Shh…my son doesn’t play ‘Fortnite’

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Welcome to Small Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and deal with – the kids in your life. Because Dr. Spock is nice and all, but it’s 2018 and we have the entire internet to contend with.


This July, as the orthodontist wheeled over to my son to tighten his braces, he tried to make conversation.

“How’s the summer. How’s Fortnite?” he asked. 

“Oh. Sorry, I don’t play,” my son shrugged.

“You don’t play?” He stopped cold. “I…I don’t know what to talk about.” 

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” my son said. 

There are no clear reports on the number of middle school boys playing Fortnite, but as the parent of a 13-year-old who doesn’t, my guess is nearly all of them. According to the Teens, Social Media and Tech 2018 survey by Pew Research Center, 97% of boys play video games “in some form or fashion” and Fortnite has dominated the gaming space since its release in July 2017. With over 125 million downloads and 80 million active players in August alone, in-game revenue is projected at $2 billion this year.  Read more…

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Spotify ends test that required family plan subscribers to share their GPS location

Spotify has ended a test that required its family plan subscribers to verify their location, or risk losing accessing to its music streaming service. According to recent reports, the company sent out emails to its “Premium for Family” customers that asked them to confirm their locations using GPS. The idea here is that some customers […]

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Pew: A majority of U.S. teens are bullied online

A majority of U.S. teens have been subject to online abuse, according to a new study from Pew Research Center, out this morning. Specifically, that means they’ve experienced at least one of a half-dozen types of online cyberbullying, including name-calling, being subject to false rumors, receiving explicit images they didn’t ask for, having explicit images […]

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern brings baby to UN General Assembly, makes history

Three months ago, Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, gave birth to her daughter Neve while running a country. 
Now, Ardern and baby Neve are making history at the UN general assembly. 
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Google’s parental control software Family Link expands to teens

Google’s parental control software for mobile devices, Family Link, will now help parents of teenagers, too. The company announced this morning the addition of new features aimed at parents of children over the age of 13. Perhaps the most controversial choice Google has made with this expansion is that teens can choose to turn off […]

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YouTube Kids adds a whitelisting parental control feature, plus a new experience for tweens

YouTube Kids’ latest update is giving parents more control over what their kids watch. Following a change earlier this year that allowed parents to limit viewing options to human-reviewed channels, YouTube today is adding another feature that will give parents the ability to explicitly whitelist every channel or video they want to be available to […]

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Kid has brutally honest answer to homework question

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This kid’s handwriting may be a tad messy, but at least he’s honest.

On Monday night, Reddit user u/LucentPhoenix shared a photo of his son’s homework in the r/funny sub.

The question they had to answer was: “Describe a time when you’ve felt really angry.”

Isn’t that the most beautifully passive aggressive homework answer you’ve ever read?

Give that kid an A+.

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