Are you searching for some answers?
Parenting can feel lonely sometimes. Especially when it feels like you’re the only one who is trying to set up safety rules and get a handle on what your child is exposed to.
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Working together
Take your child's online safety to the next level with our customized parent workshops.
Go here to book a speaker (in person and virtual options available).
Screens are not going away.
That means that smartphones, tablets, video games and social media are here to stay.
The question is: What can you do to prepare your child?
Taking away screens completely will do more harm than good.
Young people need to learn how to be safe online while they are still have your guidance.
If they haven’t practiced self-regulation skills or they aren’t aware of the dangers out there, they are likely to suffer greatly later.
It’s time to get started today.
It’s time to develop a plan on how to help your child tiptoe into tech thoughtfully and learn how to navigate their digital world over time.
Start with this parenting article that takes you through each age and stage of your child and what you can do to stay involved.
It’s time for intentional screen use
We believe our children and young people deserve to be safe online: Free from the pressure to be perfect; protected from harmful algorithms, predators and bullies.
The truth about what you’re experiencing
Being obsessed with tech doesn’t happen by accident: Tech companies actively design apps and games to be more addictive.
If you’re anything like the people we help, you are feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place: Technology surrounds us, but so much of it isn’t appropriate for children. In a world that cannot function without technology, guiding your children to be safe online without getting consumed by it can feel hard.
It’s hard because you probably didn’t grow up with it.
How are you supposed to teach a little person something you never had to learn?
It’s hard because you want to say “yes” to fun, to socializing and to online connections.
It’s not easy to say “no” or limit things that other kids have.
It’s hard because some kids have access to all kinds of inappropriate content and they’re eager to share.
Screens and internet access is everywhere! At school, at home, on the bus…
It’s hard because the internet is so very useful in our day-to-day lives, but also has a dark side when unsupervised.
Finding safe spaces online can be really hard, especially when nasty ads pop up and derail the good content.
It’s hard because even the appropriate apps and websites can have inappropriate ads that you’d never expect.
Trying to keep up with all the changes is nearly impossible.
It’s hard because the popular apps and safety settings available change all the time and there’s no way to keep up.
Being left out of online chats is painful.
It’s hard because you don’t want your child to be the only one without a social life and it all seems to revolve around technology.
The thought of trying to limit screen time feels impossible.
It’s hard because you want to do the right thing for their health—especially their mental health, but it’s so hard to enforce limits. When kids are on a screen, peeling them away from it seems as impossible as removing duct tape from tissue paper.
Taking screens away causes so much conflict that it’s easier to just let them have it.
And it’s hard because you want to do right by your family, but in truth, you also spend more time than you’d like to on your devices. Which really means that you need help, too.
Good news - we can help you and your family.
Online Safety 101 with Lisa Honold was a great workshop! I learned about practical tools to build a culture of safety for our family-the online contracts, the filtering devices available for purchase, and services that allow parents to monitor and support a healthy relationship with screen time and being online. It was great for me and other parents to hear that it's normal to be unsure about how to navigate parenting in a digital age."
— Cailyn Murray, Parent
When you give a kid a smartphone, you’re not just giving them a phone—you’re giving them access to anyone in the world—and you’re providing other people access to them, too.
Did you know?
Here’s a list of things that you need to know about what’s happening online
While gaming, adult predators attempt to lure and manipulate kids. Kids feel as if they are making real friends. This is especially true for boys.
Online threats and “sextortion” feel so real that children and teens are compelled to follow the instructions of predators, because they are scared to be exposed and humiliated if they don’t.
When anonymous apps, like those inside Snapchat, allow peers to cyberbully by sending dozens of hateful messages that publicly shaming the recipient, children and teens often feel incredibly hopeless. A few have even taken their own lives.
Children are being exposed to explicit sexual images. Many of kids are first shown these images by other children on the school bus, at sleepovers, and even in the school cafeteria as adults walk by and don’t notice.
While being kidnapped into the sex trade might seem less possible for “wholesome American kids”, it’s happening.
Dangerous online challenges are encouraging youth to be reckless. Some have been injured and a few have accidentally died.
Young people, especially girls—ones who get good grades and happily babysit for local families—are considering ending their lives because of the constant deluge of harmful content they’re sent by social media.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community have much higher rates of depression and mental health issues, which have been directly correlated with online harassment and discrimination.
There are so many things to fight about —don’t let tech be one of them.
