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Parents' Guide to

Thrively

By Erin Brereton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Find activities relevant to kids' strengths and interests.

Website http://www.thrively.com/
Thrively Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this website.

  • Thrively Screenshot#1
  • Thrively Screenshot#2
  • Thrively Screenshot#3
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Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 2 parent reviews

dbuddebandy
dbuddebandy Adult
June 9, 2021
age 18+

Uses Critical Race Theory in the content.

I am a high school counselor and a parent. I am disappointed and frustrated that Thrively uses Critical Race Theory in "Resources Related to Difficult Conversations" content. I do not have the right to teach students this content as I am not their parent. It is controversial and racist against whites. Thrively should teach inclusivity without dividing students by race. The sentiment that we are all individuals and have more in common then not, is much more of a powerful and effective strategy.
npriester
npriester Adult
March 9, 2021
age 12+

Giant Sales Funnel without Diverse Representation

I'm a teacher. My district purchased a Thrively plan. I just sent this review to my adminstrators: I am concerned that they sent out Dr. Seuss content instead of anything related to Black History Month. This put my feelers up. Then, when I took the strengths assessment, I noticed 58/71 of the people in pictures were white. Only one picture had a Black family with dark skin. I emailed the company about both of these concerns. I noticed that in their entire team of staff, doctors, advisors, and ambassadors not one Latino or African American is present on their website. I tried to use the tool with my students anyway. I had my 7th graders take the Strengths Assessment last week. Today, I began working an assignment to have the students reflect on their results. I just hit an even bigger concern, when the students click on their top strengths, there is a link that reads "Activities to build on this strength." I expected this to take them to lessons within Thrively. Instead, it takes them to a curated feed of advertisements for in-person courses they can purchase. Most of the ones it showed me were for very expensive classes in Orange County. I also remembered that when the students' signed up, it asked them for a parent email. Now I see why, it seems this entire tool is a sales funnel to get students and their families to become customers for the companies they advertise. I did a little digging and found this from CommonSense Media: "Thrively's suggestions often involve classes, workshops, and other events in a kids' area -- many of which cost money to attend, which could be a barrier to some families. (There's a bit of educational content that you can find directly on the site, which is cool, though offline activities are the real focus here.)" If they were truly, trying to help our students find activities, they would be promoting things like visiting local libraries or Lake Perris. I do not feel comfortable subjecting my students to advertisements that are very out of their reach--by geographic location and expense. I am pretty sure the district purchased a plan and it blows my mind that a paid plan would involve showing the kids advertisements. Also, my gut tells me they are using the students' data to refine the quality of their plan to market to parents. This makes me very uncomfortable. I can see the appeal of Thively and why it was purchased and presented to us. I like the idea of being able to access SEL lessons and see my students' goals. However, using this tool is quietly delivering the message that our kids are not good enough to be even represented in pictures. It is also reminding them that they do not have enough money to follow the recommendations provided by the app.
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What’s It About?

Founded by a tech entrepreneur and Pandora's founding CEO, THRIVELY was created with input from pediatric neuropsychologists. Parents select potential areas of interest, and kids take an assessment test that identifies 23 potential strengths. The site then suggests activities tailored to kids' interests and strengths; Thrively says it has more than 100,000 on file. Kids can click on a "Done It" button when they've completed an activity, and parents and kids can view kids' progress using separate site dashboards. Users also can share activity boards with other members of their social circles.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Thrively has an interesting premise: Parents choose several subjects they think their kid would be interested in. Then their child takes an assessment test, created with input from pediatric neuropsychologists, that identifies academic and personality strengths. Thrively's system then generates suggested activities and information to help kids learn more about certain topics. The quiz asks multiple choice questions like "If you were in a race and someone fell next to you, what would you do?" -- then gives kids some pretty accurate info about their best assets. It's fun to take, though a bit long, and both kids and parents will appreciate the insight it offers. Thrively's suggestions often involve classes, workshops, and other events in a kids' area -- many of which cost money to attend, which could be a barrier to some families. (There's a bit of educational content that you can find directly on the site, which is cool, though offline activities are the real focus here.)

Courses, workshops, and similar items listed on the site are labeled by age level, gender, and other qualifications -- so, if you're looking for a way to find kid-centric activities in your town, Thrively can serve as a helpful directory that zones in your kids' interests. It also features some links to sites that have learning-based games and other items. Thrively can be a handy search tool, but seems to have potential for more depth in the future.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can discuss strengths and weaknesses. Ask your child to identify a few skills -- and some things that your child feels are difficult to do. Discuss positive ways to enhance current skills and build new ones.

  • Talk about changing behaviors or learning new things over a period of time. Ask your child: How can you break down a lesson or goal into steps to make it easier?

  • How does your child react when a new task feels hard to complete? Talk about positive ways to deal with frustration.

Website Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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