My husband and I also monitor our son’s email, text messages, browser history, and YouTube activity with an app called Bark. He doesn’t have social media accounts yet, but if and when he does get them, Bark can monitor that too. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend it; it catches everything, even photos that your child takes or downloads to a phone or tablet that might be questionable. It sends you large portions of text message conversations to have you context about concerning words or phrases. It is a LIFESAVER, literally, for many families! {side note: I literally got a bark notification for my son’s YouTube activity WHILE I was writing this! It was, fortunately, just a spam comment in reply to one of his comments.}
Despite the fact that there are many resources for parents like Bark out there, most parents don’t use them. They rely on trust, but no matter how trustworthy your child is, parents, your trust of your kids cannot protect them online. It’s not enough.
And so today, moms and dads, if there’s one thing I could beg you to do today, it would be this: give a crap about what your kids are doing on line, and then allow that genuine concern and care for your children to LEAD TO ACTION. In a recent conversation I had with Chris McKenna of Protect Young Eyes, Chris said about his mission to educate parents about how and why to protect their kids from porn, something to the effect of, “I feel like I’m a doctor in the 1950s warning people that smoking is going to kill you.”
I feel that statement 100% when talking to parents about not giving their kids social media, smartphones, and other online privileges. No one listened to those doctors back in the 50s and a lot of people died because of it.
Please, parents, let’s not let that be the case with our kids. Let’s protect kids online. Let’s give a crap, and make a difference for our kids’ futures.
