Featured Article | A Pothole in Your Pathway: Pieces of Information Think About It: What types of personal information do you share in your social media profile and posts? Have you ever shared your phone number? Consider the type of information that is stored inside of your account: your name, your date of birth and your e-mail address. If your account’s security is breached, the hacker can gain access to this information. Tip: Consider using a nickname and making your birthday private. Research has shown that teens are more comfortable with sharing their personal information on social media than ever

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Featured Article | A Pothole in Your Pathway: Teen Identity Theft Identity theft — uttering this term evokes images of an unknown, middle-aged individual wearing a sinister ski mask while sifting through strands of computer code to grab a hold of Granny’s credit card number that she has entered on a spoofed Website. The imagination transitions to the next scene that depicts the same cyber-criminal using the ill-gotten digits to buy big-ticket items like smart TVs and computers, or to escape on a luxurious tropical vacation while Granny cries out in distress as she is pinned with major credit card

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iDrive Student Advisory Board: October Happenings October is here! The season of pumpkins, candy corn, and spooky excitement is upon us. But did you know that October is also filled with important awareness months? Our Student Advisory Board is focused on two issues that matter to teens across the U.S. and around the world: Cyber Security Awareness and Cyber Bullying Awareness and Prevention. Cyber Security Awareness Month You might be thinking “Really, cyber security?” We get it. Cyber security may not seem like something that teens should really worry about, but in reality, we are prime targets of identity theft.

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iDrive Agents: 7 Tips to Write for the Web You have been in school and had to practice and cultivate writing skills for most of your life. So why not use those skills for good? Writing for the Web is an amazing way to start raising awareness for an issue that you are passionate about, whether it be teen mental health, human trafficking, or any other topic that drives you. When you publish your work on the Web, the world is at your fingertips. Writing for the Web does, however, differ from writing traditional print-based articles or writing essays for

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5 Things You Can Do About Social Media & Teen Mental Health In our Featured Article: Social Media & Teen Mental Health, we discuss how shaming, cyberbullying, body image, and feeling excluded or “missing out” can lead to lowered mental health for teens. Here are five things that you can do to help yourself and others regarding social media and mental health. First, consider yourself. Make sure you occasionally step back and consider the nature of your relationship with social media. Does social feedback on sites like Instagram of Snapchat hurt your self confidence? Do you find that your comparison

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Featured Article: Social Media & Teen Mental Health As teens, we experience life with greater independence. We define ourselves based on what we think is most important. We see ourselves as separate from our parents and caregivers. We gain a sense of ownership over who we are and who we want to become. That is part of the reason why we are drawn to social media. Sites like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook give us the freedom to be whoever we want to be online, and interact with others freely. According to Pew Research Center, three quarters of all teens (75%)

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iDrive Student Advisory Board: Teen Suicide Prevention Week 9/10-16 Coming up, September 10-16, is Teen Suicide Prevention Week. Teen suicide is, tragically, an immense and growing issue, and in recent years, it has entered the public eye. However, more can always be done to prevent teen suicide and to recognize signs of depression before anything drastic is done. That’s why the iDrive Student Advisory Board is launching this awareness campaign: Click or tap on the image above to download and save it to your computer or device. Share this image on social media to raise awareness. Add #TeenSuicidePreventionWeek and tag

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iDrive Agents: How to Be a Social Media Champion In our article College Readiness: What You Need to Know About College Admissions, we talked about the importance of building a positive social media presence. As an iDrive Agent, your participation in social media campaigns and initiatives not only helps raise awareness of important issues, it helps you to build the type of positive online presence that colleges seek. We’ve talked to teens across the nation about the issues that matter to them most. Top issues include teen suicide prevention, (not) texting while driving, gender equality and respect for people from

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Featured Article | College Ready: What You Need to Know About College Admissions High school seniors are embarking on the 2017-2018 school year with the finish line in sight. For some seniors, this means that they are in the home stretch whereas other students may feel like they are frantically sprinting to make multiple deadlines by writing essays, submitting college applications and applying for scholarships. High school juniors may also feel the time crunch this school year as they aim to raise their GPA and ramp up on their well-roundedness by signing up for extracurricular activities. College admissions exams such

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