Are you worried about ensuring the safety of your tween or teen online?
Social media adds an extra layer of difficulty to parenting today.
However, nothing is more crucial than protecting your children during both their online and face-to-face interactions.
Bark offers a solution for parents to monitor their children’s online activities and device usage.
You can watch my interview with Titania Jordan here:
I’m not affiliated with Bark, but if I had a tween or teen, I would find this tool invaluable for keeping them safe.
Here are some insights from Bark’s annual report regarding parental control alerts:
Bullying:
- Bullying alerts cover everything from hurtful teasing to outright threats and provocations.
- 67% of tweens and 76% of teens have experienced this.
Mental Health:
- Alerts related to mental health include anything from feeling down to discussing or planning suicide.
- 26% of tweens and 38% of teens have faced these issues.
Online Predators:
- Warnings are issued for conversations with sexual content, especially when there is an age difference.
- 8% of tweens and 10% of teens have encountered this.
Substance Use:
- Alerts can vary from texts about prescriptions to videos showing substance use.
- 58% of tweens and 77% of teens have experienced this type of risk.
Suicidal Thoughts:
- Suicide ranks as the second leading cause of death among children aged 10 to 14.
- 33% of tweens and 57% of teens have reported these feelings.
Explicit Material:
- Alerts for explicit content include web searches for adult material and receiving nude photos.
- 58% of tweens and 75% of teens have encountered this.
Eating Disorders:
- Alerts mention risky dieting practices and issues like anorexia, bulimia, and body dysmorphic disorder.
- 9% of tweens and 21% of teens have experienced these concerns.
Anxiety:
- Alerts are triggered when children express feelings of anxiety or stress regularly.
- 19% of tweens and 36% of teens report struggling with anxiety.
Violence:
- Violence alerts come from graphic imagery in video games to direct threats aimed at a child.
- 68% of tweens and 82% of teens have experienced this type of violence.
Here are Titania’s tips for spring break.
I hope you discover trustworthy resources that help you keep your child safe online.
Titania Jordan serves as the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Parent Officer for Bark Technologies, a company dedicated to online safety and protecting kids in real life.
A recognized leader in the field of digital parenting, Titania has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Huffington Post, Fox Business, Daily Mail, USA Today, Vogue, and others. Her first book, Parenting in a Tech World, was released in 2020 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller. She is also featured in the documentary Childhood 2.0. Titania often appears as an expert on major national programs such as the TODAY Show, Steve Harvey, The Doctors, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Fox News, Sirius XM Radio, and CNBC.
In 2017, Titania launched a Facebook group for parents to share advice, stories, and updates about parenting in the digital world. The group now has over 300,000 members and continues to grow.