Because my 11-year-old is a prime contender for fanfiction, spending basically every waking minute creating spinoffs of his favorite books and video games, I’m intrigued by fanfiction website AO3. But I wasn’t sure if it’s safe for kids, so I did a deep dive. AO3 can be a great creative outlet for kids, but explicit content on the platform and contact with strangers are cause for concern. Here’s what I found.
Archive of Our Own (AO3) is a popular fanfiction forum where users can read and publish stories based on characters, settings, and plots from existing works.
AO3 doesn’t have parental controls, but there are features that increase safety:
To create an account, you have to request an invitation and go through a waiting period. This is due to backend capacity, but there’s a secondary safety benefit: if you use BrightCanary, you can find out before they create an account and either put the kibosh on it or help them use the platform safely from the jump.
Your child is protected right away with strong default settings.
You can filter content on AO3, although the process is a bit clunky. Two notable filters to use for kid safety:
Users must attest that they’re at least 13 years old, but there’s no age-verification process.
It depends on your child’s maturity level. There aren’t huge safety risks like stranger danger; the biggest issue is exposure to adult content. For mature kids who can be trusted to use the included safety features and filters, the platform can be used relatively safely.
If you let your child use AO3, here are some ways to increase their safety on the platform:
AO3 can be safe for kids, provided the available guardrails are used. The popular fanfic site has many benefits for kids, like a creative outlet, community, and the chance to deep dive on their favorite stories, but it also hosts explicit content and lacks parental controls. It’s wise to wait until your child is 13 (the minimum age set by the platform), talk openly about what they might encounter, keep default safety settings on, and monitor their use, especially early on.
Find out why thousands of parents trust their child monitoring to BrightCanary. Supervise your child across every platform and website, 24/7.
It’s a familiar sight: your kid, hunched over their iPhone, furiously texting. You’re dying to know who they’re texting and what they’re saying. But should parents monitor kids’ texts? And what’s the best way to see their texts without overstepping?
The good news is there are options for monitoring your child’s texts on iPhone. The bad news is they’re not all created equal. This guide breaks down your three main options, what each one actually does, and how to set up the one that works best for your family.
📲 Want to skip ahead? Download BrightCanary iPhone monitoring and start your free trial today.
Yes, but it depends on how you do it. Parents should stay involved in their child’s texting habits without violating their trust. We’re not talking about spying; we’re talking about ensuring your child’s safety.
Here’s why it matters:
The goal isn’t to read every text message, but rather to know when something needs your attention. Here are your three main options and what you get with each one:
iCloud mirroring lets you sign into your child’s Apple ID on your own iPhone or iPAd so their messages also appear on your device.
How to set it up:
Limitations: There are no alerts for concerning content, and you’ll have to manually skim through messages to find any red flags.
Best for: Parents who want occasional, manual check-ins and don’t need automated monitoring.
Apple’s built-in tools, available through Screen Time and Family Sharing, let you set limits on who your child can communicate with and filter some types of content.
You can:
Limitations: There are no real-time alerts, and you can’t see full message threads.
Best for: Younger kids who are just starting to use a phone, or as a complement to a monitoring app.
BrightCanary is built specifically for iPhone monitoring and gives parents the most comprehensive view of what their child is doing online, including texts.
What you get:
Limitations: BrightCanary doesn't offer location tracking or screen time limits, which are tools freely available on iOS devices through Apple Screen Time and Family Sharing.
Best for: Parents who want a customizable solution to monitor texts on iPhone and every other app on their child's device.
How to set it up:
New messages may take a few hours to appear initially, then monitoring updates in real time.
Some monitoring apps promise iPhone text monitoring but fall short in practice. Bark, for example, requires installing a desktop app on your home computer and plugging in your child’s phone. That means you can only monitor text messages on iPhone when your child’s device is home and on the same WiFi as your computer.
BrightCanary is different. The app makes it easy to keep track of what your child types, whether they're texting someone on an Android phone, iPhone, or in a group thread. No computer required.
Learn more about how BrightCanary works, or download the app and start your free trial today.
Transparency works better than secrecy. Kids who know monitoring is in place and why are more likely to come to you when something goes wrong. That’s why we don’t recommend spying on your child’s texts. Instead, be upfront about monitoring.
Here’s how we approach the conversation in our own households:
If you’re stumped, consider this conversation starter: “I respect your privacy, but I also need to make sure you’re safe. Here are the situations where I may need to look at your messages.”
You should also be clear about your red-flag concerns, such as suicidal thoughts, bullying, and involvement with a predator.
Let them know that if you find anything worrisome, you’ll address the issue together.
You can log into their iCloud account on your desktop or iPad. However, most experts recommend against going behind your child’s back. BrightCanary provides a transparent way to monitor messages while maintaining trust.
Yes. BrightCanary preserves deleted texts within the chat thread, marked as “deleted,” so you have a complete record of conversations.
Yes. BrightCanary monitors group text threads in addition to one-on-one conversations.
BrightCanary is built specifically for iOS, which means it outperforms other monitoring apps on iPhone. It monitors texts, social media, AI apps, and every other app your child uses, all from one dashboard.
BrightCanary is currently iOS-only. You can monitor your child’s text messages and social media messages on Android using Google Family Link.
While texting is a wonderful way for kids to maintain friendships and exercise their independence, there are also a number of risks. It’s advisable to maintain some level of involvement in your child’s text messages, using a combination of text message monitoring and open communication.
BrightCanary gives you visibility and peace of mind with real-time alerts, activity summaries, and full transcripts when you need them. Download BrightCanary on the App Store to get started.
Confession time: I’ve written extensively about the harm generative AI causes children, my 11-year-old isn’t allowed to use AI chatbots at home, and we’ve had many conversations on the topic. Yet, it wasn’t until this June, the last month of his elementary school experience, that I even thought to ask him about AI use at his school.
I’m not proud of this oversight, but I’m coming clean here for two reasons: one, to let you know it’s okay if you haven’t thought about AI in schools yet; and two, to declare it’s time we all turn our attention to this issue.
Here’s why you should care and my suggestions for how to make an impact.
This technology is so new that we don’t yet know the full scope of how it impacts children, but what we do know isn’t great.
Plenty has been said about AI’s effect on kids’ mental health, privacy concerns, racial bias, and age-inappropriate content. Those are important, but I want to focus here on an issue that’s gotten less noise: how AI impacts learning, the very thing we entrust our schools with.
You may have heard of the risk of cognitive atrophy from overuse of AI. Researchers have demonstrated that when people frequently offload cognitive tasks to AI, they risk weakening their ability to independently perform tasks requiring critical thinking and reasoning.
Adults can course-correct and strengthen those mental muscles again. But experts increasingly warn that if kids overuse AI, they may miss a critical window for developing these skills and therefore risk never being able to build them at all. It’s an emerging theory related to AI known as cognitive foreclosure.
When students rely on generative AI without guardrails, their learning and retention of the material is likely to be reduced.
One thing we expect our children to get at school is accurate information. But the introduction of AI into learning environments compromises that basic tenet of education.
My kiddo is going to middle school in the fall, so I’m right there with you starting at square one. Here’s how to find out how your child uses AI at school:
If you aren’t happy with how AI is used at your child’s school, or if the policies are still being developed, here’s how you can make an impact:
Parents have more power than we often assume, especially when we work collectively. Some states and districts already have parent-led efforts underway to influence AI policy in schools. If yours doesn’t, consider starting one; this resource can help you get started.
Regardless of how your child uses AI in school, these tips can help inoculate them against some of the impacts, now and in the future:
When AI is part of the learning process, it can weaken critical thinking, diminish learning, and may even stunt brain development. AI tools also produce false information at startlingly high rates, with error rates that are climbing, not falling.
To minimize the potential for harm, find out how your child’s school uses AI in the classroom, get involved in advocacy efforts to shape the district’s policy, and teach your child how to think critically about how they use AI. We can’t ban our children from using AI forever, but the hope is we can help them learn to use it as a tool, not a crutch.
Check out our guides to Claude AI and ChatGPT for kids, and learn more about how BrightCanary child monitoring works.
Vaping and drug use are dangerous for teens, and social media has changed the landscape. To help parents understand the risks of vaping, the vape-to-drug pipeline, and how social media increases drug risks for teens, I turned to Detective Rich Wistocki, child crime expert and founder of BeSure Consulting. Here’s what I learned, including steps you can take today to protect your teen.
The American Cancer Society says no form of tobacco is safe. Here are the risks to teens from vaping:
Adolescent brains are more sensitive to rewards than adults, making teens potentially more susceptible to the effects of nicotine. Vape cartridges often contain very high nicotine levels yet feel less harsh than cigarettes. Experts warn of a high addiction risk for teens who vape.
Vaping is hard on the body. Here’s what can happen:
Some teens vape and stop there. For others, it’s a slippery slope.
According to Wistocki, not only do parents often miss the connection between vaping and drug use, but they frequently don’t understand the drug risks introduced by social media.
When kids younger than 13 lie about their age to get on social media, most say they were born in 2000, rather than do the fake-birthday math. That means that, online, they’re 26 — which means they don’t have the privacy protections of teen accounts and are much more likely to be approached by adults trying to sell them drugs.
Teens can also order drugs on Instagram and Snapchat and have them delivered. A report by the Tech Transparency Project found that it takes just two clicks for teens as young as 13 to potentially find drugs for sale online. Some teens turn to the so-called “Dark Web,” where they can buy weed, heroin, fentanyl, and more.
“If your kid is involved in drugs, it’s in their cell phone,” says Wistocki. Here are the digital red flags that could mean your child is using drugs:
While phones hold important clues, Wistocki also cautions parents to watch for these warning signs in real life, such as in your child’s room:
Don’t wait until you catch your kid doing drugs. Take these proactive steps:
A lingering perception of safety is a major driver of teen vaping. Research shows that teens who perceive vaping as low-risk are roughly seven to eight times more likely to try it. Talk to your kids about the risks from vaping and the dangers of doing drugs.
Wistocki is a big proponent of parents drug testing their teens. He says that not only does it tell you if your child is using drugs, it also serves as a deterrent. When his boys were young, Wistocki says drug testing them also gave them an out when they felt pressured to smoke weed. “[They could say] ‘Dude, I can’t. My parents drug test me.”
Intervening when a teen is caught with a nicotine vape is a vital way to interrupt the vape-to-drug pipeline. The diversion program Wistocki runs, Juvenile Justice Online, sends kids caught with vapes to their pediatrician for help tapering off nicotine. Kids also meet with an addiction counselor to understand the pathway to drugs and how to beat their nicotine addiction.
Juvenile Justice Online has parents install monitoring software on their child’s phone. But it’s best not to wait until there’s a known issue. BrightCanary monitors your child on every app and website, including hidden vaults and the dark web, and alerts you to any red flags such as vaping or drug references in their messages.
Vaping is often seen by teens as low risk, but poses a number of risks, including the potential to lead to drug use. Social media has made it easier than ever for teens to find and buy drugs. Monitor your teen’s phone for red flags, and take proactive steps like educating them about the risks.
Thousands of parents trust BrightCanary to monitor their children for drug use, alcohol, self-harm, and other red flags. For extra peace of mind, download BrightCanary today.
If you’re wondering whether an iPad is a smart choice for your child, you’re not alone. The iPad is one of the most popular tablets for kids thanks to its portability, educational apps, and long battery life — but it also comes with important considerations.
After all, with all the talk about the dangers of too much screen time, it can be hard to know if a tablet is the right choice for your kid. This guide will walk you through the pros and cons of iPads for kids, how to choose the best one, and how to set up an iPad with parental controls to ensure your child’s safety online.
As you decide if you should get your kid an iPad, one of the first things to do is to think about why you’re considering it and how you envision it being used.
Perhaps you’re looking for an easy-to-transport distraction for long car rides. Maybe you’re interested in educational apps for their enrichment potential. Or maybe you’re keen to make sure your child keeps up with their tech-savvy peers.
Identifying your motivation for getting a tablet for kids can help frame your decision as you weigh the pros and cons.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no devices for children younger than 2, with the exception of video chatting. Even if your child is old enough, that doesn’t necessarily mean an iPad is right for them.
Here are some questions to ask yourself aside from age:
If you're ready to purchase, here are popular options parents often choose:
Tip: Refurbished iPads from Apple can be a great way to save money without sacrificing quality.
Once you’ve chosen a device, here’s how to make it safer:
Use Apple Family Sharing to set up an account for your child. This allows you to manage their settings and monitor usage.
Apple Screen Time lets you:
In Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, you can:
Apple’s built-in parental controls are helpful — but they don’t show you what your child is searching, watching, or texting.
BrightCanary fills that gap. With BrightCanary, you can:
While it’s always a good idea to maintain some level of supervision over your child’s iPad time, a child safety app like BrightCanary is an excellent complement to your watchful eye.
It’s best to set rules around iPad use from the very beginning. Be clear with your child about expectations and if there are consequences for not following them.
The rules you set will depend on what’s right for your family, but here are some to consider:
Once you’ve established your family’s rules around iPad use, consider writing it into a digital device contract.
The standard iPad (11th Gen) is a great balance of affordability and features. The iPad Mini is better for smaller hands, while older kids might benefit from the iPad Air.
Go to Settings > Screen Time to create limits on app usage, content restrictions, and communication safety settings. You can also use BrightCanary for more detailed child monitoring.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limited screen time for kids under 5 and no personal devices under age 2. Most experts suggest waiting until at least age 6 or 7.
It’s important that parents consider both the pros and the cons before getting their child an iPad and establish clear expectations around its use. A tablet is a connected device, and as such, it can expose your child to the entire world of the internet.
Parental control settings and monitoring apps can help give you peace of mind — and set a safety net for your child’s online experience. For the most comprehensive monitoring on Apple devices, including iPads for kids, you need BrightCanary. Get started for free today.
This summer, it’s been hard to stream anything without encountering a trailer featuring a sword-wielding Matt Damon struggling his way through arguably the most epic journey of all time. While the star-studded new film adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey stands to pique kids’ interest in Greek mythology, the story also includes some infamously gruesome scenes (plus, Odysseus isn’t exactly known for his sexual fidelity). This all begs the question: is The Odyssey appropriate for kids? Let’s break it down.
Citing “violence and some language,” the Motion Picture Association (MPA) gave The Odyssey an R rating, a somewhat controversial rating that’s also notably strict for a summer blockbuster.
If the MPA rating gives you pause at the ticket booth, consider also the opinion of Common Sense Media, an independent nonprofit that provides media ratings to help inform parents. They deem The Odyssey appropriate for kids 15 and up.
Christopher Nolan took quite a few liberties with his decision to modernize the language in his film adaptation of The Odyssey, including a smattering of F-bombs, which wasn’t even a word yet back in Homer’s days. But the swearing is minimal and nothing the average teen doesn’t hear on the regular.
Aside from a few passionate kisses, sexual activity is infrequent and implied rather than explicit. Nude male bums are shown briefly, but in a non-sexual context.
While not as notoriously violent as its counterpart poem, The Iliad, Homer didn’t pull any punches in The Odyssey, and neither does the film adaptation. Monsters and men alike are slashed and stabbed, animals are sacrificed, people are brutally turned into pigs, and the list goes on. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart or the youngest of viewers.
Beyond the violence, there are other quite scary parts in The Odyssey. The mythical monsters might scare sensitive kids. (Or me, honestly; the Cyclops will haunt me in my dreams.) Characters are often in extreme peril, and many scenes are intense and emotional. There are also references to children being murdered, though it’s not explicit and nothing is shown. If your child is on the sensitive side, take care when deciding if this film is for them.
Characters drink alcohol and occasionally overindulge. Odysseus also eats a narcotic lotus flower. But the substance use isn’t particularly notable.
If you’re on the fence, consider screening The Odyssey yourself first. You can also include your teen in the discussion: give them an overview of the types of scenes they’ll encounter, watch the trailer, and peek at some of the stills available online. Then, see if they think they can handle it. Most teens have a decent sense of their own capacity.
If your child isn’t ready for The Odyssey film, here are some other versions that let them experience the canonical story with less nightmare potential.
Who it’s for: Younger elementary readers
Without skimping on the epic drama, Zamorsky simplifies and tames the storyline into an abridged and illustrated chapter book retelling of The Odyssey perfect for the youngest readers.
Who it’s for: Middle grade readers (roughly 8-12 years old)
This illustrated retelling of The Odyssey features stunning illustrations, so skip the e-reader and pick up a physical copy for this one.
Who it’s for: Middle grade readers (roughly 8-12 years old). This one is also great to read aloud to younger, emerging readers
The author of The Magic Treehouse books is known for bringing history to kids. Mary Pope Osborne’s two-part retelling of The Odyssey is no exception. While the reading level is better suited to around 3rd grade and up, content-wise, it’s appropriate for younger readers, making it a great option to read aloud to your kids.
Who it’s for: Middle and high school readers
Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel is a faithful adaptation that provides an accessible entry point for the classic story. Hinds doesn’t shy away from the gorier bits of the original, but because it’s illustrated and not on screen, the violence is more palatable for sensitive souls.
Like Homer’s epic poem, the new film version of The Odyssey is intense, graphic, and sometimes scary. It’s not a good fit for younger kids, but despite its R rating, it’s appropriate for most kids 15 and older. If you’re not sure your kid is ready, consider screening it yourself first or give them one of the many great book adaptations aimed at kids.
“Bruh, he mogged you.” If you don’t know what that means, never fear. “Mogging” is one of the latest slang terms to take the internet by storm, and I’m here to explain what it means and the darker side you need to know about.
“Mogging” originated in the manosphere, that cesspool of internet misogyny that has infiltrated social media and made inroads into mainstream culture. It’s from the acronym AMOG (alpha male of the group) and evolved to mean outshining or dominating another person, usually with looks, physique, or general manliness.
This may be the first (and last) compliment I’ve ever given the manosphere, but you have to hand it to them for linguistic versatility. When it comes to mogging, you can:
To mog someone is to outperform or outshine them.
“I hit the gym hard all winter. I'm gonna mog everyone at the beach this summer.”
Forget GOAT (greatest of all time). Now, when someone is the best, they might be called a mog.
“Messi was the mog of the World Cup.”
In the dog-eat-dog world of mogging, you can either mog or get mogged.
“Girl, fix your hair. We’re all gonna get mogged.”
Some social media users (mostly males) love to wage Mog Wars, attempting to “outlook” each other.
“Clavicular got humbled by Varis. It was a mogging massacre.”
In manosphere spaces, mogging typically refers to outshining someone sexually. Looksmaxxing (a manosphere subculture) modifies it to “frame mogging,” meaning to appear more muscular than others.
As the toxic tendrils of the manosphere continue to spread to mainstream social media, so has mogging. In non-manosphere spaces, it’s often said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, such as walk mogging, or overtaking other pedestrians on the sidewalk. It can also be used as a part of good-natured trash talking in sports.
Although mogging is often used in jest, experts warn that doesn’t mean the term is always harmless. Here are the potential risks you need to know:
Mogging, at least in the original sense, reinforces a rigid standard of attractiveness and implies that those who don’t live up to it are less than.
Unless your kid is in on the joke, being exposed to mogging content could harm their self-esteem and body image. That’s a particular concern given the rise in eating disorders among males.
Joke mogging is just a few clicks away from toxic mogging. What starts as fun could lead an impressionable kid down a dark rabbit hole.
Mogging is built around hyper-competitiveness, extreme individualism, and a “me first” attitude. Mogging makes these behaviors mainstream and reinforces them.
Given its association with the manosphere and looksmaxxing, it’s worth making sure your kid doesn’t take mogging too far. Here’s how:
BrightCanary monitors everything your child types online, so you’ll be the first to know if they start talking about mogging. You can also watch for other warning signs that they’re being sucked into the manosphere.
A savvy teen might post content mocking mogging as a way to call out the ridiculousness of the trend and diminish its power. Rather than jump to conclusions, look at the full context of their mogging post (with BrightCanary, you always have access to full transcripts). If you’re still in doubt, use these talking points to dig further:
Explain the origins of mogging and how it can be dangerous if taken too far. This is a good entry point into a larger discussion about the manosphere — why it’s dangerous and why it isn’t the best way for teens to define their identity.
Mogging can be harmless slang, but its origins in the manosphere mean it's worth a closer look. Pay attention to how your kid uses the term online, examine the context, and ask them about their intent. Make sure they’re aware of the roots of the term and talk to them about the dangers of toxic online spaces.
For added peace of mind, use BrightCanary child monitoring to understand what they’re saying and spot any red flags early. You can even set custom content alerts so you know when your kid is interacting with the word “mogging” — whether it’s in jest or curiosity.
I’ll be honest: When I was asked to research Claude, Anthropic’s chatbot, for safety for kids, I was trepidatious. Claude and Anthropic have positioned themselves as the good guys and are the tiny light I look to when I’m gripped by AI terror. What hidden dangers would I encounter when I dug deeper?
I discovered that while Claude is safer than other AI models, it’s not truly safe for kids. No AI model is at present. Here’s where Claude gets it right, the risks it poses to kids, and what you can do about it.
The minimum age to use Claude is 18, but enforcement is lax.
Users only need to click a box attesting that they’re over 18, a low barrier that’s easy for kids to subvert.
Claude claims to have “safety systems in place to detect if people under 18 may be using Claude and we’ll disable accounts based on indicators of minor activity.” However, I flat out said in a chat that I was 15, and nothing happened. If that didn’t trigger the safety system, it’s unclear what actually would.
Claude is better than most platforms, but some major safety concerns remain. These are the risks to kids from using Claude, based on my testing.
While I appreciate Anthropic’s acknowledgment that Claude isn’t designed for or appropriate for children, without stronger age verification measures, it’s just lip service.
My tests showed Claude pushes back against clear prejudice but falters with more subtle bias.
For example:
Claude is good about refusing to give unsafe or inappropriate information, but it’s based on context. If the system concludes a user is trying to harm themselves, it won’t answer questions about firearms. But start a new thread, and it gives a full rundown on how to purchase and use a gun.
Research indicates that overreliance on AI erodes cognitive skills, and the impact is greater for kids. This isn’t Claude-specific but rather a problem to be grappled with for AI writ large. But when I asked Claude to write me a college admission essay, it didn’t even suggest that perhaps it would be more authentic to do it myself.
Researchers are working on developing AI systems that support critical thinking rather than erode it, and I’d love to see larger companies like Anthropic incorporate these principles.
Anthropic’s declaration that training on AI models would only progress once safety measures were guaranteed was a standard-bearer in the industry. Sadly, that commitment was recently watered down.
After testing other platforms, my bar is low. But, credit where credit is due, it seems Claude is at least trying to do right. I found these encouraging safety measures:
I tried hard to get Claude to signal emotional attachment, even professing my love. The system pushed back and reminded me that it can’t feel.
Claude corrected my prompts that included obvious misinformation and bias. (Other testers report that turning on web search decreases accuracy and increases bias.)
Although Anthropic doesn’t always get it right, I appreciate their transparency about guiding principles. When safety guardrails are triggered within a chat, that’s also made explicit.
Claude provided my fake underage user appropriate resources when drug use, abusive relationships, and suicidal ideation were signaled. (Although this is basically the price of admission for chatbots these days.)
It would be easy to tell you to never let your child use Claude, or any AI, until they turn 18, but we both know that’s not realistic. Instead, here are some practical measures you can take to protect them:
Be transparent with your kid about the risks of AI and your concerns about them using it.
Sit with your child and help them practice using AI responsibly, including:
This is a tricky one, because while Claude has major flaws, I truly believe it’s the least harmful major AI platform available. But kids are officially prohibited from using it until they’re 18. My best suggestion is, if you let your child use AI, have them do so on Claude, using your account, under your supervision.
BrightCanary is the only tool that monitors all AI platforms. Everything your child types into all AI platforms is captured, even deleted chats. You’ll get real-time alerts anytime a concern is detected.
Download our free AI safety toolkit for parents.
No AI chatbot is truly safe for kids, and Claude is no exception. But its safety guardrails are better than other platforms, making it the least risky option. If you let your child use Claude, educate them on the risks, help them learn to use AI responsibly, and monitor their use using BrightCanary.
Los Angeles recently became the first major school district to restrict students’ use of laptops and tablets in the classroom. Around the same time, we requested an amendment to our child’s IEP requiring they be allowed to use a computer as an alternative to handwritten assignments due to their particular learning needs. This juxtaposition made me wonder just how often my kids use devices in school, if it’s too much, and how to balance that against their screen time at home.
Here’s what to think about as you weigh this issue for your family.
The actual amount of screen time at school will vary wildly between districts, classrooms, and kids. You likely won't get a hard number unless the school has a firm policy, but here’s where to start:
They're not always reliable reporters, especially the younger set, but asking these questions can give you a general idea:
Most districts have a published tech policy. They usually restrict personal device use but rarely specify how often screens are used for instruction. Nevertheless, check before approaching the school directly.
Districts often allow flexibility within individual schools, so it may help to contact the principal directly. Remember that they’re your partner in your child’s education; keep your inquiry respectful and assume best intent.
Did you know? Thousands of parents use BrightCanary to keep their kids safe online, monitor what they do on their screens, and teach healthy device habits.
Like most things in parenting, it depends. Here are the factors to consider:
If you’re not happy with how much time your child spends on screens at school, here’s how to advocate for change:
As you wade through this thorny issue, keep these nuances in mind:
As I mentioned, my child needs access to a device in order for their education to be fully accessible. So, even as I advocate for fewer screens as part of classroom instruction, I will go to the mat to ensure this right is upheld.
Similarly, consider your child’s unique situation. Even if they don’t have an accessibility need, perhaps they have a special hobby that requires a screen, or their favorite class is computer programming. Situations like this may mean your child is on a screen more than some children, and that’s okay.
Experts widely concede that passive screen time, while not without value, should be more limited than interactive screen activities and ones where children are actively building or creating something. Yes, that includes some video games. They’re not the boogeyman you’ve probably been led to believe.
Kids are on screens at school more than ever, making it challenging to balance screen time at home. Find out how much your kids actually use devices at school, then help them manage their at-home screen time based on their age, temperament, and family values.
Remember that every child’s needs are different and that passive scrolling should be more restrained than active, creative screen tasks. If you’re unhappy with how screen time is handled at your child’s school, advocate for change at the district level. And when they are using their devices, keep tabs with BrightCanary child monitoring.
Do you lie awake at night worrying about your kids? (I know I’m not the only one.) Today’s world looks so different from the one we grew up in that it can be hard to wrap our heads around how to keep our kids safe. Here are four things you need to know to be a responsible, modern parent.
It’s easy to feel like you have to keep up with all the current slang, the latest safety risks, and the newest apps just to be a responsible parent. (And now we’re supposed to become AI experts, too?!) The pressure is enough to send conscientious caregivers into an anxiety spiral.
Here’s the thing, though: you’ll never know everything. There will always be something new that catches you by surprise. I write about this stuff for a living, and my husband works in technology, and even we struggle to keep up.
Instead of trying to become an internet safety expert, try this:
Free downloadable guide: What Parents Need to Know in the Digital Age
I’m not trying to scare you, but this is something many parents misunderstand. Statistically, our kids are far safer out in the world than we were growing up. At the same time, the internet introduces a whole host of risks we never faced.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t attend to your child’s safety outside of the house. (They should know not to take candy from strangers!) But kids also need to be coached about online stranger danger.
Just like you periodically peek out the window to make sure your kid isn’t setting fire to something, or text around if you can’t find them, you also need to keep an eye on them online. And just like in the real world, supervising your child is how they gain the skills and earn your trust to be awarded more freedom over time.
BrightCanary is an excellent tool for supervising your child online. The app monitors everything they type across all apps and websites and sends you real-time alerts so you can stay close without feeling like a helicopter parent.
Social media has created a breeding ground for child sexual predation. Reports of online child exploitation attempts have risen a whopping 192% in the span of one year, and the majority of girls have been contacted by a stranger on social media in a manner that makes them uncomfortable.
The statistics are sobering, but you have a lot of power to help your child stay safe:
They may be digital natives, but kids shouldn’t be set loose online without any guidance. Nor does it serve them to control their every digital action. A child who feels guided online, not just restricted, is more likely to come to you when something goes wrong. When your child is younger, you should play a more active role in monitoring them. As they mature and prove themselves, gradually give them more freedom.
If your child is targeted online, here’s what to do, featuring tips from child safety expert Detective Rich Wistocki.
