kids Archives

Big things in small packages

These must-haves bring peace of mind to your family’s busy life.

Protect little ones from sharp corners on furniture with a 12-pack of safety bumpers ($8).
Tame your kid’s stuffed animals. A hammock (38% off) keeps them tidy and easy to grab.
Ooh-la-la. a rotating jewelry box (20% off) with five drawers and 18 necklace hooks.
Planning a trip? Order TSA-approved travel containers (23% off) now so you’re not panic-running to Target the night before your flight.
Big sound, little earbuds, great price! Raycon’s earbuds (20% off) sound just like the fancy-schmancy pairs* but without the fancy-schmancy price tag!
This compact travel document bag (20% off) has three layers of protection against fires and floods.

👜 Gen Z wishlist: What the heck do teens want? I’ve gotcha. Check out my list of stuff they’ll love.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

💬 Discord is super popular with kids: If yours use it the chat app, go to User Settings > Privacy & Safety > Safe Direct Messaging > Keep Me Safe. This enables the explicit media content filter. It’s worth explaining to your kiddo why you’re turning this on.

The dangers AI brings to teens

Open/download audio

DeepSeek AI is shaping what kids see and believe. Can they trust it?

Delete it: Go ahead and remove the chat app Telegram from kids’ phones because “more than 90%” of drug deals and illegal gun sales start there. Telegram, of course, says crime happens on every online platform. I’m all for privacy, but kids don’t need encrypted chat.

6 years old

That’s when China plans to start teaching kids about AI, LLMs, algorithms, chatbots and the tech behind them. The goal is to inspire innovation (like DeepSeek) … and train the next generation to win the AI wars of the future. Scary times ahead, folks.

💻 Kids having tech tantrums? You’re not alone. A 12-week study points to three winning strategies: 1.) Tell kids how much screen time they have in minutes, 2.) Involve kids in activities inspired by their favorite shows, and 3.) Let kids decide on the duration of their screen time. Been there, done that. Good luck!

Tech-free zones: A friend of mine started making “screen-free areas” in their house, like the kitchen and dining table. Genius. The kids get a break from screens, their eyes get a rest, and family time actually feels like family time again.

40%

Of parents judge other families based on their screen-time rules. About a third stop their kids from hanging out with friends who have different rules. Why? No one wants to be labeled as the parent of an “iPad kid” or blamed for causing “brain rot.”

⌛ Screen timer: Let the timer be the bad guy and set screen time limits for the kids. On Apple devices, go to Settings > Screen Time. For Amazon Fire tablets, go to the Amazon Kids parental controls. Time limits are under Set Daily Goals & Time Limits. Done and done.

Pump it up down: Your iPhone’s speaker goes a lot louder than what’s good for your ears. From Settings, pick Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety > Reduce Loud Audio. This one’s good to adjust for the kids, too.

Are noise-canceling headphones bad for your brain? Scientists warn blocking out background noise 24/7 might train your brain to “forget” how to filter sounds naturally. This could lead to auditory processing disorder (APD). Share this with the kids in your life.

🩸 Elizabeth Holmes’ life in vein: Convicted felon and former CEO of Theranos wants us to feel sorry for her after cheating and stealing $724 million for tech that didn’t work. In a PR puff piece interview, she says prison is “hell and torture,” waking up at 5 a.m., earning 31 cents an hour and only seeing her kids twice a week. This criminal’s best asset is her lie ability.

🔞 Watch the kids on ChatGPT: You can now ask about and create spicy and gory content and images. People complained restrictions were interfering with news reporting and crime scene depictions.

🎓 Fake it till you make it: On TikTok, people of all ages are pretending they got into Harvard. The viral videos are funny, but it’s no joke that lawsuits have exposed donors and alumni kids getting special treatment. Speaking of … A Texan went to an Ivy League party on the East Coast. He walks up to a group of young women and asks, “Howdy, which school did y’all go to?” One of the women replied, “Yale.” The Texan asked again loudly, “WHICH SCHOOL DID Y’ALL GO TO?” (I saw you smile!)

📅 Who needs to go where? A shared Google Calendar is a smart way to keep track of everything you, your spouse and the kids have going on. Just click the + (plus icon) under Other calendars at the bottom left. Choose Create new calendar and fill in the details. Then, hit the three dots next to your new calendar and select Settings and sharing. Scroll until you see Share with specific people. Add your family’s email addresses and click Send when you’re all set.

84.5%

Of ChatGPT’s mobile users are guys. With 353 million downloads, there’s a serious gender gap in AI. Women are way more skeptical (not me); about 53% won’t let their kids touch AI, compared to 26% of men. Remember, artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

11 years

Added to your life just by doing chores. Every time you do yard work, take the stairs or vacuum up dust bunnies, you’re boosting your metabolism and increasing your life expectancy. Tell your kids this next time they “forget” to clean their rooms.

87 biological children

For the world’s most prolific sperm donor. This year, 32-year-old Kyle Gordy from California will join three others who have fathered 100 kids. No kidding — he was on the reality show “90 Day Fiancé” and runs a website full of fertility advice and products. Look how far we’ve come.

Meet Troodi: It’s a mental health chatbot on the Troomi smartphone made for kids. Parents can review chat logs and get notifications if self-harm comes up. Some kids secretly use ChatGPT and Snapchat’s My AI like therapists, too. Talk to your kids, please. I interviewed a mom whose son committed suicide after talking to an AI chatbot.

“You’ve got male!”: In more than a dozen states, porn sites have to verify you’re over 18 before showing you the goods. This ruling in Texas just got challenged all the way to the Supreme Court, because porn operators say this verification is a violation of their First Amendment rights. They argue it’s a parent’s job to watch their kids online. Interestingly, every time a porn ban happens in a state, the usage of VPNs there goes up over 1,000%. That’s no coincidence.