North Middlesex, Massachusetts / a field guide
Growing up online shouldn't mean going in blind.
Practical help for students and parents dealing with social media, cyberbullying, scams, privacy, passwords, gaming, and the internet's other little surprises.
TODAY'S BRIEF
Friday, September 25
What to say
Before anything happens: the help-first promise
The most useful thing you can say about online safety, you say before anything goes wrong.
- 01
Promise that telling you won’t get them in trouble, even if they broke a rule to get there.
- 02
Deal with the problem first. Talk about the rule later.
- 03
Say it early and often. If they can’t come to you, another trusted adult is fine too.
Tomorrow: Secure your home Wi-Fi
ISSUE#1
FIRST DROP / FREE TO READ & PRINT
Meet Unfiltered.
A survival guide for the feed—plus a no-judgment companion guide for the grown-ups trying to keep up.
- For students: a 12-page comic about attention traps, fake highlight reels, cyberbullying, strangers, scams, and account safety.
- For grown-ups: an 8-page guide to waiting, resetting, safer devices, and handling the moment something goes wrong.
TWO SIDES. SAME TEAM.
Advice kids can use.
Context parents need.
WHY THIS EXISTS
Technology should be a tool kids learn to use—not a place they're left to figure out alone.
Unhack Childhood is an independent, parent-led resource. We support families who delay smartphones and social media, families already using them, and everyone stuck somewhere in the messy middle.