The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech.

Social Media & Big Tech highlights for this week:

• President Trump Issues Executive Order to Advance AI Education for American Youth

• TAKE IT DOWN Act Signed Into Law

• Snapchat Test Account Shows Sexual Content Pushed to Teen Within 5 Minutes

• TikTok Expands Meditation Feature

• DEA 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment

In this honest and heartfelt conversation, Nicki Reisberg sits down with Titania Jordan—chief parent officer at Bark—to talk about the emotional realities of navigating families changes and prioritizing mental health for both parents and children. Together, they unpack the pressures families face today, including rising rates of anxiety and depression among teens.

From personal stories to professional insights, Nicki and Titania explore the power of therapy, the importance of normalizing mental health conversations, and practical coping strategies that can truly make a difference. They also spotlight Bark’s new partnership with Talkspace, which is helping expand access to affordable, convenient mental health resources for families across the country.

Whether you're a parent going through a tough season or someone who cares deeply about the mental well-being of kids, this episode offers both comfort and concrete tools for support.

Learn about the Bark Phone.

Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids.

*Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF

Learn about the Bark Watch.

Fifteen-year-old and co-founder of Lookupp, Atiksh Bhan, remembers when life was better. He and his friends would spend their afternoons biking, exploring the woods and playing games outside. But then, smartphones came along. =

Instead of adventures, they’d spend their time sitting around, scrolling through TikTok. "We’d be huddled around one phone, looking over someone’s shoulder. It just wasn't fun anymore," Atiksh says. And even though they were ‘connected’ through technology, he felt lonelier than ever.

Atiksh and his brother only had basic flip phones, but they started to notice a shift in their peers who had smartphones: increasing anxiety, depression and eating disorders. Adding phones to typical teen dilemmas, like breakups and friend drama, was like throwing gasoline on a fire.

Determined to make a change, they created LookUpp – an app that rewards you for staying off your phone when you’re with people you care about. The longer your screen is off, the more points you earn. And they’re teaming up with parents, communities, and local businesses to translate points into real-life rewards.

Tune in to hear directly from Atiksh, a teen navigating the digital age, as he and Nicki from Scrolling 2 Death talk about rebuilding connections, before it’s too late.

Tim Estes of AngelQ shares eye-opening new research on the growing screen time crisis—and introduces AngelQ as a powerful solution for families.

In this episode, we're diving into the everyday tech battles parents know all too well—screen time struggles, endless scrolling, and the constant worry about what kids are seeing online. We break down some surprising new research on how tech is reshaping family life and why so many parents are worried about screen addiction.

But it’s not all doom and gloom! We’re excited to introduce AngelQ, a fresh, AI-powered solution that helps kids explore the internet safely, learn smarter, and have fun—all while giving parents real peace of mind. We’ll chat about how personalized content filters, smarter screen time management, and ethical tech can make a huge difference. Plus, why staying involved and working with your kids is the real game-changer in today’s digital world.

Download AngelQ.

Angel is offering the first 1,000 users one year free of Angel. Limited time offer.

In this episode, Nicki Reisberg sits down with Vermont State Representative Angela Arsenault to talk about her groundbreaking Phone and Social Media Free Schools Bill. They explore how removing digital distractions from the classroom can support students’ academic growth, social development, and mental health. Rep. Arsenault opens up about navigating tech use with her own kids and addresses the common concerns from parents and educators about safety and communication. They also dig into the legislative side of things—how schools can implement healthier tech policies, why student data privacy matters, and what role parents can play in driving change. It’s an honest, insightful look at what it really takes to make schools safer and more focused in a digital age.

If you would like to join a weekly Zoom meeting to learn more about bringing Phone-Free Schools to your state, register here.

Review the specifics of the Phones and Social Media-Free Schools bill here.

This week, I break down why I’ve filed a lawsuit against Seesaw, one of the most widely used EdTech apps in K–6 classrooms—and what every parent needs to know about how their child’s personal data is being harvested, stored, and shared without their consent.

Seesaw claims to help track student learning progress. But what I discovered when I requested access to the data they’d collected about my children left me physically sick: thousands of files, photos, videos, audio clips, journal entries, even AI-generated assignments—much of it deeply personal, intimate, and shockingly invasive.

Joining me is Attorney Andy Liddell from the Ed Tech Law Center, who walks us through the legal violations at play, how edtech companies are bypassing federal law, and how schools are unintentionally (or knowingly) exposing kids to serious data privacy and safety risks.

If you think this couldn’t happen to your child—you need to listen. Because if they use school-issued iPads, Chromebooks, or apps like Seesaw, it already is.

If you're a parent, teacher, or school leader who wants to understand your rights—and your child’s rights—don’t miss this episode.

Contact Andy and Julie Liddell of EdTech Law Center here.

Are phones ruining school? One high school principal says yes, and he did something about it.

At Bullard High in Fresno, California, students wandered the halls like zombies, glued to their screens. Lunchtime was silent. Classrooms were battlegrounds for attention. Test scores dropped. Anxiety soared.

Principal Armen Torigian, a Bullard alumnus, took pride in his community and remembered a very different high school experience. He knew times had changed, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that students deserved better—high school should be better than this.

So he made a bold move: a bell-to-bell phone ban.It wasn’t easy. Parents pushed back. Students threatened him and his family. But he held the line, convinced it was the right thing to do. Was it?

Join Principal Torigan and Nicki of Scrolling 2 Death as they unpack the ban, the fallout, and the promising changes unfolding on campus. His experience makes us reconsider: what role should phones play in our classrooms and our daily lives?

15% of High Schoolers say they know someone in their school who has had deepfake pornography made of them in the last year.

In this eye-opening episode, Nicki Reisberg sits down with Adam Billen of Encode to unpack some of the most urgent and unsettling developments in AI—from the rise of chatbots to the explosion of deep fakes. They dive into what Meta is up to with its new chatbot rollout on Instagram, and why that should raise red flags for anyone with kids online. The conversation then turns to deep fakes—how scarily easy they are to make, and the real damage they can cause, especially to children. Nicki and Adam break it all down and call for action—from parents, lawmakers, and schools—to step up and protect the next generation.

Watch or listen to Nicki and Adam's first conversation about AI chatbots here.

Take it Down Tool by NCMEC

Child Deepfake Incident Map