The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech.

Social Media & Big Tech highlights for this week:

• Snapchat Announces Safety Updates (in response to a barrage of bad press)
• Warning! New App OmeTV is the New Omegle (not safe for kids)
• Surgeon General's 'Social Media Warning Label' Recommendation Receives Pushback
• Meta Failed Children on Safety (NY Times Reports)
• TikTok Defends Against "Foreign Adversary" Label in Lawsuit

Check back on Fridays for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.

• Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids: *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF
• Check out the Bark Phone

This is an honest conversation between two moms about screen time; the research, the struggles and a few tips.

Screen time can be a complicated topic with the wide variety of devices that exist within our childrens' worlds. Joined by Titania Jordan of Bark Technologies, we weed through these intricacies and offer advice for parents looking to get a handle on their kids' screen time.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.

• Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids: https://info.bark.us/scrolling2death_bark (*Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF)
• Check out the Bark Phone: https://info.bark.us/scrolling2deathbp

Today you'll learn all about the speed challenge, which has been making its way around social media for at least 12 years. This involves social media-fueled algorithms which are encouraging children to reach speeds of 130 mph and above.

This conversation features Meg Stuhmer, whose daughter was a victim of the speed challenge in 2021. She bravely tells her story so that others can get ahead of this dangerous trend.

There is currently a lack of regulation requiring social media to keep our children safe. Meg and others encourage you to support the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), contact your representatives and ask them to vote it through the House and the Senate. Parents can join together to make this happen, before we lose another child.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.

Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids.

*Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF

Check out the Bark Phone

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech.

Social Media & Big Tech highlights for this week:

• Rolling Stone Implicates Snapchat in Teen Opioid Epidemic (Rolling Stone piece and my interview with Paul Solotaroff)
• U.S. Surgeon General Urges Congress to Require Warning Label for Social Media (article here)
• Los Angeles School District Approves Strict Phone Ban (article here)
• Governor Gavin Newsom Calls for State-wide Phone Ban in Schools (article here)
• FTC Investigates TikTok of Violating Childrens' Privacy (article here and my interview with Frank McCourt)

Check back on Fridays for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.

• Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids: https://info.bark.us/scrolling2death_bark **Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF
• Check out the Bark Phone: https://info.bark.us/scrolling2deathbp

In this conversation, Susan Linn discusses the harmful effects of marketing to children and the overuse of technology in their lives. She emphasizes the importance of unstructured play and creativity; stressing that kids can amuse and soothe themselves without needing a device.

We also dive into the current state of EdTech in schools, highlighting the lack of research supporting its effectiveness.

Don't miss the story of Dr. Linn's career and as a ventriloquist at the end of the episode!

I highly recommend Dr. Susan Linn's book 'Who's Raising the Kids' available here.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.

⁠Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids⁠

*Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF

⁠Check out the Bark Phone⁠

Rolling Stone has implicated Snapchat in fueling a teen opioid crisis.

Paul Solotaroff has been a Senior Writer at Rolling Stone for 25 years. He writes about the denial of justice, about people who have been horrifically abused, like NFL retirees with brain injuries, Iraqi veterans and unfortunately today, it’s KIDS ON SNAPCHAT.

In this conversation, Paul discusses the investigation into how drug dealers are using Snapchat to sell fake pills containing fentanyl to children, leading to poisonings and deaths across the country. Paul highlights the challenges that law enforcement faces in combatting this issue, including the ephemeral nature of Snapchat and the difficulty tracking down evidence.

There is an urgent need to address this national health crisis, both in parental awareness and federal legislation to require tech firms (like Snapchat) to protect our kids online.

Thank you to Amy Neville, Laura Marquez-Garrett, William Bodner and others for speaking up to protect our kids.

Paul Solotaroff has been a senior writer at Rolling Stone for twenty-five years (and at Men’s Journal for almost twenty). He covered the NFL concussion scandal, including the Aaron Hernandez story, was the first to report the horror-show conditions at Walter Reade Hospital, and has written a series of stories that helped free innocent men who were doing life without parole in state prisons. Winner of two Genesis Awards and more than a half-dozen selections to the Best American Sports Writing anthologies, Solotaroff is a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award finalist. Six of his earlier stories were optioned for TV dramas or films, including “Original Gangster,” “The Fixer,” “Living the Vida Macho,” “Not Guilty,” and “The Gangster in the Huddle.” This year, four of his stories will be reborn as TV series or prestige documentaries on Netflix, Showtime, the USA network, and Facebook View.

This episode is dedicated to the life of Zach Didier, forever 17.

"We're losing a classroom of students every week," shares Chris Didier.

We're way past "not my kid." Fentanyl does not discriminate and parents need to get educated on this epidemic. There is a new category of victim where children are trying something they think is harmless, but it's lethal. As parents, need we to up our game and keep our kids away from this danger.

In this discussion with Chris Didier, parents will learn about Chris' personal experience with fentanyl through the loss of his son in 2020.

I asked Chris the tough questions all parents want to know, including:

• Where are kids getting fake pills containing fentanyl
• Why do drug dealers use Snapchat?
• How addictive and deadly are these pills?
• Why would they distribute something that is going to kill their customers?
• How do we protect our kids?
• What to do if your child has been exposed to fentanyl? (THESE TIPS COULD SAVE YOUR CHILD'S LIFE)

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.

⁠Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids⁠

*Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF

⁠Check out the Bark Phone⁠

More About Chris Dider: Chris is a father of 3 incredible children and is originally from the Sacramento, CA area. He attended the Air Force Academy and is now a retired Air Force officer, current pilot for United Airlines, and former head coach for the Rocklin youth soccer club.

In Dec. 2020, Chris discovered his youngest child, Zachary in the privacy of his room no longer alive after Zach consumed what was thought was a legitimate and harmless prescription pill. Instead, Zach had unknowingly ingested a fake pill made of illicit fentanyl and died at the age of 17 as a high school senior. Zach had no history of recreational drug use or struggled with depression or anxiety.

Zach was a self-taught musician, straight-A student, multi-sport athlete, lead role in a HS Musical, and was active with Scouting and community service. His giving nature and infectious smile will always be missed. Since his passing, Zach was accepted into five U.C.s, including UCLA.

Chris is working tirelessly in his advocacy to help bring needed awareness and education of the dangers of illicit synthetics in an effort to save lives. He serves as an executive board member for Victims of Illicit Drugs: https://stopthevoid.org

Paul Solotaroff has been a Senior Writer at Rolling Stone for 25 years. He writes about the denial of justice, about people who have been horrifically abused, like NFL retirees with brain injuries, Iraqi veterans and unfortunately today, it’s KIDS ON SNAPCHAT.

Paul just released an expose on the Snapchat drug trade, and parents everywhere are going to need to read up.

I have an in-depth interview with Paul dropping on June 17. For now, watch this overview of the Rolling Stone article that dropped today titled: Inside Snapchat's Teenage Opioid Crisis