By Jill Murphy, Common Sense Media 

Edition #23 | July 31, 2026

Whose House, Whose Rules?

"But everyone else has it!" comes up quite often in my house. Usually it's the opening statement in my daughter's case for some freedom she believes has been granted universally to kids her age.

Except every once in a while, she is the "everyone else." She has the app another kid isn't allowed to use. She gets more screen time. Her phone can do something her friend's phone cannot. And when that happens, we've had to talk about what she does with that extra freedom when other kids are around.

Pulling up YouTube channels, Roblox, or TikTok in front of a friend whose parents have said no may seem harmless to a kid. But even still, she's overriding someone else's parenting, in their kid's own space, without either set of parents in the room.

What works for one kid in one house doesn't automatically work for the friend standing next to them. Having more access than a friend isn't a flex to bring to a hangout. And it makes for a genuinely bad houseguest. You wouldn't want another kid encouraging yours to push past a boundary you'd set, so extend the same courtesy in the other direction.

So here's what made it into our family media agreement: Her rules are hers. They don't automatically extend to the kid sitting next to her. If a friend isn't allowed to use an app or see certain content, she doesn't get to turn the hangout into a demonstration.

Have you added something similar to your family rules? I want to hear what stuck and, honestly, I'm even more curious about what you tried that flopped. Email me at [email protected] and let me know.

Worth checking out:

→ Family Media Agreement

→ How to share screen time rules with other adults

Inside the Deepfake Problem

The deepfake stories that make headlines often sound distant: politicians, celebrities, quirky corners of the internet. But that's not what teens described in new research from our Youth AI Safety Institute.

The fake sexual images they're seeing involve someone they actually know surprisingly often. A classmate. An ex. A friend. Some teens also admitted to making the images themselves, and only one in five had ever spoken to a trusted adult about it.

This conversation is much harder to have after something's already happened. So we're looking at what teens told us, why some may not grasp the harm when the image itself is fake, and how to open this conversation before it becomes a crisis. Geoff Fowler breaks down the latest research.

Worth reading:

→ Learn more about the research

An Ode to Panic Reading

If your kid's summer reading stack has barely moved, welcome. You still have plenty of company.

"Summer slide" has become a low hum in the background of parenting. The longer that summer learning sits untouched, the easier it is to picture your kid arriving at school in the fall while everyone else strides in reciting Shakespeare and doing long division.

Teachers, fortunately, have met children returning from summer before. It happens every August.

The research on summer learning loss is more mixed than the level of panic would suggest. Kids are rarely "caught up" on every front at once. Their reading may be fine while their handwriting looks like a cry for help. They may be academically ready and socially rusty. They're growing, which by definition means something is always in motion. Let's take a little of that pressure off of them (and off of us).

Here's what isn't up for debate, though: Reading never goes out of style. Whatever the research says about the "slide," reading itself carries real benefits across every subject. It builds comprehension, imagination, vocabulary, and critical thinking. Some kids already know they love it. Others remain unconvinced. That doesn't mean we need to turn the final weeks of summer into a literary boot camp.

Help them find one book they might actually open. Graphic novels count. Audiobooks count. Five minutes while staring resentfully at a timer also counts. You're looking for a beginning, not a triumphant montage.

Worth trying:

→ Our Summer Slide Survival Matchmaker

→ Best Books by Age | Graphic Novels for Kids | Books for Reluctant Readers

One more thing

Thank you so much for the support! If you're enjoying the newsletter, have questions or comments, or want to share a story of your own, email me! I want to hear from you. [email protected]

Have a great weekend!
– Jill

We’re an independent, mission-driven nonprofit powered by people like you.

Make a donation today.

Common Sense Media

699 8th Street, Suite C150, San Francisco, California 94103
© 2026 Common Sense Media. All rights reserved.

Unsubscribe