The Top 10 Apps of 2017

Posted on: 12/14/17 3:27 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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The year-end is almost here, and that always triggers our look back at the most popular songs, apps, books, posts… of the entire year.

We’ll start by looking at the top 10 free apps downloaded from the iTunes store in 2017… with Snap up at the top once again.

No, Snapchat wasn’t actually No. 1 like last year, but Bitmoji was, which is owned by Snap (nice purchase!), slipping Snapchat into No. 2 (I guess consumers missed the memo that Snapchat was having a rough year). And no… Pokemon Go didn’t make the list this year. (Pokemon who?)

Here’s the top 10! Continue reading “The Top 10 Apps of 2017”

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Answering top questions from today’s parents PART I

Posted on: 11/14/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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The questions began rolling in…

What age do you recommend giving our kids phones?

What is the easiest way to monitor a child’s online safety?

What are the dangers of the app Musical.ly?

These are just a few of the countless questions I just received from parents… and in the next three days I’m going to answer all of them in this blog. Each day I’m going to narrow it down to the top 10 Continue reading “Answering top questions from today’s parents PART I”

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Is Snapchat and Snapmaps safe?

Posted on: 09/26/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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It’s the number one app kids use, and it’s the number one app parents ask me about at my parent workshops. I hear it all the time:

Is Snapchat bad?

Should I let my daughter use Snapchat?

Or more recently…

Is SnapMaps dangerous? Should I advise my daughter to go “Ghostmode”?

It’s something I’ve written articles about in detail, and something I always devote time to when I’m addressing students directly about wise posting in an insecure world. So what do Mom and Dad need to know about this app, especially with its fun new feature called “SnapMaps” where your Snap friends can see your exact locations on a map at all times? Continue reading “Is Snapchat and Snapmaps safe?”

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The words I’ve been waiting for…

Posted on: 09/18/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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“In stock”

I’ve had sooooooooo many parents asking me about this book for their teens/tweens… it’s so good to see it finally “in stock” ( over two weeks early). I received boxes of them Friday, and Amazon began shipping them Saturday.

Enjoy the book! Here’s what those who screened the book for me said about it:

“McKee’s best yet. This book will most definitely be the new ‘phone contract’ today’s parents use to engage their kids in meaningful conversation about their use of technology. Required reading for any teenager.”
—Doug Fields, Author of Speaking to Teenagers and 7 Ways to Be Her Hero Continue reading “The words I’ve been waiting for…”

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Stalking Your Daughter

Posted on: 09/12/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Yesterday I told my friend Brian, “I hope you don’t mind, I stalked your daughter last week on her Instagram account to see if she was posting anything dangerous.”

Sound creepy? I guess it is. Good thing it was just me.

Brian knows I research this stuff all the time, and my new book helping teenagers “think before you post” is coming out next week (kinda cool, the publisher just told me the books are in and have already shipped to my website and Amazon). So last week his daughter was my guinea pig.

The good news: so far she was being really wise with her Continue reading “Stalking Your Daughter”

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