Helping Kids and Teens Be Informed Digital Consumers, a guest post by Jessica Speer

Like many parents, I’ve been trying to figure out how to raise kids with healthy digital habits. As a kids’ book author with a social sciences background, this piqued my curiosity. Could I write a book to help preteens become more informed consumers of tech? A book that dives into safe and healthy digital habits too? This idea percolated in my head for months until I watched the documentary, The Social Dilemma. This movie and its exploration of tech’s darker, complex side inspired me to begin.

So I started researching. I wanted to explore many topics in this yet-to-be-written book for preteens and early teens. Basically, everything from privacy and digital reputations to digital drama, cyberbullying, social media, disinformation, and more. With so many important topics to cover, where do I begin?

The Tech Business Model

The perfect place to begin proved to be why companies like Meta, YouTube, and TikTok want to keep us on screens. Like many corporations, technology companies aim to expand their reach and profits. Understanding this business model helps kids become more informed consumers of tech. When kids learn how advertising, persuasive design, and algorithms work, they better understand why putting down their devices can be so hard.

Chapter 1: Why Tech Companies Want You Staring at Your Screen

So, Chapter One of The Phone Book grew into Why Tech Companies Want You Staring at Your Screen. To be profitable, social media, video games, and other apps need eyes on their platforms, including kids’ eyes. The more time we spend on screens, the more money tech companies make from advertisers who use their platforms to sell products.

Tech companies also use persuasive design techniques to keep people scrolling, checking feeds, and playing games. Some persuasive design techniques include:

• Tagging – which prompts the person tagged to check their social media feed
• Streaks – which encourage users to keep posting or playing to continue the streak
• Levels, tokens, and awards – which keep gamers playing to achieve the next reward

Through the use of algorithms, social networks prioritize what content users see based on what they know about users. For example, the TikTok algorithm is a recommendation system that shows you content based on your interests and screen activity. By gathering and sharing personal data, tech platforms design algorithms to keep us engaged and interested.

The Phone Book – Stay Safe, Be Smart, and Make the World Better with the Powerful Device in Your Hand

Helping kids develop safe and healthy digital habits is no easy task, given that apps are designed to keep us engaged. Like many things, technology has positive, neutral, and negative impacts. My hope for The Phone Book is that it is a helpful resource for preteens, teens, families, and schools to learn about digital citizenship, digital literacy, and how to use technology as a force for good.

Meet the author

Jessica Speer is the author of books for kids and teens, including The Phone Book, BFF or NRF (Not Really Friends)? A Girls Guide to Happy Friendships and Middle School – Safety Goggles Advised, all of which grew out of her work with kids. Blending social science, stories, and fun activities, her writing unpacks tricky stuff that surfaces during childhood and adolescence. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Sciences and a knack for writing about complex topics in ways that connect with kids. For more information, visit www.JessicaSpeer.com

About The Phone Book: Stay Safe, Be Smart, and Make the World Better with the Powerful Device in Your Hand by Jessica Speer, Lesley Imgart (Illustrator)

So . . . you got a phone! You can text your friends, play games, and take cool pictures! You have the whole world in your pocket—power to be used as a force for good or, um, not so good.

Fraught with cyberbullying, disinformation, fake stuff, tech addiction, and so much more, the digital world can be downright sad, awkward, and nasty. But have no fear, kids—The Phone Book is here! Packed with research-based explanations, techy tidbits, and real stories from hundreds of teens and preteens, this phone book (the fun kind) will be your guide on the path of light, teaching you healthy phone habits and ways to stay safe online. And while you’re on your journey, super illustrations, activities, and secret codes will reveal the power of your phone and the superpowers you have to wield it. Go forth, be informed, and slay the dark side of technology!

ISBN-13: 9781641709903
Publisher: Familius
Publication date: 08/08/2023
Age Range: 8 – 13 Years

Filed under: Guest Post