The latest on YouTube & Meta

Hey Friends!

We’ve been in full spring energy over here for a while and with the official beginning of spring here? Its like we’re vibrating and it’s been carrying straight into the podcast recording studio. We dropped new podcast episode recently that felt like an important one.

Mid-conversation, we had a bit of a realization: phones are shaping a generation, and most of us aren’t fully prepared for what that means. In this episode, we unpack what your child’s device habits can actually reveal about their sleep, mood, and mental health, and why understanding those patterns is becoming a parenting superpower. We also talk about why no phones isn’t enough, and how to start building real digital self-control instead.

This idea of parenting with insight (not just instinct) is also why we’ve been loving Aura Parent. It helps you actually see your child’s digital patterns instead of guessing what they’re up to. They’ve also created a quick, free Digital Stress Test with Common Sense Media that’s worth a few minutes if you’re curious where your child might be at. And if you’re looking for more support with turning digital blind spots into clear insights, you can access a 14-day free trial plus $7.99/month through our exclusive link.

The Week Parents and a 20-Year-Old Woman Took Meta to Court (and Won)

Two juries, in two separate states, found Meta liable for failing to protect children on its platforms, in the same week. A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million, ruling that the company prioritized profits over child safety and made it possible for adult strangers to contact minors directly. Then, barely 24 hours later, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and YouTube had deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive, knowingly harming the mental health of teenagers in the process.

For years, parents have felt like they were screaming into the void, telling anyone who would listen that something was wrong, that their kids were being hurt, that these platforms weren't safe. And for years, the companies pushed back, settled quietly, or just waited it out. These verdicts change the game and say that parents were right. That the companies knew and that it wasn't okay.

Meta & YouTube have plans to appeal and cases like these can take years to fully resolve. But the direction things are moving show that the era of self-regulation is starting to close.

What you can do right now isn't wait for the platforms to fix themselves — we've been waiting a while for that. The most powerful thing is to get your family's settings locked down while this plays out. Knowing exactly who can contact your kid, what they can see, and what's being collected is where your actual control lives. If your devices feel like a bit of a free-for-all, the Screen Sense Guide is a good place to start. It walks through the settings that matter most across all the major platforms.

The Gen Z Job Interview Trend That Made Us Stop Scrolling

Okay, we have to talk about something that's been making the rounds this week. A new report found that 15% of Gen Z job seekers have brought a parent to an in-person job interview. And 20% have had a parent contact a potential employer or recruiter on their behalf as an active advocate right in the middle of the hiring process.

Listen, we’re not here to pile on. Parenting is complicated, and if you've got an anxious kid who has had a hard few years, we understand the impulse to help. But we think this is worth sitting with, because there's a version of helping that actually holds kids back. When a parent steps in to smooth every hard thing, what a kid learns is that hard things require rescue. They don't build the muscle for discomfort. They don't find out that they can handle it.

Graduation season is right around the corner and a lot of us are in exactly this phase… watching our kids take their first steps into a world that won't adjust itself for them. The most powerful thing we can do isn't fight their battles. It's help them rehearse. Role-play the interview at the kitchen table. Sit with them while they write the cover letter instead of writing it for them. Talk through what to say when they don't know the answer. Be the practice, not the performance.

This is the part where we as parents get to find out how we did to teach our kids how to stand up on their own. And yes, its like watching your heart walking outside of your body, but its just so gosh darn rewarding when they succeed.

We’ve had to remind ourselves of this so many times recently… You don’t have to be a perfect parent to raise a resilient kid. You just have to be willing to let them feel hard things while you’re still nearby. Its just about staying close while they learn to stand on their own, and trusting that the work you’ve put in actually counts (because it does).

This time of year can feel especially chaotic and one new thing that’s helped us bring a bit more calm into our house is the Skylight Calendar Max. Having everything in one place that everyone can actually see has meant less nagging and fewer missed things. And don’t get us started on the meal planner. Use code CATNATMAX for $85 CAD off! Here’s the link.

This parenting gig is a long game. The weeks that feel the most uncertain are often the ones where the most growing is happening, for them and for us. Be easy on yourself this week. You’re doing more than you know.

—Cat & Nat