Scrolling 2 Death

This interview with former Congressional staffer Patrick Lyden gives parents an understanding of how our children are currently protected when they spend time online and what legislation is needed. The biggest takeaway for me is that parents need to speak up about what we want regarding kids online safety.  We also break down what's happening with the TikTok "ban," social media age restrictions, the current state of tech in schools and much more in the digital safety space. NOTE: This conversation took place on April 8th. There have been legislative updates since then related to the safety bills discussed, in addition to the TikTok "divest-or-ban" bill. Visit my Instagram (@scrolling2death) to get real-time updates on all of these topics. Resources mentioned in the episode: Visit house.gov to find your member of Congress and voice your concerns about online safety for children. (form is on the top-right of the webpage) Children and Screens Institute BrightCanary monitoring platform More about Patrick: Patrick Lyden is founder of CurrentStrategic, a government relation, business development, and strategic initiatives firm based in Washington, DC. Patrick brings more than 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, including in Congress and political campaigns. Over his career, he has maintained strong bipartisan relationships in and out of government. From start-up to the largest private sector companies, Patrick has led clients to successfully engage with government stakeholders and develop partnerships with leading organizations and businesses. A skilled communicator, Patrick leverages his broad understanding of the legislative process and decades of relationships across the federal government, foreign governments, business, associations, and non-profits to assist clients in crafting and meeting their strategic and policy objectives. Patrick uses his extensive experience in building and engaging in coalitions to drive forward client priorities. Prior to founding CurrentStrategic, Patrick led strategic initiatives for a robotics startup and co-led Congressional advocacy efforts for Uber Technology with a focus on the new economy, the workforce of the future, and emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles. Prior to that, Patrick worked for leading Members of Congress as a Chief of Staff and as senior staff for several committees of the House of Representatives. Patrick lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, Sarah Rittling, and their two daughters.

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech. The highlights for this week: Updates on WhatsApp and the danger of encrypted messaging TikTok test accounts show that TikTok is suggesting suicidal content to teens Study shows link between social media use and gambling New research identifies most harmful aspects of social media for minors Update on this week's Congressional hearing  What's happening with the TikTok "ban" (with special guest Patrick Lyden) Snapchat's effort to identify AI-generated content Instagram's disappointing announcement related to nude images Check back on Fridays for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

Welcome to Teachers Talk, a brand new series here on Scrolling 2 Death. In these candid discussions with teachers, parents get the real deal on what's happening with screens in the classroom. Today's episode features High School teachers Matt Miles and Joe Clement. Matt and Joe are incredible advocates in this space and are authors of one of my favorite books, ⁠Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber⁠ Be sure not to miss our version of "Mean Tweets" toward the end of the episode! 

This episode is all about social media safety. I constantly wonder; will my children be safe on social media? The short answer is no.  To advise on the topic, I brought in Marc Berkman, who is the CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety. Together, we walk through evidence-based harms that exist on social media and proposed legislation to make social media a safer space for us to connect.  We also discuss this week's congressional hearing where we will learn more about 9 proposed online safety bills including KOSA, Sammy's Law, COPPA 2.0, APRA and others. Fingers crossed for creating safer online spaces for us and our children to connect!Check out OFSMS: https://www.socialmediasafety.org/ Tell your representative if online safety for children is important to you. Visit this link and enter your ZIP code at the top-right: https://www.house.gov/

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech. The highlights for this week: What's really going on with TikTok?  The imitation game continues with TikTok Notes Snapchat fools us all! More lawsuits against Big Tech KOSA and COPPA 2.0 introduced into the House Don't forget about Discord Check back on Fridays for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

Welcome to Teachers Talk, a brand new series here on Scrolling 2 Death. In these candid discussions with teachers, parents get the real deal on what's happening with screens in the classroom. Today's episode features 9th grade Language Arts teacher Tara Hodgson. After 17 years of teaching, Tara has a well-earned perspective on how technology in school is affecting our kids. Here's a link to grab a copy of Tara's book.

This conversation is all about our attention span. Where did it go? How do we regain control of attention? I was honored to be joined by data scientist and psychologist Dr. Gloria Mark. We dove into many of the issues that parents deal with on a daily basis; attention span, multitasking, digital habits and much more. I left this conversation with a much better understanding of what I can do in the home to regain control of my attention (and my kids' attentions) and lessen stress levels. Meet Dr. Gloria Mark Gloria Mark is Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. She received her PhD from Columbia University in psychology and studies the impact of digital media on people’s lives. She takes a deep dive in examining multitasking, interruptions, and mood with the use of digital devices. She has published over 200 articles, and in 2017 was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy which recognizes leaders in the field of human-computer interaction. She has presented her work at SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and her research has appeared in the popular media, e.g. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Atlantic, the BBC, and many others. ⁠Check out Dr. Mark's substack⁠.  ⁠Learn about Dr. Mark's work and her book Attention Span⁠: 

Over 3.3 billion humans play video games. It can be an activity that connects us and brings people together from all over the world. There has been quite an evolution in gaming over the past couple of decades. Before I handed my young kids a gaming console, I wanted to know...what is gaming today really like. So I got on the line with gamers to find out what's really happening in the games spaces of today. What was revealed to me about gaming, particularly gaming online, is that there's a lot going on...things that parents need to know and things we need to talk to our kids about. It's truly not all fun and games. Thank you to the gamers who were so open and honest with their gaming experiences. You guys are the best. 

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech. The highlights for this week: The book that will change the tide (The Anxious Generation) New CSAM research that parents need to be aware of  Basically no parents use the parental controls on Snapchat and Discord Meta is sued for $7B by their own advertisers Snapchat's new ranking feature fuels teen anxiety Check back on Fridays for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

Welcome to the first installment of Teachers Talk, a brand new series here on Scrolling 2 Death. In these candid discussions with teachers, parents get the real deal on what's happening with screens at school.  Today's episode features college instructor Dr. Jason Robinson. We discussed the pitfalls, and even the benefits, of allowing devices in his college lecture hall. Meet Dr. Robinson Dr. Jason Robinson is a Senior Lecturer at the University of North Georgia.  He currently is a Faculty member in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department.  Dr. Robinson primarily teaches students in a pre-nursing tract and other majors requiring critical thinking - but not Chemistry major level instruction.  Additionally, he is a frequent presenter to parents and first-generation students at the University.  Dr. Robinson holds Master's and Doctorate Degrees in Photonics from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana.