safety of those around you. For instance, when you get into a car and attempt to drive, you shouldn’t text. Doing so may endanger your own life and the lives of other people.

Distracted driving of any sort comes with numerous repercussions that you don’t want to experience. In this guide, we will provide you with a few tips to consider before you choose to text and drive.

Distracted Driving Facts and Statistics

The smart phone is a great tool for families. It allows you to remain in constant contact with your kids wherever they are, meaning you never have to worry about where they could be if they are late for dinner – you can simply send them a text, or vice versa. It’s also a great tool for allowing them to keep in better touch with their family, from uncles and aunts to their cousins. Of course, there are drawbacks to smart phones as well.

Kids especially tend to be drawn to the quick fix entertainment that smart phones offer, from access to the Internet to the many games and apps that are available for download. This can lead to your family being glued to their smart phone screens instead of interacting with their family at home.

Earlier this month, a 15-year old from St. Petersburg, FL was arrested for sending “hundreds of threatening text messages” over the course of eight days to former friends. Some were even death threats. The suspect used a smartphone app called Kik Messenger, which happens to be the cyberbullying app du jour, also used in the Rebecca Ann Sedwick cyberbullying case that contributed to her suicide. Kik allows users to send text messages from an Internet Desk Top to cell phones.

The tactic is called “text bombing”

In today's world, if it isn't digital, it isn't going to last. We live in a high-tech, fast paced world where everyone is trying to make normal day-to-day tasks more convenient and less stressful. With children as young as six playing with iPhones, iPads and other electronic devices, companies are coming out with new and improved ways to manage your life by utilizing your gadgets!

As a digital parent, don't punish your child for spending too much time on electronic devices -- instead, take advantage of these products by urging connected kids to start using apps that help them with their homework and can increase their grades! App developers have been hard at work over the past decade trying to keep up with the constantly changing technology market. Every day, new applications are released for electronic devices that are designed to simplify your life and help you prioritize what matters. Connected kids who are hooked to their electronics can start to use their devices to help with school and homework- transforming their phone or tablet into a portable tutor and making digtial parenting easier.

Apps designed to help connected kids with their homework are becoming popular across all platforms. These apps are typically subject specific and are a great way for your child to learn outside of the classroom. Admit it parents. Sometimes, we don't have all the answers! With homework help apps, students can take their education more seriously and benefit from a wealth of knowledge- all at their fingertips.

Best Apps for Homework Help

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post by Ann Brenoff.

At the end of last year, a mom pulled my son over and asked him to stop sending gibberish text messages to her kid. The two boys were fooling around, copying and pasting nonsensical messages and texting them back and forth. It was a dual of annoyance, something 12-year-old boys specialize in.

The cell phone debate goes on in millions of homes across the country. When a child is ready for a phone is perhaps the biggest discussion in families about cell phones. With children asking for and receiving phones at younger and younger ages many parents question exactly what they need to do before they give their child a cell phone. Cell phone monitoring, cell phone models and even when your child is ready, should all factor into the decision.

1. 1. The Magic Age of Maturity

Many parents wonder when the right time to give a child a cell phone is. There is no magic age. Your child’s maturity must factor into the decision. There are 12 year old children who are mature enough to handle a cell phone, and there are 15 year old children who are not mature enough to handle a cell phone. Consider your child, their personality, and their responsibility level before unlocking the keys to a cell phone. You may also consider your own lifestyle in this decision. For example if you work and your child is home alone, a cell phone is probably necessary sooner than if you were home to meet your child after school. You must also consider your child’s personal needs as well. While a normal 8 year old may not need a phone, a child with a medical condition may need one earlier.

When you close your eyes at night, what do you see? Is it a scrolling bar that ends up sounding like the ramblings of a crazy person? "Sarah Smith likes Diet Coke. Anthony Jones likes K-Mart. Pink slingbacks are now trending on Twitter!" In a modern household, spending a great deal of time on the internet is a foregone conclusion. In the working world, it's even worse. You're expected to be connected at all times for an email, a text, or a phone call. The obsession with connectivity has led to busier lives both in and out of the office, and new advances in technology aren't doing anything to lessen the problems. With this in mind, it has become increasingly important to take some time to disconnect everything, even if it is just for a brief 24 hours.

Reducing Connectivity Produces Connections

How often do you see an advertisement where a family sits around a table and has an actual conversation that doesn't include incognito texting or tweeting under the dinner table? The landscape for family dinners has changed so drastically with the introduction of smartphones and tablets that family dinner has become a family plus Facebook dinner, where the virtual guests are invited to ogle your meal via Instagram, and find the recipe through suggested banner advertisements. 

This article was originally published in The Daily Mail by Daniel Martin.

Tens of thousands of explicit self-portraits taken by teenagers are ending up on websites viewed by pedophiles.

The naked or sexual pictures are often taken by girls at the request of boys in their classes and sent by mobile phone, in a practice known as ‘sexting’.

But unbeknown to the girls, these photographs may end up being passed around the school and even shared on social networking sites such as Facebook – then stolen and published on websites used by paedophiles.

This article was originally published in the Huffington Post by Amanda Sherker. 

If you want to get in touch with a member of the McMillan family, you can't call them on their cell phones, you can't reach them on Facebook and you certainly can't ping them on Gmail. This Ontario family isn't Amish; they've simply instituted a ban on all technology invented after 1986, according to an interview in the Toronto Sun.

This article was originally published in the Huffington Post by Sasha Belenky.

1. 'Social Media Is Destroying Our Lives'

Nancy Jo Sales, who wrote the Vanity Fair article that became the major motion picture "The Bling Ring," is back in the magazine with a look at teenage relationships in the age of social media. Adults may be shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that teens today are obsessed with sex. And Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder and other online tools are seemingly robbing America's youth of meaningful, loving relationships.

“We don’t date; we just hook up,” one girl in L.A. tells Sales. "Oral is, like, the new kissing,” says another girl in New York. Boys pressure girls to send them nude photos. “They’re definitely more forward to us online than in person,” says one girl, Zoe. “Because they’re not saying it to our faces.”

A group of friends at the mall sums up the Catch-22: “Social media is destroying our lives,” one girl tells Sales. “So why don’t you go off it?” Sales asks. "Because then we would have no life,” another girl responds.

If big brother isn't around, Big Brother can keep an eye on your kids while you're away. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that thousands of children arrive home from school to an empty house every day. Furthermore, thousands of parents make the decision every week to leave children home alone. Once kids start reaching the tween ages, many parents allow them to stay home alone for a few hours at a time. This can be a bit unsettling—how can parents gain peace of mind while giving kids the independence they crave?

Home Security Systems

Today's home security systems go far beyond entering a code to get in the door. According to www.SecurityCompanies.com, smarthome technology allows homeowners to do everything from controlling the thermostat to accessing live video surveillance via their mobile devices. So if you'd rather not give out the code to younger family members, simply arm and disarm your home security system from your smartphone when you get the call they're at the front door.

Here is some great information about current laws in US states in regard to sexting from the blog at Lawyers.com.

States continue to outlaw sexting by teens – to each other or to adults – even as it grows more popular among them.

 The Problem of Permanence

A whopping 82 percent of teens aged 16 or 17 have a cell phone. While these devices are great for facilitating communication between parents and teenagers, they also pose many risks. Talk to your teens about these common smart phone dangers and make a plan to avoid them.

A Distraction While Driving

Texting and driving is so dangerous that it's illegal in most states. You're 23 times more likely to crash when you're texting. Teens who text and drive spend an alarming 10 percent of their driving time outside their lane. Dialing, talking on the phone, and reaching for the device increase your chances of getting into an accident as well. Twenty-three percent of automobile collisions in 2011 involved a cell phone. The same year, accidents where there was a distracted

Students will head back to school over the next month, which means parents are finishing up all the last minute back-to-school shopping. You've already loaded up on #2 pencils, highlighters in every color of the rainbow, and those classic pink erasers. Now it's time to start thinking about electronics. Students today go to school with much more than a new backpack and smartphone. This year, load them up with a powerful set of digital tools to enhance their educational experience and some digital parenting tools for yourself as well. 

Headphones

Last year, headphones went seriously high-tech with the introduction of the Beats by Dre headphones. These stylish, state of the art headphones were on the wish list of every teenager last Christmas. The headphones continue to prove popular but some other headphone options might work well for students as well. 

Many classrooms use online teaching tools now that require students to wear headsets with USB plugins and microphones for recording. These common headsets get worn by everyone in the school. To protect your students from germs or lice, provide them with their own headset with USB plugin and microphone.