We are beyond thankful for the voices of influence in our community talking about how pornography impacts teens and children. This special news investigation is the first in an important series by Nashville’s Fox17. Click here to read more.
The young woman’s story in the news piece is one we have heard many times from parents. Sadly, first exposure to porn is often MUCH younger than 12, which leads to even greater problems!
And yes, what Jesse mentions in the interview is true: there’s no way to filter social media, turn off the search, or turn off direct messaging. Your child or teen can see ANYTHING on social media! (This is why we firmly stand on the principle that following the legal age restriction on social media of 13 is the MINIMUM age. Most kids are not ready even at 13 for the treacherous landscape!) Because of the 13+ law, monitoring apps like Bark is not able to monitor kids’ accounts who are under 13 (because technically, they hold them illegally).
One important clarification to note: Bark does monitor social media, but it can not filter it. It can tell you if your child searches for “#topless” on Instagram but it can not block those search results. Nothing can, in fact, because social media is proprietary software that does not allow third party vendors to change or block their content. Try Bark for free and learn all of the ins and outs so you can see what it offers!
Also, CIRCLE will allow you to just turn off social media apps, pause their internet use altogether, limit the amount of time they use on apps… a LOT of stuff that is super helpful for families of kids with all ages! It’s a great investment for peace of mind.
WANT HELP WITH MORE TECH TIPS AND TRICKS?
We’re offering a FREE webinar on Nov. 7th to go through each layer of tech vulnerability (wifi, devices, apps, searching) and what you can do to make it safer for your family.