Published: February 28, 2024
With the ever-expanding realm of the Internet, digital safety for children is at the forefront of the Digital Safety Alliance’s Safe+Sound program.
Designed to help build a safer digital world for kids, the program provides tools, events and resources that tackle important topics like when and how to give cell phones to kids, suggestions to safeguard their digital wellness and mental health, and ways to keep open communication with your children about making responsible choices online.
Under the umbrella of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and the non-profit, Digital Health Institute for Transformation, the Digital Safety Alliance serves as a think-tank comprised of parents, educators, healthcare providers, hospital administrators, national corporate partners, policymakers and law enforcement officials. The goal is to empower parents to make informed decisions when it comes to the digital safety of their children revolving around smartphones, gaming and Internet access.
“Children and teens often have unfettered access to devices, as well as social media and other online platforms,” Dr. Marisa Azaret, director of clinical psychology at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital stated in a press release. “During these years, young people increasingly crave social rewards — like attention and positive feedback from their peers — before they’ve fully developed the ability to inhibit their behaviors and resist temptations associated with social media. Many young people use social media to compare themselves to others and base their self-worth on superficial metrics such as ‘likes,’ rather than seeking out healthy, successful relationships. Oftentimes, children and teens recognize that their media use is negatively affecting their self-esteem. They want to stop the cycle but don’t know how to do it and crave the help of parents or other adults in their lives to address this. Ultimately, it takes a great deal of family communication and empathy to develop a plan of action.”
The Safe+Sound awareness campaign includes a website with vetted information, news articles, blogs and research that parents, guardians, educators and healthcare professionals can access which includes extensive data such as studies on the benefits and risks of smartphones, the effects of digital technologies on mental health, sleep deprivation, school attention span, social skills development and cyberbullying among other topics. It also includes an electronic booklet to support parents in determining when is a good time to offer their child a digital device and strategies for optimizing safety.
For more information, visit the Nicklaus Children’s Safe+Sound website at
