Scrolling 2 Death

Tens of thousands of schools are failing to reach the same primary goal...to produce happy and productive citizens. Phones at school is the roadblock, yet schools continue to struggle with implementing and enforcing phone restrictions. So, what's the answer? Kim Whitman (along with co-founders Mileva Repasky and Sabine Polak) created the Phone Free Schools Movement to provide youth the freedom to excel academically and develop socially without the pressures and harms of phones and social media during the school day. The Phone-Free Schools Movement (in partnership with Fairplay) recently released a one-of-a-kind resource - the Phone-Free Schools Administrator Toolkit. It is a roadmap on how to implement a successful phone-free school policy. In today's conversation with Kim, we talk through the reasons behind the need for a bell-to-bell phone policy, the pushback and even touch on school-issued device use. This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids: *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF Check out the Bark Phone

Thank you to John Pizzuro for joining me to discuss crimes against kids. John is the CEO and co-founder of Raven, a 501(c)4 non-profit lobbying firm comprised of subject matter experts and retired law enforcement focused on legislative and policy solutions for child trafficking and child exploitation. He highlights the scale and challenge of online crimes, the issue of ineffective age-gating, and the dangers of children interacting with strangers online. As always, this discussion is parent-focused and includes actionable guidance to protect our children from online harms. One vital need is for the tech companies to take responsibility for child safety online and that is going to require legislation to hold them accountable. Legislative initiatives such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Stop CSAM Act are introduced as important steps towards creating a safer online environment for children. To help get KOSA passed, please visit house.gov, enter your ZIP code, find your Rep and contact them. Ask them to co-sponsor KOSA. This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids: *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF Check out the Bark Phone

When former-Facebook employee David Erb realized that Facebook's "People You May Know" feature was connecting millions of pedophiles with tens of millions of children, he told senior Facebook executives right away. The response gave David the shock of his life. Not only did Meta refuse to help these children, they announced end-to-end encryption so that the messages were hidden. This strategic update removed liability from Meta and has since encouraged even more exploitation of children. In today's episode of Scrolling 2 Death, David Erb shares his story. Please listen with caution. What you hear will upset you. About David Erb David Erb has had a nearly 40 year career working for some of the biggest tech companies in the world, including Microsoft, Google, YouTube and Facebook. David co-created Google Cloud, and led a team of 200 engineers at YouTube. He has been a champion of developing new ways to combat CSAM and has seen big tech at both its best and its worst. He resigned from his lead engineering role in Meta's London office in protest over their refusal to act on his team's recommendations to curb CSAM and grooming on the platform.

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech. Social Media & Big Tech highlights for this week: Telegram CEO Arrested for Enabling Child Sexual Abuse (among other charges) TikTok Must Face Lawsuit Over 10-year-old Girl's Death (court ruling) New Study Shows TikTok Psychologically Manipulates Users in Favor of China (study) TikTok Child Privacy Class Action Lawsuit (more here) Snapchat Launches Their App on iPads (more here) Families Can Sue Yolo For Breaking Anti-Bullying Pledge (more info) The Dangerous World of Anonymous Apps (with Kristin Bride) Anonymous Apps: Exposed (with Kristin Bride) RESEARCH: The Case for Causality (social media & mental health) by Jonathan Haidt and Zach Rausch RESEARCH: How Screens Affect Infants & Toddlers by Children & Screens Check back on Fridays for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

The conversation is all about the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and its positive implications for our kids. After receiving many comments about KOSA being a "censorship bill" and finding similar articles with a quick Google search, I realized that we need to face this argument head on. I brought in legislative expert Alix Fraser to respond to the headlines and give us the real deal on KOSA. If you want protections for your kids online, please contact your Representative in the House and ask them to pass KOSA. If you don't know who your Rep is, go to house.gov, enter your ZIP code and find your Rep's contact info. This takes just a couple minutes and kids need our help.

Parents constantly ask, "Is [INSERT APP] safe for my kids?" I brought in Titania Jordan to give our honest reviews of 10 of the most popular apps for kids. Today we cover: Spotify, Snapchat, Capcut, Candy Crush, Discord, Roblox/Minecraft/Fortnite, Whatsapp, YouTube, Telegram and ChatGPT. Thank you to Titania and Bark Technologies for putting together exhaustive app reviews for parents. If we didn't cover an app that you are wondering about, please visit https://www.bark.us/learn/resources/ and enter the app name in the search bar. This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF Check out the Bark Phone

Kids are getting harmed by social media. Social media companies put profits over people. Legislation to protect kids online has not passed since 1998. It is way passed time get force Big Tech to protect kids. The answer is the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Big Tech is working hard to lobby against KOSA and convince us that it is a censorship bill (it is not). In this conversation with legislative expert, Patrick Lyden, we break down the elements of KOSA and negate the pushback. KOSA passed the Senate in July 91-3. KOSA now sits in the House and needs your support. What is KOSA? Link to House version of KOSA Link to Senate version of KOSA How can you support KOSA? KOSA is a federal bill that will save childrens' lives. **Contact your Representatives in the House; ask them to pass KOSA now before we lose more children to online harms! **Visit House.gov, enter your ZIP code then message or call your Rep.

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech. Social Media & Big Tech highlights for this week: What Snapchat Isn’t Telling You? The Dark Side of Snapchat (article here) New Research Reveals Communicating Online with Friends Brings Australians Happiness (full report) Stack of TikTok Lawsuits Grows Higher (report here) Schools All Over the Nation Roll Out Phone Bans Phone Free Schools Movement Releases Toolkit (download here) What Parents Need to Know About The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)  Ask your Representative to Pass KOSA! Contact your Representative in the House: Visit house.gov and enter ZIP code at the top right to find your representative This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. These days, parents have access to a safer smartphone for kids called the Bark Phone.  Check out the Bark Phone Check out the Bark Parental Monitoring App for iPhones and Androids (use code SCROLLING2DEATH for 10% off)

Welcome to Teachers Talk, a series on Scrolling 2 Death featuring candid discussions with teachers. Parents are going to get the real deal on what's happening with screens at school, how tech is affecting students' learning and teachers' jobs. Today's episode features former middle and high school French teacher, Kathleen Barlow. Kathleen discusses the challenges of screens in schools and the impact on students' learning and behavior. She shares her experiences as a teacher and highlights the issues of smartphone and school-issued device use in the classroom. Kathleen emphasizes the importance of foundational knowledge and critical thinking, which she believes are hindered by excessive screen time. She suggests implementing policies such as a bell-to-bell phone ban and using phone lockers to address these challenges. Kathleen also shares her experience pulling back from screens within her own family, including switching her twin 17-year-olds from smartphones to the Pinwheel phone, stating "I could not keep supplying this drug to my children." Don't miss the literal earthquake that interrupted our discussion 12.5 minutes in! This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids. *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF Check out the Bark Phone. About Kathleen Barlow: Kathleen Barlow is a mother of 6 kids and grandmother of 3. She is a former middle school and high school French teacher, and she taught for about a decade in New Hampshire and Utah. During the 2023-2024 school year, Kathleen was teaching at a middle school in Utah and was struggling to motivate and connect with her students. In continuing to observe the negative impact of phones in school firsthand, she eventually felt compelled to leave her teaching career, in the hopes of finding a way to help schools develop better cell phone policies. Kathleen has since become a member of the Smartphone Free Childhood movement that began in the UK. She has also aligned herself with several other amazing organizations that all have the common goal of helping kids and families become more intentional about their screen time, as well as their time spent in real life connection. Kathleen is in the process of developing her own organization, SOS (Screens Out of Schools), that will be offering services to help in this endeavor. She believes that in order to back up this “digital boat,” we need to be focused “upstream.” Many have found themselves in an exhaustive loop of trying to put out the fires that inevitably arise from being immersed in a dangerous virtual world. By greatly reducing screen time, especially during the school day, many of the problems that are currently plaguing our kids will also be reduced and even eliminated. In her spare time, Kathleen is crazy about mountain biking with her family, and also loves hiking, Bikram yoga, journaling, and reading. She was thrilled to recently finish her second sprint triathlon. Kathleen tries daily (yet sometimes fails!) at practicing the art of being present in each moment.

Even smart kids make bad decisions; decisions that can take their life. This was the case for Judy's son, Erik, who died in 2010 from the choking game. Devastatingly, this trend has since exploded due to social media algorithms which prioritize harmful content into childrens' feeds. In this vulnerable and educational conversation, Judy tells Erik's story and guides parents on how to protect our children from dangerous challenges and other online harms. Get to know Judy and her work at Erik's Cause here: erikscause.org This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids: *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF Check out the Bark Phone