When I look back on my childhood, growing up in the 80s and 90s seems to have been the best time to be a kid. Running from door to door, riding bikes throughout the neighborhood, inviting every and any kid to participate in the neighborhood baseball or football game, exploring the woods, swimming in the creek, creating outdoor clubs, and staying out until the street lights were on are just some of the fine examples of what being a kid was like in that era. To be honest, staying inside was more of a punishment. Outdoors was where it was at and if you weren't outside, you were missing all the action.
Sure we had arcades and those were fun but nothing beat the fresh air of the outdoors. I remember when the first Nintendo game system came out. Actually, I was a toddler so I don't really remember. What I meant to say was, I remember the first time we got a Nintendo game system. I was around five or six and it really wasn't that exciting. Honestly, the only time we ever played on it was when we were stuck inside. What I mean by that is that we were either grounded from playing outside or it was storming outside. And yes grounded from playing outside was a thing.
AND IT WAS EFFECTIVE
Sure we had a television and a video gaming system but it just wasn't the same.
All of the true fun happened outdoors and if you weren't there, you were missing out.
It's been forty years since and we are now living in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Kids don't play outside as much anymore and are engulfed in technology. When I say technology, what I'm really referring to is social media. Social media consists of ways to not only entertain but interact with the world from behind a screen. This mostly consists of video gaming and social media platforms. This new technology can be beneficial in many ways but it can also be harmful when we don't set a limit for ourselves. It can be devastating, especially for our children. With that being said, we really need to understand the importance of the dangers that are imposed on our children as they are growing up in this new type of world.
There's a documentary that came out a couple of years ago called Childhood 2.0 and it really brings to light the dangers of social media and how it affects our youth. It touches on the subjects that young people are exposed to every day from their devices that you may not be aware of as a parent.
STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WATCH THIS NOW!!!
According to a survey reported by McMillan Health.org, 95% of teens and 85% of young adults use social media. Even though we know that social media can be beneficial it can also cause physical and mental harm.
We have to figure out a way to safeguard our children in this rapidly growing technological world while at the same time teaching them how to use it in a positive way.
So how can we achieve this?
Well, first we need to be open in communication with our children and explain the dangers of social media. We can also utilize tools such as Bark to help families have more control over what their children are accessing on the internet.
What is it?
Bark is a comprehensive tool that helps families control their children's access and exposure to certain websites, and protects their data, all while giving them their own privacy. This app is installed on your child's device and the settings are controlled by you, the parent. You can set preferences on what you would like the app to alert you on as far as bullying, drugs, alcohol, medically concerning content, profanity, self-harm or suicide, sexual content, violence, weapons, etc. These settings span across many social media platforms as well as text messaging and email addresses. Depending on the settings you put in place for your child, you will receive an alert for that setting.
For example, If you set your child's settings to allow profanity but not violence, you will get an alert on the violence that your child has been exposed to and the platform it came from. If there is an alert on a text message or email, you will receive an exact copy of that message. This will allow you to monitor your child as well as encourage an open line of communication with your child. I really think it's a great app for younger children. The only issue I find with the app for older children is that they can remove the app from their phone and reinstall it anytime they like.
However, Bark has recently released its own phone that has the app built in and cannot be removed. You can find more information on that here.
Bark Technologies was also featured on the Drew Barrymore show last year in Dec 2022.
If you're interested in trying out this award-winning safety tool and enjoy the content I've posted click here and sign up for a free trial.
Regardless of our backgrounds, we all want the best for our children and more importantly we want them to be SAFE.
Thanks so much for reading this post! I hope you were able to view the Documentary above and gain a better perspective on these issues.
