Parent Resources

Most parents recognize that the internet is not always a safe place for kids. Connected devices offer great opportunities for fun and for learning, but they also present serious dangers for kids of all ages, such as cyberbullying, sexting, and exposure to inappropriate content.

Last week, Facebook released Messenger Kids, a version of its popular Messenger app designed specifically for kids under 13. These younger kids are technically not allowed to create full Facebook profiles, so Facebook developed Messenger Kids as a standalone app with some important parental control and safety features.

Still, while Facebook seems to have put a lot of effort into safety, some parents may feel uncomfortable with allowing their children to use this app. To help you make the best decision for your family, read on to learn what Messenger Kids does well, as well as what concerns it might still raise for some parents.

A couple months back, we reviewed a social media app called After School. Because the app allows teens to post anonymously, we raised the caution flag. We acknowledged, however, that After School’s developer does seem to have implemented some important safeguards to minimize inappropriate or dangerous content. Yik Yak is a different story.

Sean Wright, Affinity's Founder and President, was recently featured as a guest writer in the Tennessean. Sean shared 5 tips for keeping kids and teens safe online, which you can check out by clicking below!

This post wraps up a four-part series aimed at giving parents the knowledge they need to protect children from dangerous content and interactions online. The first post discussed the dangers, such as pornography, cyberbullying, and sexting, and introduced the comprehensive internet safety plan. The second post walked you through taking a device inventory and defining your goals for internet safety. And our third post gave you a guide to five kinds of technical safeguards that can help you achieve your internet safety goals.

In our final post, we want to leave you with five tips that, in our experience, help make internet safety plans a lasting success for families.

Our last post detailed five steps to take toward creating a comprehensive internet safety plan for your family. Now, it’s time to discuss how technical safeguards fit into that plan.

In our last post, we outlined the dangers kids and teens face online as well as why the task of protecting them is challenging. We also promised to walk you through steps you can take to develop a holistic internet safety plan for your family.

Below are the first five steps in that process. As you’ll see, they involve important information gathering that will help you make good decisions regarding which safeguards will best help you accomplish your goals as a parent.

The internet is a mixed bag, as we all know. We enjoy the convenience and new experiences it offers us. But we also all have a vague sense that there’s a “bad” side of the internet—a side we don’t want children to experience. We’ve heard stories of horrible cases of cyberbullying, which at the very least can be crushing to self-esteem. We hear stories of “sexting” among younger and younger teens. And we know pornography is all too easy to find. But while we’re aware of the dangers, it can be tempting to think that none of this applies to your child.