MamaBear 4.0 Connects The Family

We recently released a new update to MamaBear in the Google Play and iTunes stores with a focus on connecting the family. Prior to app version 4.0 the child’s view of the app was a separate interface with limited check in features. Our family empathy research and your feedback lead us to redesign the child view so all family members have a similar experience with a desire to find each other and share custom messages and images with their check ins.

Check out the new features of MamaBear 4.0:

A redesign for the kids in the family

A news feed of their own compiles messages and check ins.
Kids can check in with a custom messages, a selfie or choose from a new set of emoticons.
Now with a map view, kids have a chance to see all family members’ location.

Optional guardian location sharing

Guardians in the family can turn location sharing on and off to be included on the family map view for all family members.

You may have also noticed, we’ve been adding digital parenting news and resources to your news feed to help keep you in the know. And that’s just the beginning. Our mission to connect families is full steam ahead as we build on these features in upcoming releases. You’ll love what we have in store. Visit the Google Play and iTunes store to update or if you’re on auto-update, open the app and explore what’s new.

November 14, 2014

What #AlexFromTarget Can Teach Your Kids

A few weeks ago Alex Lee was a normal, 16-year-old high school student working at Target. He was an average social media user and had 144 Twitter followers.

But with one unsolicited photo and a catchy hashtag, Alex is now “internet famous.” He has over 70,000 Twitter followers, appeared on the Ellen Degeneres show, and has fans waiting in his line at Target to capture their own selfie with #AlexFromTarget.

Alex’s fame, like his photo, was unsolicited. He was merely going through the motions of a normal day when 15-year-old Brooklyn Reiff captured his photo and Tweeted it to her friend. Brooklyn didn’t plan on the photo going viral, but it did.

Alex’s photo along with the hashtag #AlexFromTarget was retweeted 800,000 times.

And while this may sound like an exciting situation for the teenagers, it brings up some pretty scary implications about what can happen through the power of the Internet. It also brings to light some important social media lessons that parents should share with their kids.

The world can see what you share on the Internet. Brooklyn didn’t plan on making Alex an online star. She meant to share his photo with her friend, not the world. But because she used a non-private account on Twitter, her photo was available to everyone. Kids and teens need to realize that the content they share has the potential to be seen by thousands of others and that mass-exposure has its negatives.
Over-exposure on the Internet isn’t always a good thing. Kids may look at Alex and Brooklyn and desire the same sort of online fame, but they need to know that online exposure isn’t always as good as it looks. This level of exposure comes with security issues. The world now knows Brooklyn and Alex’s full names, along with Alex’s place of employment. Strangers are lined up to see Alex at Target and Brooklyn has already received inappropriate attention from online strangers. Kids need to realize that online social sites aren’t for finding fame or connecting with strangers. They are for connecting with known family and friends.
Be mindful of the privacy of others. We focus on telling our kids to be mindful of the details, photos, and information they share about themselves. But we also need to make them aware of the information they share about others. They need to understand that they could attract unwanted attention and danger to others when they post their photos without their permission.
Not everything you see on the Internet is true. After the news of this story broke, an online marketing company Breakr made claims that they triggered the spread of #AlexFromTarget as part of a viral social media campaign. The story gained traction and began spreading around the Internet as a popular story — until the story was deemed false. Alex’s photo was in fact organically spread around the Internet without any marketing push. We need to remind our children of this fact, and make sure they know they can’t believe everything they see online.

Related: The Dangers of Talking to Strangers Online

The power of social media users is large and profound. We should teach our children to use that power fairly, responsibly, and maturely in order to protect themselves and those around them.

Are you unsure of how your teens and kids are using social media? Use the MamaBear App (available for iPhones and Andriods) to connect with your children’s social media accounts so you can be sure they are appropriately using their online platforms.

November 5, 2014November 5, 2014

Selfie Boom: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Wondering how the "selfie" became a social epidemic? Get the fact here.

The following post is a guest blog from Amy K. Williams. Amy is a journalist specializing in parenting, social issues and communication. She lives in Southern California, where she spends her time writing, cooking and volunteering. You can follow Amy on Twitter at: @AmyKWilliams1

As parents, we could have never conceived that taking photos of yourself and uploading them online would turn into a hugely popular trend…. But for kids and young adults today, it has, in the form of “selfies.” Selfies first became popular during the days of MySpace, but they really took off when the iPhone 4 was released in 2010 with a front-facing camera. Aside from being slightly obnoxious, is there anything really wrong with this fad?

According to the infographic below, there seem to be some mixed opinions on the subject. While there are those who believe selfies promote a healthy self-image, others think that frequently snapping photos of oneself only breeds narcissism and a preoccupation with self. So which is it?

At the end of the day, it comes down to your child and knowing what they’re like. If you find that selfies are instigating poor personality traits, it might be time to have a little chat and let your child know some of the drawbacks of this trend. Because unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon.

Selfie Boom: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

16 Steps Parents Can Take Toward a Safer, Less Stressful Halloween

Halloween is supposed to be a spooky day. With a few precautions you can help keep it from being a scary day.

Worrying about the dangers of tricking-or-treating, carving pumpkins, and candy consumption leaves many parents anxious about the year’s most haunted holiday. Follow our steps to have an enjoyable Halloween with just the right amount of spooky.

Steps Parents Can Take Toward a Safer Halloween

Carving Pumpkins

Don’t use kitchen knives. Instead use utensils designed to carve pumpkin. They are safer and easier for kids to use. (Carving Tip: Cut from the bottom so that it is easier to clean the pumpkin and add your lighting.)

Let little kids do the scooping. Younger kids that are too young to carve will enjoy getting sticky by pulling out the innards of their pumpkin.

Decorate instead of carve. Younger kids that aren’t old enough to carve can draw faces on their pumpkin with markers and/or decorate with colorful tape, paint, or accessories.

Getting Dressed Up

Look for flame resistant costumes. Before purchase, check costume tags and ensure that all material is flame resistant. This also goes for accessories, wigs, and capes.

Make your kids glow in the dark. Red Tricycle suggests a few fun ways to make Halloween costumes visible at night.

Add reflective tape to treat buckets and backs of shoes. (Try Duct Tape’s heavy duty glow in the dark roll.)
Dress kids with LED accessories and glow stick jewelry such as flashing headbands, bracelets, and necklaces.
Embellish costumes with iron-on reflective decals and patches.

Test make-up before applying. Test out a dab of make-up a few nights before Halloween to make sure the make-up doesn’t irritate your child’s skin.

Trick-or-Treating

Decide if your kids are mature enough to trick-or-treat without you. According to Safekids.org, children under the age of 12 should not trick-or-treat alone at night without adult supervision. But age isn’t always an indicator of a kid’s maturity level, so decide based on your kid’s attitude and sensibility if they are ready to trick-or-treat on their own.

Teach kids how to cross the street safely. Go over safety rules for crossing streets:

Always cross at street corners and crosswalks.
Look left, right, and left again before you cross. Keep looking as you cross.
When a driver stops or slows to allow you to cross the street, make eye contact to ensure that they see you.
Don’t look at your phone while crossing the street.

Create a route. Look at a map and create a map for your child to follow while trick-or-treating. Create a route that limits the number of times kids need to cross busy streets. Direct the route so that it crosses familiar territory and homes of known family or friends (for emergencies).

Check-ins. Set times and places for check-ins. You can use MamaBear app to allow for easy, one-click check-ins or to set automatic alerts for when your kids reach certain destinations.

Related: How to Receive Automatic Check-ins With MamaBear

Discuss stranger danger. Review situations that your children should avoid while trick-or-treating.

Don’t approach houses that don’t have lights on.
Never ever accept an invitation to go into a house, shed, haunted house, or any type of obstructed or concealed location.
Never accept a ride from a stranger.

Make an emergency plan. Discuss safe places to stop (homes of family or friends) along the way that includes a fully charged phone battery.

Eating Candy

Give your kids a snack before they go trick-or-treating. This will make kids less likely to want to eat along the way (and combat crankiness).

Tell kids to wait to dig in. Kids will want to dig into their candy while on the road, but tell them to wait. Explain to them that you need to inspect the candy before indulge.

Teach them what is safe to eat. If you know your kids won’t wait, teach them to only eat sealed, commercially-wrapped candies from well-known family and friends. Teach them how to inspect the wrappers to make sure candy is safe.

Portion candy and enjoy Halloween in November. Limit the amount of candy that kids can eat per day or week. Explain to them that this will let Halloween last far into November.

Halloween should be an enjoyable time for spooky, family fun. Go through these tips with your kids and use the MamaBear Family Safety app to ensure that this year’s Halloween is spooky, but never scary for parents and kids. MamaBear Family Safety app is available for both iPhone and Android devices.