Welcome to Parent Pixels, a parenting newsletter filled with practical advice, news, and resources to support you and your kids in the digital age. This week:
👾 You can now monitor your child’s Discord purchases: The popular messaging platform and social network Discord recently rolled out updates to its parental control hub, Family Center. Parents can now get insights into their child’s purchases, who they’re chatting with, and total time spent on the platform. This information is limited to the prior seven days.
To set it up, you’ll need to download the Discord app on your device and link your account to your child’s under User Settings. Parents can also control who can message their teen, whether sensitive content should be filtered, and how Discord uses their child’s data, among other features.
And if you want to take Discord monitoring a step further, BrightCanary is the best way on iOS to keep track of what your child types in their chats — so you can stay on top of their interests and any red flags. On our blog, we covered what you should know about Discord servers and how kids use them.
🇩🇰 Denmark aims to ban access to social media for kids: Denmark is the land of smørrebrød, the birthplace of LEGO, and, maybe soon, kids who can’t use TikTok until 15. Many social media platforms require users to be 13 to create an account, but it’s relatively easy for kids to fib their age. Denmark’s proposed ban would force tech giants to enforce age verification, such as through a national electronic ID system, or forfeit up to 6% of their global income. The move follows Australia’s landmark ban on social media for children, which set the minimum age at 16 and likely led to a surge in Australian teens asking ChatGPT about how to set up a VPN.
“We’ve given the tech giants so many chances to stand up and to do something about what is happening on their platforms. They haven’t done it,” said Caroline Stage, Denmark’s minister for digital affairs. “So now we will take over the steering wheel and make sure that our children’s futures are safe.”
While bans aren’t foolproof, they send a clear message that children shouldn’t have unrestricted access to digital spaces — not just social media. If you aren’t sure how to talk to your child about social media’s risks, here are the facts about how it impacts mental health (and what parents and teens can do about it).
📵 Want to fix your child’s screen time? Check your own habits: One of the strongest predictors of a child’s screen time isn’t proximity to an iPad or knowing Mom’s passcode — it’s the parent’s screen time. If you spend all your free time scrolling, odds are high that your child will practice the same behaviors. Fortunately, there’s a fix for that, without having to go back to a flip phone. Here’s how parents can find a balance with their screen time, according to NPR:
Ask yourself if the response can wait. If you’re with your family, do you really have to check your email? If it’s urgent, explain what you’re doing and why you’re doing it — otherwise, you’re signaling to your child that they’re less important than what’s on your screen.
Prioritize quality over quantity with your personal screen time. Maybe FaceTiming family is a source of joy, but binging your go-to true crime podcast before bed is impacting your sleep quality.
Keep devices outside your bedroom, and practice this as a family. Set up a communal charging station or phone lock box in the kitchen or living room, and encourage better-quality bedtime habits (and no true crime binges).
Create device-free zones and times in the house, like no phones at the kitchen table or setting devices to do-not-disturb on the drive to and from school.
Above all else, be kind to yourself — you’re not perfect, and even if you mess up, it’s easy to get back on track.
Parent Pixels is a biweekly newsletter filled with practical advice, news, and resources to support you and your kids in the digital age. Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox a day early? Subscribe here.
Could you imagine growing up without social media? Denmark might soon make that a reality for kids under 15. Whether or not you agree with bans, the idea raises a good question for families: What would life look like if social media waited? Here’s how to spark that discussion:
💬 More teens are speaking up after experiencing challenges online. Seven in 10 teens (71%) aged 13–17 said they sought help or spoke with someone after being exposed to an online risk, like unwanted contact or online bullying. That number is up from 68% in 2024 and a low of 59% in 2023. The findings come from Snap’s five-year study into digital well-being among Generation Z across the globe. Notably, when faced with sexual risks, violent extremist content, and self-harm, fewer teens approached their parents, leaving adults to discover these types of teens’ struggles on their own or from someone else.
💅 Beauty filters may look harmless, but they may be contributing to negative sense of self. Popular beauty filters on social media tend to highlight Eurocentric beauty standards, like small noses and blue eyes. A study found that these beauty filters, along with other race-related online experiences, can negatively affect Black adolescents’ sleep and ability to concentrate on schoolwork the following day.
🍂 The holidays are around the corner, and for many families, that means more screen time because, well, school’s out and there are only so many times you can sing “Deck the Halls” in a car together on the way to find the perfect Christmas tree. (Hit reply if you know what movie we’re talking about.) We’re saving this list of 12 screen-free ways to stay connected over the holidays.
