Among all the responsibilities parents have, one of the most important ones is building a trusting, safe relationship with your kid. Unfortunately, there’s no real rulebook on how to do this — much of it depends on the unique relationship between you and your child. 

But here at Bark, we’re also parents who spend a lot of time considering the best ways to create stronger connections between kids and parents. We’ve put together a short list of healthy practices parents can use to foster more trust with their kids. We hope some of these tips are helpful for you and your family!

How to Build Trust With Your Child 

Collaborate on expectations 

Tons of research tells us that kids thrive with structure and clear expectations, so be intentional about clearly communicating expectations with your kids. But to take it a step further, consider including them in the creation of your expectations, too. Ask them what they think is reasonable and fair. Then, mix it with your adult wisdom to settle on your family’s expectations. Involving them in the process makes them feel heard and valued (which you’ll notice is a theme in all of these practices) that in turn shows them they can trust you.

Make sure they know you’re always in their corner 

One of the things you can make sure they know early on is that no matter what — you’re for them and with them in everything. Let them know that your role as a parent is to support them in all things, even if they made a mistake or a bad decision. The trick with this one is not to wait until something happens and tell them you’ll support them — make sure they know this so that when something does happen, they already know you’re that safe place to turn to. 

Be mindful of your reactions

Whenever your child finds themselves in a less-than-ideal situation, how you react is important. It’s natural to want to freak out — as their parent, you don’t want to see your kid make a mistake or end up in trouble. Of course, you love them and simply want better for them. But when kids see the freakout, they interpret it first as blaming, as opposed to coming from a place of love. So as best you can, keep your reactions as calm and level-headed as possible. This goes a long way in reinforcing that you’re a safe place, and that’s what really builds trust with your child. 

Validate their emotions 

Making sure your child feels seen and understood goes hand-in-hand with building trust with them. If kids feel like you understand and empathize with their emotions, they’ll feel more comfortable sharing those emotions with you. It’s worth noting that in situations where your child is, in fact, making poor choices, validating their emotions does not equal condoning their behavior. Validating their emotions just addresses the problem on a deeper level than the actions on the surface. 

Ask open-ended questions 

Here’s a practical tip for making your child feel seen and understood — practice asking good questions. Your child may be more than willing to share their life, but they just need you to create a space for them to do so. Asking the right questions can get them thinking and share something they might not otherwise have known how to bring up on their own. 

Also, good questions can subtly — but powerfully — communicate to the person that you’re paying attention and care about them on a deeper level. You might even check out our blog post on helpful conversation starters for elementary, middle, and high school kids. 

Look for opportunities to give them independence 

If you want your child to trust you, consider finding opportunities to trust them. Especially for teens, as most young adults crave independence. Allowing them to do things on their own communicates to them that you recognize their potential to take care of themselves. This makes them feel supported by you and shows them that you can be that same support system for other areas of their life. 

Spend quality time with them 

This one may seem obvious, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. When life is so busy with school, work, grocery shopping, sports, homework, multiple kid’s schedules, and more, it can be hard to find time to get that one-on-one time with your child. But quality time doesn’t have to look like a whole entire day dedicated to fun activities together. It may just look like a conversation in the car on the way to school or perhaps sitting at the kitchen table late at night eating ice cream together. 

Whatever it looks like for you and your child, the key is to be present in the moment so they know you’re ready to listen. Maybe this means intentionally putting your phone away or using that time to ask those open-ended questions.

Use Bark to help build trust 

One of Bark's core values has always been to help foster trust between parent and child. This is why Bark’s content monitoring feature stands out among the rest — when Bark scans your child’s online activity, it only looks for the problematic content that needs your attention. This gives kids some independence in their digital world and creates opportunities for parents to start important conversations whenever they do get an alert. 

Tons of parents love the peace of mind and the positive conversation starters that Bark has helped their family to have. Try Bark with a free, 7-day trial to see for yourself how Bark can positively impact your family. 

At Bark, we’re pretty vocal about the inadequate parental controls and safety features social media platforms offer for families. However, one thing most social media platforms do have is the ability to block and report other users when they’re experiencing social media harassment. 

Given they’re two of the tools kids have at their disposal against online harm, it’s crucial that kids know how and when to use them. But there are some key points that parents — and kids — need to know if their family ever faces a severe social media harassment situation. In this blog post, we’ll go over the good and bad of blocking and reporting tools, as well as steps on how to use them on popular social media platforms. 

Blocking and Reporting on Social Media: Your First Line of Defense   

A research report from Thorn surveyed how teens understand and interact with these online safety tools. They call blocking and reporting the “first line of defense” against social media bullying or harassment. If someone is harassing your child, the easiest way to nip it in the bud is to block them. Blocking should, in most cases, prevent the perpetrator from sending your child more messages. Next, reporting the user brings it to the platform’s attention, in hopes the perpetrator’s account will be taken down or receive some sort of reprimand. 

Though blocking and reporting do not prevent harassment in the first place, they do put some level of control back into the victim’s hands to stop the messages. According to Thorn, teens are more likely to block — but not as likely to report — as it feels more “punitive.” 

The Pitfalls of Blocking and Reporting  

While these features are important, they still leave much to be desired in terms of a comprehensive solution for online safety. Perpetrators can easily find other ways to contact your child, either through different accounts or on different platforms. This can quickly turn into a game of whack-a-mole, continuously blocking bad actors when they pop up. 

Another subtle downside of these features is that they may act as a deterrent for kids to seek help from trusted people in real life. Unfortunately, it’s common for kids to feel shame or fear punishment if they find themselves in a tricky situation online, so instead they try to handle it alone. They think if they just block the user, then that will solve it and they won’t need to tell anyone.

This is especially problematic if kids are the victim of an online predator and CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is involved. Kids may not only block the user, but they may delete messages with the predator, which can hurt legal efforts later down the line without that evidence. Kids need to know that their best option is to tell an adult who can effectively handle the situation.

Thorn also noted an interesting discrepancy between what teens think they’d do in these situations versus what they actually do. 40% of teens predicted they would turn to a trusted adult if they received a nude photo from an adult online — however, only 10% who experienced this actually did so. This speaks to the fact that these experiences can be so upsetting to kids that it makes it harder to make logical, safer decisions. 

How to Block and Report on Popular Social Media Sites 

As you can guess, the steps to block and report users are a little different on each platform. For your convenience, we’ve included below the steps for some of the most popular apps (and the most likely apps where kids experience bullying and/or severe sexual content, per Bark’s annual report). However, you can find steps for blocking and reporting on other social media platforms in our vast library of tech guides. 

How to block and report on Instagram 

1. Tap the offending user’s username or profile photo. This will take you to their profile.
2. Tap the “…” in the top right corner.
3. Tap Block or Report.

How to block and report on Snapchat 

1. From any screen, tap on the chat bubble on the bottom navigation bar.
2. Tap the magnifying glass icon to pull up a search window.
3. Type in the offending user's name. Tap it when you see it.
4. In the top left corner, click the profile picture.
5. Next, tap the three dots in the top right corner.
6. Tap Manage Friendship, then tap Block or Report.

How to block and report on Kik

1. Tap the + button in the bottom right corner.
2. Tap Find People.
3. Search for the user you want to block or report, tap their name when it comes up.
4. Tap the three dots in the top right corner. 
5. Tap Block or Report.

Let Bark Help Keep Your Child Safer on Social Media

Keeping tabs on your child’s social media activity can feel like a full-time job for already busy parents. That’s why so many families have found Bark’s monitoring tools to be a game-changer when it comes to online safety.

On 30+ social media platforms and apps, Bark scans your child’s activities, looking for concerning content such as bullying, sexual content, predation, and much more. If something is detected, an alert will be sent straight to your phone. No more stressing about finding time to search your child’s phone — Bark does the searching for you. 

Along with monitoring, Bark can also help you block harmful social media apps, set screen time rules, track location, and more. Start your free, 7-day trial today. 

If you find yourself Googling how to monitor your kid’s text messages, you’re definitely not alone! Tons of parents have come to the same realization — kids need a level of supervision on their phones to help keep them safe from online dangers. But considering we’re the first generation of parents that have to answer this question, it can feel overwhelming to find the right solution for your family. 

Don’t worry, that’s why we put together this guide on how to monitor your kid’s text messages. You’ll find all the possible ways to monitor your child’s messages, what you can expect from each one, and even steps on how to get started with monitoring using a third-party app. 

How to Monitor Kids’ Text Messages  

There are a few different ways to monitor kids’ text messages. Among the most frequently used options are:

• Phone mirroring 
• Screen recording software 
• Manual spot checking 
• Third-party parental control apps

We’re going to do a quick overview of each option. We’ll focus on two major factors: how time-consuming it is for the parent and how much privacy it provides to the child. Each family is different, but for many, giving their child a bit of privacy even in their online world goes a long way in their development and trust with their parents.

Phone mirroring 

Phone mirroring is a popular option, particularly among Apple families, but it requires a bit of tech savviness on the part of the parent. If you happen to have a spare iOS device, you can sign into your child’s Apple ID on the spare. Theoretically, all of your child’s messages and other activities will occur on the spare as they happen on their phone. 

The main problem here is that it scores high on being time-consuming. Parents are left with the task of combing through hundreds of messages, a task that most parents don’t have the time or inclination to do. It also doesn’t leave a lot of room for kids to have a healthy level of privacy, because the parent has access to literally everything. 

Screen recording software 

Some may feel screen recording software is similar to regular parental control apps, but actually, these are much different and far more risky. Here’s how it usually works: Software on your child’s phone will take screenshots of your child’s phone at regular intervals. So whatever is on their screen at that moment gets captured and sent to your phone.

This isn’t ideal for multiple reasons. It’s another time-consuming route for monitoring and it doesn’t provide a sufficient level of privacy for the child. Additionally, it’s not the most efficient way to catch inappropriate content — things can easily be missed and a screenshot may not give the context you need to accurately address the situation.

Lastly, many of these screen recording software companies are essentially spyware and are not companies you want to trust with your or your children’s data. They may even require you to jailbreak the device, which is highly risky. 

Manual spot checking

This one is as least tech-savvy as it gets — simply take your child’s phone and look through the messages yourself. For many families, this may be sufficient. However, you run into similar problems as the previous options. It’s time-consuming and opens the door to reading more than perhaps is necessary for your child’s online world. 

Third-party parental control apps 

This is generally the most popular option for parents. Using a third-party parental control app usually gives parents the ability to monitor content, as well as set screen time limits, block apps and sites, and more. Depending on the app, this is the least time-consuming route to monitoring. But it’s important to know exactly how and what an app scans when it comes to monitoring messages. 

Take Bark, for example. We use powerful AI technology to monitor your child’s online activity. This means we don’t just look for specific keywords like many other monitoring apps do. We feel this isn’t a comprehensive way to catch potentially harmful content. With our AI (which has been scanning content for nine years now and the more it reads, the more accurate it has become at detecting content), Bark can not only pick up on obvious instances of inappropriate behavior but also more subtle instances. This allows for potentially harmful situations to be addressed sooner rather than later. 

How to Monitor Kids; Text Messages With a Third-Party App 

So let’s say you decide to use a third-party app to monitor your kid’s text messages. Where do you start? Here is a general guide: 

1. Research parental control apps or software that’s compatible with you and your child’s devices (Apple and Android have different policies for third-party apps). 
2. Install the preferred app or software, which usually involves downloading an app to your child’s phone as well as your own. 
3. Grant necessary permissions and turn on/off specific settings to allow for monitoring (depending on the chosen app). 
4. Regularly check to be sure devices are connected properly. 
5. Pair monitoring with real-life conversations with your child about the importance of parental controls to help keep them safe and discuss the potential dangers they could face while online. 

How to Monitor My Child’s Text Messages on an iPhone or Android

As mentioned above, Apple and Android have different approaches when it comes to monitoring with third-party services. Apple is far more strict and doesn’t give much access to most third parties. Because of this, Apple families might find themselves jumping through a few more hoops to get the monitoring they need for their children. This often includes needing access to a home computer, for example. 

Androids, on the other hand, are more third-party app friendly and don’t require the same process as Apple. They also don’t require a home computer and allow access to monitoring certain apps that are limited on iOS devices. 

When it comes to monitoring your child’s text messages on an iPhone, Bark has a helpful solution to avoid needing a home computer — the Bark Home! You can use this to seamlessly connect your child’s iOS devices over Wi-Fi and receive alerts for concerning content. 

Want to Try Bark For Yourself?

If you’re curious whether Bark is the right monitoring solution for your family, consider signing up for our free, 7-day trial. Try out all of Bark’s parental controls, including content monitoring, screen time schedules, web blocking, location tracking, and more, and see how Bark can be a powerful tool for your family’s online safety. You can also give your child a Bark Phone, which is a Samsung Galaxy A series that has all of Bark’s features — including text message monitoring — built into the phone. 

It’s no secret that parents could use a little help when it comes to keeping up with their children’s digital safety. You likely already know about Bark’s extensive resources to learn about all things tech, social media, and parental controls. But we also have to tip our hats to some powerful content creators in the family tech space who do an outstanding job educating parents on these very same topics. 

If you’re looking for reliable and easy-to-consume content in the form of an Instagram Reel or post, we put together a list of our top ten picks of content creators all parents should follow. Whether you’re looking for the latest internet trends, tips for setting up parental controls, or just need general encouragement while navigating digital parenting, these folks and organizations are a great place to start! 

1. Tanner Clark — @realtannerclark 

If you’re looking for someone who knows how to be the voice for both teens and parents, look no further than Tanner Clark. He’s been around the world giving motivational talks to thousands of high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. His content is not lofty or full of vague “You got this” statements — it’s real, practical, applicable advice. He speaks to the heart of the issue when it comes to teen’s self-esteem, especially where social media and tech are concerned. 

2. Tessa Stuckey — @themomtherapist 

For parents needing some hard-earned wisdom from a professional, Tessa Stuckey is a fantastic content creator. She’s a licensed therapist who’s worked with countless teens and parents. Her content exists right at the crossroads where family mental health and online safety meet. Her posts are encouraging and acknowledge how hard it is to be a parent today, while also making sure parents know how to make healthy decisions for their family’s digital well-being. 

3. Sarah Adams — @momuncharted 

When you watch Sarah Adams’s videos, you feel like you’re listening to a good mom friend share their passionate feelings about the dangers of the tech world for kids. It’s easy to tell she is well-researched, passionate, and unapologetic in talking about the state of child exploitation today. Her content focuses on the concerning norm of oversharing children’s lives online (aka, “sharenting”). If the tagline “kids are not content” resonates with you at all — she’s a must-follow. 

4. Toni Collier — @tonijcollier 

Toni Collier’s content and podcast all center around the message that you don’t have to be perfect to be a parent, but it’s important to use the best tools at your disposal to support your kids. Collier is very transparent about the hardships she faced due to exposure to inappropriate content that is rampant online today. So for her own kids and for the families who follow her, she shares all she knows when it comes to keeping kids safe online. Collier’s content is also Christian faith-based, so if that’s something important to your family, she’s definitely a content creator to check out! 

5. Chris McKenna/Protect Young Eyes — @protectyoungeyes

Chris McKenna is the founder of Protect Young Eyes, an organization dedicated to creating safer internet spaces for kids. McKenna has been relentless in his goal to educate parents about the harms of internet dangers and give them the tools they need to protect their kids. And there’s no doubt the PYE team’s work has made massive positive waves in this space. 

Parents can expect to find all the latest tech updates that are relevant to their kid’s safety. Everything from the most popular apps that kids are using, to new government policies related to online child safety and more. 

6. Scrolling2Death/Nicki Reisberg — @scrolling2death 

When it comes to kid’s safety on social media, Nicki Reisberg doesn’t play any games. With her podcast Scrolling 2 Death, she uses her platform to share as far and wide as possible all the ugly truths about social media. 

Her podcast episodes hit on many of the big topics surrounding the state of kids and technology today. In fact, she does a weekly “Big Tech Gut Check” episode that highlights the current happenings regarding social media and Big Tech. So if TikTok is being sued or a new bill is up that may help (or hurt) online child safety efforts, these short and sweet episodes are where you can find out about it.  

7. Parent Protech — @parentprotech 

When they’re not giving presentations at Apple advocating for kids’ digital safety, the team at Parent ProTech is constantly putting out content to help parents navigate their kid’s digital world. They offer courses, resources, speaking engagements, and more to empower parents to foster a healthy relationship between their kids and tech. All the while, bravely calling out Big Tech for better policies when our children use their platforms. 

8. Fight the New Drug — @fightthenewdrug 

The impact of porn on children’s brains is startling, but sadly the rate at which kids are exposed to it nowadays is even scarier. Fortunately, organizations like Fight the New Drug are putting in the hard work to fight against this current damaging trend. One thing you can expect from their content is that they stick to facts — no religious or political agenda, just what the science and research say. Their target audience is for all ages, not just kids, but they do have some powerful posts that speak to how porn is particularly harmful to developing brains. 

9. Dr. Larry Mitnaul — @doctormitnaul

Next up for licensed experts, we have Dr. Larry Mitnaul, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Based on years of real patient experience and his own experience of fathering seven kids, Dr. Mitnaul shares what he’s learned about how to manage the digital world within the family. But he’s not just posting on Instagram — he’s made guest appearances on popular talk shows and started his own online academy to equip parents as they raise happy and healthy kids.

10. Wait Until 8th  — @waituntil8th 

The mission of Wait Until 8th is simple yet powerful — to empower parents to wait to give their children cell phones until eighth grade. Their content provides parents with the research they need to stand their ground in delaying this important milestone. Their website will even help you start a pledge in your very own community to get other parents on board. Delaying social media or a phone until eighth grade may not be possible for all families, but if that’s something you’re committed to following for your own family, this is absolutely a resource to check out! 

How Bark Can Help

After following all of these content creators, you’ll notice how many of them strongly advise parents to use some kind of parental control tool to actually enforce healthy tech boundaries in their homes. That’s where Bark comes in! With Bark, you can monitor for concerning messages, 

create screen time schedules, block inappropriate content, track location, and so much more! Try Bark for free with a 7-day trial to see how it can give you unmatched peace of mind while your child explores their online world. 

Most parents know that having a consistent daily schedule is a goal worth having — how else are we supposed to get all the things done if it’s not built into a routine? But parents are also familiar with the fact that raising kids comes with tons of ups and downs, and a consistent daily schedule doesn’t always feel like an attainable goal, even if we know it’s important. 

But we’re here to tell you that first, it’s definitely possible! Sometimes, it just takes a little trial and error to find the routine that works best for your family. And secondly, having a daily schedule for kids comes with deeper, more substantial advantages than you may realize. Here’s what you need to know.

Benefits of a Daily Schedule For Kids 

Structure makes kids feel safe and in control 

Almost all experts agree: the main reason kids need a consistent daily schedule is because it provides a sense of security and safety. When a child knows what to expect each day, it allows them to feel in control of their environment. 

This is especially important when life throws your kid a curveball — such as moving to a new state or a loss in the family. Kids will have a much easier time processing these difficult experiences when they still know what to expect from the other parts of their lives. 

Routines create opportunities for autonomy  

Once kids feel comfortable in their environment, then they’re given the ability to embrace their environment. Parents can integrate opportunities in their schedules where kids can do things on their own. Perhaps this looks like feeding the dog every day or making their own breakfast. With an increasingly healthy level of autonomy, kids’ self-confidence can grow and flourish! 

Consistent schedules help enforce family values  

Daily schedules help communicate to kids specific family values without actually having to express it with words. If you have it in your daily schedule to always have family dinner with no cell phones at the table, this communicates to your child that quality family time and being present in the moment is something to strive for. 

Structure teaches the importance of boundaries

If you left it up to kids, they’d probably have no structure at all — they’d stay up all hours of the night, eat cookies for breakfast, and glue their eyes to their screens. But as parents, we know it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. So a daily schedule helps enforce healthy boundaries in their life and teaches them how to regulate the fun activities (like video games and dessert) with the necessary activities (like chores and brushing your teeth).  

Daily routines also benefit everyone

Here’s the best part — daily schedules aren’t just great for kids, they actually do wonders for adults as well! Tons of research shows that having a daily routine helps people reduce stress, get better sleep, be more productive, and boost mental health — just to name a few. When parents take care of themselves, it allows them to show up better for their kids. So consider what small habits you can include in your daily routine to make sure you’re showing up at your best mentally, emotionally, and physically. 

How to Create a Daily Schedule for Kids

So now that you know the importance of a daily schedule for kids, you’re probably wondering how to get started with one. Our advice is to take it in small steps — these habits don’t happen overnight. Perhaps you start with one part of your child’s day like a morning routine. Then, once you get that solidified, you can start on a night routine. Or, you focus on something more specific like a tech routine — such as when your child is allowed to have access to certain devices throughout the day. 

How Bark Can Help With Daily Routines for Kids

When it comes to a tech routine, many parents have found Bark to be instrumental in creating that structure for their kids. With Bark, you can create multiple daily screen time schedules, including ones for school time, bedtime, and free time. This way, you can decide what apps or games they have access to and when. Once the schedule ends, it’ll automatically block according to your rules. Start your free, 7-day trial to see how Bark’s screen time features, as well as our host of other parental controls, can help your family. 

Additionally, the Bark Phone allows parents to set daily time limits, so that apps block after they’ve been used for a preset amount of time. And with remote alarms and remote timers, you can use the Bark Phone to ensure your child stays on task with whatever your family’s daily schedule looks like. Order your Bark Phone today! 

Nowadays, it’s a common hobby among Gen Z (and now Gen Alpha) to dabble in video editing. With most of them carrying a high-tech digital camcorder in their pocket, it’s only natural that they’d want to give their cherished video memories some post-production magic. 

Unfortunately for parents, it’s hard to find a video editing app that is both affordable and free from social media features that make it dangerous. Take CapCut for example, which has become a very popular video editing app, specifically for those that will be posted to TikTok. 

In fact, even the video templates on CapCut feel a little too much like TikTok — not to mention it links directly to your TikTok account if you have one. In this way, it functions almost like a backdoor to social media for kids. 

So, what app can parents allow their kids to use without worrying about them being exposed to inappropriate content or strangers? We’ve compiled a list of the best video editing apps for kids. None of these apps have any public feeds or content to scroll through mindlessly — and no ways to connect with other users. And the cherry on top? They’re all free! 

InShot 

iOS 

Android

InShot has just about all the bells and whistles you need in a video editing app. Its interface is smooth and easy to use, and it’s got tons of features for your kids to really elevate their home videos. You can do all the video editing essentials such as trimming and splitting video clips, adding music to the background, adjusting video speed, and much more. 

VideoShop 

iOS 

Android

If your kid is just getting into video editing, VideoShop has many foundational features they’ll need to learn the ropes of editing. They can trim, merge, and split videos, as well as dabble in their audio and graphic tools. It’s not the most robust option, but if your kid has a simple video concept or perhaps needs to edit a video for a school project, VideoShop can surely get the job done. 

Adobe Premiere Rush

iOS 

Android

Adobe is another option for kids looking to do a little more than just splice two clips together. It has advanced features that’ll really take videos to a cinematic level. But despite having some more granular tools, its interface is still intuitive and beginner-friendly. Also, videos on Premiere Rush can be shared across other Adobe apps such as Premiere Pro and After Effects for even more editing capabilities. 

Filmmaker Pro

iOS

Filmmaker is another one that offers just what you need for a simple video project, making it one of the best video editing apps for kids. You can easily put clips together, trim them, add text, and more. It’s worth noting that the free version of this app is fairly limited, and you can only edit and save videos that are 90 seconds or less. However, you can sign up for a subscription to use Filmmaker Pro for longer videos with more editing features. 

iMovie on Apple

iOS

For iOS users, iMovie is a great and reliable option for editing simple videos. One cool thing about iMovie is that it comes with three modes to create your movie. There’s Movie, which gives you full freedom to edit however you’d like. With Storyboard, you get some guidance throughout the editing process. And lastly, there’s Magic Movie, which uses AI to create an edited video for you, complete with transitions and background music. 

How Bark Can Help

Keeping up with all the apps your kids want to use can feel like a full-time job for parents, whether it’s video editing, social media, gaming, and countless others. That’s why Bark’s screen time controls were created to help you manage all the apps your kids may want to use right from your phone! 

With Bark, you have the ability to block all apps in a certain category (like all social media apps, for example) or block individual apps that you deem inappropriate. Try Bark’s 7-day free trial to see how it can give you peace of mind about your child’s online world.

You may also want to try the Bark Phone, which offers even more granular parental controls when it comes to screen time. The Bark Phone allows you to turn on app approval, set daily time limits, and much more. Order your Bark Phone today!

Do you remember your sleepovers as a kid? Perhaps you remember movie watching, telling ghost stories, or eating an entire tub of chocolate chip cookie dough with your friends. You may also remember some moments of teenage shenanigans that you’re not particularly proud of. Whatever your sleepover experiences were as a kid, you’re probably wondering how to approach sleepovers with your kids today. 

This is an important question because the truth is that sleepovers for Gen Z and Gen Alpha look very different from what we grew up with. What once used to be a rite of passage in adolescence now feels like a far riskier decision for parents, mainly because of all of the technology kids have access to. 

In this blog post, we’re going to discuss the state of sleepovers today, the risks and benefits, and some good practices if you do decide to allow your child to spend the night at a friend’s house.

How Sleepovers Are Different in the Digital Age  

In general, sleepovers just aren’t as common as they once were. It’s more common than you might think for parents to put sleepovers in the category of “no way.” And it’s not just the parents who aren’t comfortable with sleepovers — some kids aren’t keen on it either. The New York Times recently surveyed a group of students about their thoughts on sleepovers. Some of them noted that they don't actually feel like they’re missing much by not attending them.

There’s even a new alternative to sleepovers: the “sleepunder.” Also dubbed “lateovers,” these are when your child stays over at a friend’s house and participates in all the activities — but then goes home right before bedtime. Many parents feel this is as close as you can get to the best of both worlds, as your child still gets to experience the fun of later-evening hangouts, but without the risks of all-night sleepovers.

The Risks of Sleepovers

Technology 

There’s no question that technology is one of the biggest factors in how sleepovers have changed. The tech we had growing up consisted of mainly the TV and possibly the desktop computer in the computer room. Now, most kids have their very own tiny computer in their pocket, along with Nintendo Switches, iPads, and more. 

Sadly, there are many stories of kids being exposed to harmful content like porn while sleeping over. Their friends can also expose them to platforms such as Roblox or Snapchat to chat with total strangers. Sometimes this is a result of peer pressure, but sometimes kids just have more confidence to push boundaries while staying up late with friends and hopped on sugary soda. Together, they may start searching for things or messaging people that they probably wouldn’t have considered on their own. In this way, “truth or dare” has survived through the generations.

Other safety concerns 

Other concerns that are more discussed nowadays include the possibility of sexual assault and gun safety. Every parent will account for these risks differently, but it’s recommended that parents thoughtfully consider them before allowing their children to attend sleepovers. 

The Benefits of Sleepovers 

Even with the risks of sleepovers, there are tons of benefits to sleepovers as well! The main benefit is that it’s a unique experience for kids to socialize with each other and create a closer bond with their friends. For many people of all ages, some of their favorite childhood memories will have taken place at a sleepover. 

Sleepovers are also great for fostering independence and flexibility, and allowing them to observe a different way of living. It’s good for kids to be taken out of the familiar environments of their own homes and schools and see how other families live. 

Some Good Sleepover Practices 

Have clear rules around technology 

We suggest having some sort of boundaries or guardrails when it comes to tech at sleepovers, but there’s no way to approach it. Whatever your rules about tech at sleepovers, we suggest making them clear and known to your child. They may not like them, but it’ll go a long way in creating a healthy sleepover environment that gives you peace of mind. 

Some examples of tech rules at sleepovers could be:

• Having all electronics put away at a certain time 
• Smartphones have to be put away, but TV for movies or video games is allowed. 
• If they are using technology, it has to be in a public space where a parent can supervise 

Get a feel for the other parents 

As much as you can, it’s a good idea to have at least some interaction or awareness of the other parents. We’re not saying you need to vet them with a background check, but just a couple of conversations to get a sense of them. Never underestimate the value of a parent’s intuition! This also allows you to share if you have any concerns or rules you’d like your child to follow while at their house (for example, no R-rated movies). 

Make sure your child knows the dangers to look out for 

If you decide to let your child attend sleepovers, be sure to properly prepare them by talking about the potential risks. This isn’t to scare them,of course — it’s to help protect them. Sometimes as parents we want to avoid difficult or awkward conversations about things like porn or predators — which is totally understandable. We think that by talking about it we somehow encourage it, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Giving your child a solid understanding of these things will make them more aware. Your conversations may be what helps them see when a situation at a friend’s house is not okay and they need to get help from you or a trusted adult. 

How Bark Can Help 

If you’re sending your child to their first sleepover and you have some worries, consider sending them with the Bark Phone. The Bark Phone is a smartphone that has all of Bark’s parental controls built into it, making it both kid- and parent-friendly. You can choose to lock the phone down to only calling and texting so it’s not a distraction from the sleepover activities, but it’s there in case of an emergency. These customizable controls, along with a whole host of other features, is why so many parents feel the Bark Phone is perfect for kids. 

For sleepovers that you’re hosting, the Bark Home is essential! The Bark Home allows you to manage all devices connected to your home Wi-Fi. So if your child’s friend brings their own smartphone or tablet, you can decide when they’re allowed to have access to the internet throughout the night. Learn more about Bark’s suite of products and order today!

You may already know about Bark’s powerful content monitoring or web filtering features, but did you know we also have robust location-sharing features to help you keep track of your child? Many parents feel a family tracking app is an important tool as they begin letting their children explore the world, so we make it a point to have a location-sharing app that meets every family’s need — and more!

The Top Features of Our Location-Sharing App 

Bark's family tracking app offers parents a full-service, GPS-powered location-sharing experience, and it goes far beyond just being able to see where your kid is at any moment. Our live location tracking includes tons of features that make tracking your child smooth and stress-free. 

Granular activity tracking (walking, biking, driving)

With the best location tracking app, parents can see what their kids are doing wherever they’re roaming — if they’re walking, running, biking, driving, or even just sitting still. On the map in your parent dashboard, you’ll see your child’s avatar accompanied by visually pleasing icons for their current activity. 

More frequent location updates 

We make sure our location-sharing app updates your child’s location as often as possible so you can know where your child is without having to worry or wait for the app to load. 

Insightful driving summaries 

Being the best location tracking app means providing more than just location updates, Bark offers insightful driving summaries that include the distance traveled and the maximum speed reached during each trip. Parents really value these insights into their child’s driving habits or those of whoever is driving them.

Lock while driving feature

This feature is particularly great for teen drivers with the Bark Phone. When enabled, this "lock while driving" feature will automatically pause the Bark Phone when it detects it’s in a moving vehicle. The phone will remain locked until it’s no longer detected as moving at the speed of a car. This way, parents can be confident that their teens are free from distractions while out on the road.

In-the-moment location check-ins 

Bark’s location check-ins work like this: Let’s say your child Bella was going to a basketball tournament that’s a couple hours away from home and riding there with their team. When Bella gets there, she can simply pull out her phone, tap the “Check-In” button on the Bark location tracking app, and you’ll immediately get notified that she made it there safely.

It also works the other way — you can request a check-in and Bella will get prompted to tap the button and her current location will be sent to you. 

Automatic location alerts 

Another feature that makes us one of the best tracking apps for families, is our automated location alerts. Location alerts are great for tracking regularly visited places. You can receive alerts whenever your child arrives or leaves a specific location — such as school, a friend’s house, the nearby park, or any other place that your child goes to frequently.

The best part about our location tracking app is that the alerts are automatic — no more constantly checking your phone to see their location or texting them to know whether or not they made it. You’ll simply receive the notification and have instant peace of mind that your child is where they’re meant to be. 

If you have multiple kids, you can customize which locations prompt an alert per kid. Perhaps you have one kid who works at Chick-fil-A and you want to know when they arrive and leave work. But you don’t necessarily need to know when your other kids go there just to enjoy some chicken nuggets. With our location-sharing app, you get to customize any location-child combination alert your family needs!

Bark Is Your All-In-One App for Parental Controls

Whether you need a reliable location-sharing app, content monitoring for texting and social media, or efficient screen time management, Bark can do it all! You may also consider our kid-friendly, parent-driven smartphone, the Bark Phone. It has all the features of our app, plus some extra ones such as app approval, contact approval, daily time limits for apps, and much more. Order yours today!

Whether you realize it or not, AI — artificial intelligence — influences almost every part of our lives now. However you interact with AI platforms in your daily life, you may not be aware of the different ways your child encounters it in their online world. 

To help you stay ahead of the AI game, we put together the top five AI platforms kids are using. We’ll discuss what they are and the dangers presented with each. 

Top 5 AI Platforms Parents Should Know About

ChatGPT 

Now the go-to AI platform for most, ChatGPT has a vast database of information allowing it to address tons of topics. Once it was released in 2022, kids quickly realized it could be the one-stop shop for all their homework needs. In response, many schools opted to ban ChatGPT from their devices to prevent cheating. 

Outside of the classroom, kids may still use ChatGPT just for the fun of messing with an AI bot. ChatGPT does have NSFW filters, but people have proven they can work around or “trick” the bot into having inappropriate conversations anyway. 

Character.AI 

Character.AI is a super popular platform among Gen Z. This conversational AI platform allows you to have a text conversation with just about any fictional character or celebrity you can think of — anyone from Taylor Swift to Napoleon Bonaparte. You can also create your own characters and make them public for others to chat with. 

Some content on Character.AI is concerning, as people have made characters such as “Toxic Boyfriend” to chat with. The app does have NSFW filters but again, these are not fool-proof and kids could still encounter inappropriate content here. 

Aside from inappropriate content, there is a risk of kids relying on these bot conversations to receive emotional support instead of going to family or friends. While chatting with AI can be fun, it’s important that kids understand it can’t ever replace real-life relationships.  

MyAI - Snapchat 

Snapchat, in a never-ending effort to keep kids tapping away on their app, released MyAI — essentially Snapchat’s version of ChatGPT accessible right inside the app. This chatbot is considerably more risky, and Snapchat itself says as much. They warn users that the bot could give responses that are “biased, incorrect, harmful, or misleading.” While kids could use it to ask harmless questions, there are simply not enough guardrails to prevent kids from being exposed to inappropriate content. 

Pro tip: Bark can monitor MyAI chats on Androids and the Bark Phone! If your child uses this feature and ends up in a concerning conversation, you’ll be sent an alert right away. 

Replika 

Replika describes their chatbot as “the AI companion who cares.” Essentially, you can create your very own AI companion and make it fit any archetype you want — friend, romantic partner, sibling, mentor, and more. You can give your companion a backstory, detail their preferences and history, and even decide if it acts more like an AI or a human. 

This one is not only offered on mobile devices but also as an app for VR headsets. So kids can now talk to their AI companion standing right in front of them. They can even interact with the avatar, such as making the avatar move around the room and tossing a tennis ball back and forth.

This might seem a little too far into the AI world for some, and you may be thinking about movies like Her. But it’s worth noting that AI companions are not super widespread yet and it’s not clear that tons of kids are flocking to apps like Replika at the moment. 

Schoolhack 

Aptly named, Schoolhack is a chatbot that helps students with their homework. You can ask this bot any school-related questions, upload pictures of your assignments, and get answers quickly. The platform tries to emphasize using it as a tool to learn and to be fair, the bot often explains answers, as opposed to just spitting them out. But it’s hard to say how many kids are actually reading through the explanations and not just skipping straight to the answer. 

Another concern with Schoolhack is that they have the option to create groups with other users and send direct messages to each other, making the app much more concerning for kids to use. They also directly link to a SchoolHack Discord server and encourage students to join it, giving kids another platform to interact with strangers.

How Bark Can Help

If you want to make sure these apps are blocked on your child’s devices, you may want to use Bark’s powerful web-filtering features to control what your child can access. Bark allows you to fully block any of these platforms — both as an app and a website. 

Or, you can limit what time of day your child has access to these. For instance, you may want to make sure ChatGPT and Schoolhack are blocked during school and homework hours so they won’t be tempted to rely on them for quick answers. Start your free, 7-day trial today and see how Bark can give you peace of mind about your child’s online world.

Here at Bark, we see tons of popular apps, so we know all the red flags to look for if it’s too dangerous for kids. Telegram is one of those immediate red-flag apps, which is why parents need to know about it. Today we’ll go over what Telegram is, what exactly makes it unsafe, and what you can do to protect your child. 

What is Telegram? 

So, just what is Telegram? It’s a messaging app that has more than 900 million users, making it one of the most popular apps worldwide. Its function is simple — you can message, call and video chat with other Telegram users, create group chats, and join channels based on an interest or subject. It probably doesn’t sound much different than any other messaging platform, such as WhatsApp or GroupMe, and you’re right that they’re very similar. But Telegram’s free, simple, and private platform has been garnering loyal users since 2013. 

Two of Telegram’s main selling points are its cloud features — you can seamlessly use one Telegram account across multiple devices — and its privacy policies, which are strict.

Just how strict? Telegram offers end-to-end encryption, which means that messages can’t be accessed by anyone except the participating users. Even Telegram as a company can’t view them. 

This level of privacy can be a good thing for adults,  but it can also lead to tricky situations for kids. If messages of harassment or grooming are sent and then deleted, Telegram would not be able to retrieve the messages (even with law enforcement involved) to use as evidence in the victim’s favor. This and their other privacy features expose kids to potential internet dangers on the app. 

Is Telegram Safe?

It’s not. Telegram has many features that make it one of the riskiest apps we’ve seen. Here’s what you need to know. 

Location

This is one of the main reasons that makes Telegram dangerous: You can find users who are physically near your location and message them. Conversely, strangers can also message you. In the hands of a predator, any child on Telegram becomes vulnerable to being found on the app and in real life. 

Self-destruct messages 

Any app with disappearing messages immediately makes our red-flag list. Telegram has what they call “self-destruct” messages, where you can set a timer for messages to automatically disappear.

They also have something called Secret Chats, which has the same self-destruct feature, and these are the ones that are end-to-end encrypted. So any messages sent or received in a Secret Chat are only accessible to the users involved.

Public groups  

Telegram also has public groups or channels where users can join and share any content they want. You can search for groups based on location or subject, though some groups do have admins who can moderate messages in the group. While reviewing this app, our team found that Telegram immediately suggested local groups to join. Some of these were explicitly soliciting drugs or sharing pornographic links and images. 

Lack of privacy settings

While Telegram may protect the privacy of the messages you send, it leaves much to be desired in protecting your profile and personal information. By default, all profiles are visible to everyone. Any person can message, call, or video chat with you at any time. Want to keep it so that only contacts can reach you or nobody can reach you? Telegram actually makes you pay for this. You have to sign up for Telegram Premium to customize your privacy settings. 

What Parents Can Do 

It might go without saying, but this is definitely not an app we recommend parents allow their kids to use. If this is an app your child is asking for, we suggest having conversations with them about the dangers of the app and explaining why it’s in their best interest to keep them from it. 

While these conversations are absolutely crucial, it’s also important to have certain safeguards in place in case your child is tempted to try the app out for themselves. Bark can help parents by using our powerful web filtering tools to block any app or site that you deem inappropriate for your child.

If you need a safe way for your child to message family and friends, Bark’s content monitoring is another powerful tool to have for your child’s internet safety. Our monitoring allows us to scan your child’s device and send you alerts if they send or receive any concerning messages. Bark can monitor texts as well as many popular messaging apps like GroupMe, Kik, WhatsApp, and more. Sign up for your free, 7-day trial to see how it works. 

If you’re considering sending your kids to summer camp, you’ve probably found yourself asking the same question that parents all over are also thinking about — should my kid have a cell phone at summer camp? Most camps have figured out their specific summer camp cell phone policy, and it ranges from screens-galore to an analog-only party.

So, what kind of camp should you look for? The University of Michigan actually did an extensive study about the pros and cons of cell phones at summer camp. This was back in 2018, but the findings are only more relevant today as teen phone use has persisted. The study looked at cell phone use at summer camps and evaluated kids and staff’s experiences based on surveys. 

While the study had many interesting findings, it ultimately noted that it’s more about the type of camp experience you want your child to have, which is different for every family. So keep that in mind as we discuss the pros and cons in this post, and we hope it helps in your search for the perfect summer camp for your kid!

Pros of a Cell-Phone-Free Summer Camp  

Less distraction from camp

This is the first thing most people think of in response to this cell phone and summer camp debate. For many generations, camp meant you were disconnected from normal life in a good way, with days full of fun outdoor activities and new friends. With a cell phone, however, kids can be pulled into games, worry about things at home, and more. 

No cyberbullying to worry about 

Just like at school, phones can divide or isolate campmates in multiple ways. Cell phones at summer camp may make kids who don’t have one feel left out. Other kids may even make fun of peers for not having a phone. Additionally, kids may use their phones to be mean or bully other kids through texting or social media, someplace where camp staff may not be able to see. 

One study from the University of Michigan illustrates how kids are thinking about this possibility, too. It noted that some kids were too nervous to participate in activities like a talent show because they were scared other kids would take embarrassing photos or videos of them and put them online.

Kids get the screen break they need — and may even want

As much as most kids would likely prefer to have their phone with them at camp, sometimes they just don’t realize how much they’d actually enjoy the break. The same goes for adults — sometimes we need external circumstances to help us experience something different and better. Kids may realize that without their phones, they can be more present and not worry about anything going on anywhere else. It may even help them decide to regulate their phone use differently after camp, remembering what they enjoyed about it over the summer.

Cons of a Cell-Phone-Free Summer Camp

Honestly? None

As long as your child has a way to contact you in an emergency, there are no real cons to going analog for a summer adventure. If you're worried about knowing their location, you can always attach an unobtrusive GPS device like a Tile to their backpack.

It can be scary letting your child go away from home without the security blanket of a phone if you're used to it. But camps have trained staff that are always present, and it's their only job to keep your child's safety top of mind. Plus, think how fun getting old-school letters will be from your kid!

How the Bark Phone Can Help

The decision to bring a smartphone is totally up to each individual family. But it may not be a completely black-and-white decision — you could consider sending your child with a device that has very limited functionality so that it’s not a distraction but still allows you to communicate with them. And that’s exactly what the Bark Phone can be! 

The Bark Phone is a kid-friendly smartphone created to fit the needs of any child who uses it. The parental controls are customizable so that you can allow or block access to a whole host of things, including the internet, the app store, adding new contacts, deleting text messages, and so much more. So if you want to send your child to camp with a non-distracting phone, simply send them with a Bark Phone that has everything blocked except calls, texts, and location tracking! Then after camp, you can easily add back in more features like apps or social media.

Ready to get your very own Bark Phone? Plans start at just $39/month and include unlimited talk and text. Order yours today!

It's pretty amazing when technology and education come together to give kids an interactive boost in their learning. There’s an app for nearly every area of education and for all ages, but since strong reading skills are crucial in early development, these are the ones we’re focusing on today. So if you’re a parent with a young kiddo entering the exciting world of reading, we suggest checking out some of these reading apps for kids to help them grow those skills!  

Best Reading Apps for Kids 

Khan Academy Kids

With the wealth of free educational content that Khan Academy provides, it’s no surprise that they have a reading app dedicated to beginner students — specifically ages two through eight. They have a guided program full of activities to build foundational skills and understanding, led by colorful and cheerful animal characters. They also have a library where you can choose the specific topic you want your child to work on. The app offers reading as well as math content, but you can find activities for vowel sounds, reading literature, sight words, and more under reading.

Starfall 

Starfall is a popular app for kids to practice their reading skills. Aimed at kids in pre-K through fifth grade, Starfall has tons of engaging games that will help kids grow way more confident in things like spelling, reading comprehension, and even poetry. And the best part? It’s free to use! 

Teach Your Monster to Read

This one has a cute premise where kids get to “teach” their chosen monster avatar how to read. The program doesn’t have many individual lessons or games — it’s just one long game where kids build on skills in each level. It starts very foundational with recognizing sounds and goes from there. 

Teach Your Monster is a non-profit organization that works closely with academic partners to provide formative, accessible content for all kids to grow their skills. Their reading game (as well as their other games that include math content) is free online or you can download the app for $8.99. 

Epic!

Epic is an extremely popular book app with access to tons of titles for kids up to 12 years old. This app is less about teaching kids to read and more about giving them an endless supply of fun books to practice their reading skills with. However, each title has an accompanying quiz to test kids’ reading comprehension. Epic! will also keep track of your child’s activity and award badges based on how many titles were read or how many minutes were spent reading per day. And it’s also a win for multilingual families — they offer titles in Spanish, French, and Chinese!

Epic has a 7-day free trial, then users can purchase an annual subscription for $79.99. 

ABCmouse 

Another go-to option among parents with young learners is ABCmouse. This program has created a very well-researched and comprehensive curriculum for kids in their toddler years through second grade. The app has over 11,000 activities for kids to explore, each with a learning goal for kids to take away. For reading specifically, they have over 450 books as well as lessons in fundamentals like phonics, sentence structure, parts of speech, and more. 

ABCmouse offers an annual subscription for $59.99 or a month-to-month subscription for $12.99.

Bark As Your Safety Net 

As your kids start to use technology for educational purposes, you may be worried about it opening the door to other, more risky parts of the online world. This is why many parents rely on Bark to be their “safety net” as you and your child navigate tech for the first time.

Whether your child is on a phone, tablet, or computer, Bark will scan for concerning content and send you an alert if they come across anything that requires your attention. Bark can also help block inappropriate content, ensuring that only your approved apps and sites can be accessed by your child. Sign up today with a free, 7-day trial and see how Bark can bring peace of mind to your family!

Snapchat has been a long-time favorite for Gen Z (and now Gen Alpha!) and as they’re constantly adding new features, that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. Instead of banning it completely, many parents have found themselves trying to understand Snapchat and its dangers. It’s a “know thy enemy” stance, which we fully support! The more parents know about the internet, the more prepared they are to help protect their kids. 

Consider this parent’s guide to Snapchat as your starting point for answering the question “What exactly are kids doing on Snapchat?” The app has come a long way from when it was just an instant photo messenger. So we’re going to take a step back and explain all its various features. This post won’t go into much detail about the dangers that kids can face, but you can easily find that on our blog! 

Get the Lay of the Land 

First, let’s start with an overview of the bigger features and where you’ll find them on Snapchat.

If you pull up the app on your phone, it’ll open up to the camera. This is Snapchat’s first and main attraction, where you can take a photo or video to instantly send to your friends. You can also play around with tons of filters. This screen is also where you can access Memories by tapping the photo icon in the bottom right corner. Any photo or video saved on Snapchat will be collected here. 

Then, if you swipe your screen to the right,  you’ll see a list of your friends and group chats. If you tap on a name, this will take you to the chat where you can send texts. If you double-tap a name, this will take you back to the camera screen to send a photo or video to that person. 

Swipe right one more time, and this takes you to the Snap Map, where you can see the location of your friends and post to a public story based on your location. 

From the camera screen, if you swipe left instead, you’ll see the Stories page. Here you can post photos or videos that only stay up for 24 hours at a time. You can have public stories (where all your friends can see what you put on your story) or private stories where only select friends can see what you post. 

If you scroll below stories, you’ll find the Discover page, which is Snapchat’s public feed for celebrities, brands, and publications. You’ll see vlog-like content from prominent YouTubers as well as interview clips from Vanity Fair, Wired, and more. 

Swipe left one more time, and you’ll see the Spotlight page, which works similarly to Instagram reels or TikTok’s for you page. They’re short video clips from other Snapchat users and just as any good social media algorithm works, the most popular ones will float to the top. 

What to Look For: A Parent’s Guide to Snapchat

Decoding Snapchat icons 

When you swipe to see your list of friends, you’ll notice there are little icons under each name. These indicate whether or not the latest message with that person was delivered and/or opened. The symbols are slightly different depending on if it’s a chat, photo, or video. But if the message was sent by you, it will be a sideways triangle. If the message was sent by the other person, it will be a square. When the triangle or square is filled in, it was delivered but not opened. If the shape is not filled in, it was opened. Simple enough, right?

What is a Snapchat streak?

A streak is simply the number of days you message someone on Snapchat in a row. Snapchat will keep count of this with a little number next to the person’s name. Kids can get quite serious about this, having streaks in the hundreds with their closest friends. 

Streaks are also connected to Snapchat’s Best Friends feature. The people you Snapchat the most will show up on your Best Friends list, denoted with a specific emoji next to their name. The friends who make your list will know that they’re on it, but they won’t be able to see your full list. 

Parents might get confused about the specific Snapchat emoji meanings, but you can customize what emojis each friend gets in Settings, so it’s different for every user. Here are the “types” of friends you can have on Snapchat with an accompanying emoji:

• Super BFF: When your #1 Best Friend also has you as their #1 Best Friend for two months straight.
• BFF: When your #1 Best Friend also has you as their #1 Best Friend for two weeks straight.
• Besties: When your #1 Best Friend also has you as their #1 Best Friend.
• BFs: (Stands for Best Friends) Someone you Snapchat a lot other than your #1 Best Friend. 
• Mutual Besties: When you share the same #1 Best Friend. 
• Mutual BFs: When you both share someone on your Best Friends list. 

How do stories work on Snapchat?

Everyone on Snapchat can post a story, which is just a photo or video that only lasts for 24 hours. It’s just like Instagram. You can post a story for all your friends on Snapchat to see, or create a private story so for only select people. 

You can also post a public story — but this is only for users 18 and older. These stories can be seen by people who follow you but are not necessarily people you’re friends with. In other words, public stories are for people wanting to create content on Snapchat and gain a following, not just share personal moments with friends. 

Snapchat’s My AI feature

Found in the Chat section, you can chat with Snapchat’s built-in AI bot about anything and everything. It works similarly to ChatGPT and it’s been known to sometimes give kids inappropriate or even harmful answers to their questions. 

Extra features in Memories 

Aside from storing your saved Snaps, this section has a couple of extra features. There’s actually a second AI feature in the Memories section called Dreams. You can upload a handful of selfies and the AI will generate a series of images based on a theme or pack you select. This is anything from Victorian vibes to classic Hollywood. To fully utilize this feature, you have to upgrade to Snapchat Plus, but you get a trial with a one-time free pack before forking over a monthly payment.

The second and more concerning feature within Memories is My Eyes Only. Here, you can save photos and videos and lock them away with a passcode. So even if someone has your device and Snapchat account, they can’t see this saved collection without the code. This creates a privacy concern, especially if kids try to use it to hide inappropriate or harmful content from parents. 

Keeping Kids Safer on Snapchat With Bark

We hope this parent’s guide to Snapchat has helped you understand what kids actually do on Snapchat. But you may feel a bit overwhelmed about keeping your child safer on this app. So we want you to know that Bark has powerful parental controls that can give you peace of mind with popular apps like this one.

On Androids and the Bark Phone, Bark can help you monitor content in Snapchat’s text messages, AI chats, and searches. You’ll be sent an alert almost instantaneously if any inappropriate content is found. 

Bark can also help with blocking Snapchat on all devices so that it’s not a distraction during school or other important hours of the day. Or Bark can ensure Snapchat is blocked from your child’s phone completely if you don’t feel it’s appropriate for them. 

Try Bark with our free, 7-day trial and see how it can help you protect your child’s digital world. 

If you have an older high schooler, you’re probably swimming in information about SATs, ACTs, GPAs, college applications, and more. Not every kid may have plans to go to college, but if it’s something your family has decided on, it’s understandable if you all feel overwhelmed during test season. 

As a quick reminder for both you and your child — take a minute and breathe! As a parent, you want to encourage your child to do their very best, but it’s also hard to see them stressed out or even anxious about their test performance. Don’t forget to remind them that you’re proud no matter what, and you’ll support them the best way you know how. 

And we want to help, too! We surveyed tons of educational apps that claim to help students with standardized testing and picked the top five for your high schooler to try out. Whether your teen needs material to study or some practice tests, they’ll be able to find it in this list. And the best part? All these apps are free to use! 

Best Educational Apps to Crush the Exams 

My Study Life

To start us off, this app is less for studying and more for students to organize their academic lives. It allows them to add their class and study schedule so that all their important information is in one place. Managing homework for multiple classes can already be a lot for kids, let alone adding SAT/ACT studying outside of it. If your child needs an easy way to structure their academic time, this is a great app to look into. 

Khan Academy 

Hands down, Khan Academy is always one of the go-to's for reliable study content. And luckily they have great resources for those preparing for standardized tests. In fact, Khan Academy has partnered with the College Board to provide SAT practice tests and answer keys that will give kids real experience before the big test day comes.  

If your child has taken the PSAT through the College Board, they can upload their test to Khan Academy and it will recommend specific practice areas based on their results. Students can find everything from videos that break down difficult concepts to guides that will help them put together a study plan for the SAT. 

SAT Exam Prep & Practice by Magoosh

Magoosh has tons of apps to help with standardized testing, but this main one focuses on getting kids prepared for what their SAT or ACT journey will look like. Then, they can scroll through Magoosh’s other apps for specific study material, depending on what test they’re preparing for. For example, they have a flashcard app that will give teens a litany of need-to-know SAT terms and concepts. Whether they need to practice geometry or grammar rules, this educational app will give them a good idea of what they already know and what they need to freshen up on. 

Princeton Review — SAT/ACT/AP

The Princeton Review is another reputable test prep program. They have tons of helpful courses that usually come with a hefty price tag, but their free-to-use app has quality practice tests for reading, writing, and math. 

The practice tests offer two options — they will either give you explanations for answers as you go or allow you to take the whole thing and review the answers at the end. The explanations for each question are thorough and rely on helpful test-taking strategies. Princeton Review’s study material will definitely boost your kid’s study game, no matter what test they’re preparing for! 

Quizlet 

If your child is looking for just a general flashcard app where they can create some of their own material, Quizlet is a must-have educational app. Sometimes writing out your own material helps commit it to memory much faster and Quizlet allows you to easily make your own digital flashcards. It can also take your material and create practice tests and memory games for a variety of study options. 

Students can also look through decks that other students have made public and study those — just make sure your child knows the content is accurate before they start practicing with it. 

Need Help With Study Distractions?

While your child is studying for a big test, it can be understandably hard for them to focus if their phone or laptop keeps dinging with notifications. Or if their “study break” of scrolling on Instagram for 10 minutes accidentally turns into an hour (it happens to the best of us!). So to help limit those distractions, consider using Bark’s screen time controls, which allow you to block apps and sites at certain times of the day when you know they’ll be studying — but still allow the ones they need access to. 

Bark can also help monitor their content, so even if they have to use apps like YouTube to study, you’ll be alerted if they come across any inappropriate content. Try Bark with a free, 7-day trial today! 

One of the most concerning and troublesome features to come out of the social media space is disappearing messages. No matter how you feel about social media for teens, most parents can quickly see how disappearing messages lead to tricky and dangerous situations. 

This risky feature prompts many questions from parents. Exactly what apps have disappearing messages? When do they disappear and is there a way to recover them? We’re going to cover five popular apps with disappearing messages, how it works, and what you can do. We’ll also cover some important points to discuss with your kid about the dangers of disappearing messages. 

Snapchat 

We have Snapchat to thank for introducing disappearing messages to the world. Here’s how it works: Chats are defaulted to delete 24 hours after viewing. You can go into settings and change this to delete right after viewing or to never delete. Group chats work a little differently, as they’re only deleted after 24 hours once everyone has viewed them. Otherwise, photos are deleted after seven days. 

Users have the option to save Snaps whether or not they’re the ones who sent them — and this goes for texts, pictures, and videos. So if you send something risky, the other person can still choose to keep it and it’ll stay visible in the chat for both parties, no matter what your disappearing settings are. You’ll receive a notification whenever they save something. 

Snapchat has parental controls but none of them apply to disappearing messages, unfortunately. You can have your child set their account to never delete messages, but there is nothing stopping them from changing this later — Snapchat’s built-in parental controls don’t let you password protect your settings.

WhatsApp

Luckily, WhatsApp’s disappearing messages are not on by default, although it’s still easy enough to change this in settings. Users can set messages to disappear after 24 hours, seven days, or 90 days. Similar to Snapchat, users can keep a message even if it’s set to disappear. But interestingly, senders have the option to “upkeep” a message if someone else tries to keep it. 

Another important note for WhatsApp regarding media: All media (pictures and videos) are automatically saved to your photos. So media can be set to disappear in the chat, but they’ll still exist in your photo library — as well as your friend’s.

Instagram

Instagram has what’s called Vanish mode, which allows you to send disappearing messages, photos, videos, and more in Instagram chats. Things disappear whenever someone leaves the chat or vanish mode is turned off, however. In contrast to Snapchat and WhatsApp, users don’t have the option to save disappearing messages (but don’t forget they can always be screenshotted). You’ll receive a notification if someone tries to screenshot or screen record your vanish mode conversation. 

Telegram

Telegram is a hodge-podge of concerning features — and the disappearing messages feature is just one of them. First, Telegram has a message option called “Secret Chats” where you can message using end-to-end encryption so that no one else can intercept or view these messages. These messages will self-destruct after a preset amount of time for both people in the chat. 

Telegram also allows this self-destruct feature for normal messaging outside of Secret Chats. And if someone tries to take a screenshot of your message, you’ll get a notification. Parents can have their kids turn off the self-destruct feature, but again, there are no parental controls to lock this. 

iMessage

We know this one isn’t an app, and iMessage doesn’t technically have a disappearing messages feature. But they do have an “Undo send” feature. Kids can use this in the same way as disappearing messages – sending risky messages and then unsending them within the two-minute limit. Currently, there is no way to disable this feature on iPhone, nor is there any way for parents to manage it using Family Sharing. 

The Disappearing Messages Dilemma

Now that you have the specifics about disappearing messages, here’s what you need to make sure your child knows. Disappearing messages present a dilemma since they don’t actually disappear most of the time. As we mentioned, people can screenshot anything that is sent to their phone. And some platforms like Snapchat and WhatsApp give you the ability to save messages directly to your phone, which overrides the disappearing feature. 

This is important because kids need to know that what they say online always matters, regardless of whether or not it disappears. Just as words in real life have an impact, their words online do, too. Remind your kid that if they’re sending messages that disappear, they should not use that as permission to say anything hurtful or inappropriate. 

On the flip side, in cases of bullying or predation, it’s detrimental when the messages disappear in case it’s needed to turn in to authorities. So consider also reminding your child that if they are sent something that makes them uncomfortable, they should show it to you first so you can decide if it needs to be saved or not. 

Monitor Your Child’s Messaging With Bark

The good news is that Bark’s monitoring covers tons of these popular apps! If your child sends a risky text, our powerful AI will scan it looking for specific context that indicates a problem. You’ll then get an alert so you know to investigate. It can even catch messages and send you an alert before they disappear on apps like Snapchat. Sign up for a free, 7-day trial today to see how Bark’s monitoring can bring peace of mind to your family’s online world! 

In 2023, it was reported that about 87% of teenagers in America have iPhones. No one can deny the brand loyalty Gen Z seems to have with Apple, but this puts many parents on the hunt for the best parental control app for iPhone devices.

You might be thinking, don’t iPhones already have built-in parental controls? They do, it’s called Family Sharing and parents can use Apple Screen Time features to control some aspects of their kid’s device usage. However many parents have quickly found these controls to be lacking when it comes to properly protecting their child.

Fortunately, Bark offers Apple families a far more robust and comprehensive parental control app for iPhones! At Bark, we know the features that give parents peace of mind about their kid’s smartphones. As a result, tons of Apple families feel Bark is the best parental control app for iPhones — in this post, we’ll show you why. 

Why Bark is the Best Parental Control App for iPhone Devices 

Customizable screen time management 

Parental control apps for iPhone are good but sometimes fall short. That's because Apple Screen Time can only take you so far when it comes to parental controls. You can manage how long your child can use certain apps or block them altogether if you need. But there are a few holes in their controls that make it difficult for parents actually to lock down the risks that come with a smartphone.

For example, Apple Screentime allows you to block web content in two ways — either block everything or you can “limit adult websites”. The problem with the latter is that it doesn’t actually catch all inappropriate sites. Some easily fall through the filter’s cracks, making it possible for your child to encounter adult content online. To protect against these threats, you'll need robust parental control apps for iPhone like Bark.

Bark’s screen time features were created to give parents far more granular and customizable options. Bark has tons of categories so that parents can decide more exactly what content they want to allow or block. For example, you can block all sexual content and ensure they can’t access this content through an app or site. You can also block all social media, but make exceptions for the ones you’re okay with your child having. All of these are reasons why Bark is the best parental control app for iPhone users.

Content monitoring as the healthy middle ground   

But what about the apps and sites you do allow? You might approve some apps but recognize there’s still a risk for inappropriate content. With Apple Screen Time, you can either block them or allow them, all or nothing. But with Bark’s parental controls for iPhones, you get the happy middle ground — you can allow it and supervise it.

Bark’s powerful AI will scan your child’s activities, looking for anything that needs a parent’s attention. Let’s say you allowed your child to use an app like GroupMe to communicate with their sports team. But on this app, your child received a message from a stranger outside the chat. When Bark scans these messages, it’ll look for concerning content, such as grooming or predatory language. If detected, it’ll send you an alert so you can quickly investigate and talk to your child about it.

Bark can monitor texts, emails, and 30+ social media apps. On iOS devices, we can cover tons of popular apps like Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit, X, Kik, and more. We can also monitor your child’s Safari visits and searches. Paired with our screen time, Bark’s content monitoring is why so many parents find Bark to be the best parental control app for iPhones. 

What If My Kid Has an Android?

If your child has an Android, that’s no problem! Bark is compatible with both Android and Apple devices. In fact, we even recommend parents get an Android as opposed to an Apple device. Despite its popularity among kids, iPhones weren’t built to protect them from most online dangers. 

Apple’s privacy policies are not very friendly toward third-party apps like Bark, but Androids give Bark much more room to monitor data on their devices. This is why we can monitor Snapchat on Androids but not on iPhones, for example. 

If you want more coverage for content monitoring, an Android is definitely your best bet. And if you want a smartphone with our powerful parental controls built-in, then check out the Bark Phone. No installing extra apps, just reliable parental controls right out of the box. 

Ready to Try the Best Parental Controls for iPhone Devices?

We believe Bark will be a great tool for your family in keeping your child safe on their iPhone. But just so you can see for yourself, you try Bark for a free, 7-day trial. After that, you can keep all of Bark’s award-winning parental controls for your child’s iPhone and other devices in the home for just $14/month. Contact Bark to get the best parental controls for iPhone today!

It’s spring break season and many kids feel the drag of school and are counting down the minutes to their week of freedom. But as a parent, you might feel the pressure mounting as you try to figure out what your child’s week is going to look like — specifically how much more or less device time they should get. Even if you have a trip or fun activities planned, most parents still have to address the question of screen time.

We’ve put together four simple yet constructive screen time tips to make sure your child’s spring break is full of non-tech fun. At Bark, we’re all about balance and moderation — the way you implement these things might look completely different from another family, and that’s okay! As long as your kids can say they feel rested and made some fun spring break memories by the end of the week, you can call it a success! 

Our Top Four Screen Time Tips For Spring Break 

Consider a temporary change to your tech contract 

First, if you don’t already have a tech contract with your kids, we highly recommend making one! It goes a long way in starting communication with your child, as well as setting expectations for healthy tech use in the home. But for spring break, it’s natural if previously established rules fluctuate a little bit. After all, it’s their time to enjoy and relax from the stresses of school. So revisit the contract and pick out the rules that can be more flexible during the break.

Pro tip: If you use something like the Bark Home to set household screen time rules on a schedule, don’t forget to switch back to regular rules when school starts again. This will help avoid an accidental Netflix marathon session the Sunday night before break ends.

Have a game plan for non-tech hours 

For whatever time they’re not going to be on tech, try coming up with some ideas to help fill the screen-less hours. Of course, it’s beneficial when kids can come up with these on their own and entertain themselves, but it’s okay to help them get the ideas flowing. 

For younger kids, this may look like a list of activities like arts and crafts or planned playdates with the neighbors. For older kids, this might be letting them ride bikes to their friend’s house. Here’s just a quick list of non-tech activities kids can do during their free time: 

• Go on a picnic 
• Have a cooking contest 
• Clean out your room and give it a makeover 
• Have a water balloon fight 
• Follow a Bob Ross painting tutorial 
• Start a new book series and see how much you can read in a week
• Create a scavenger hunt 
• Go camping in the backyard 

Be mindful of location sharing while traveling

Most parents will want to make sure they can track their child’s location, no matter what their spring break plans are. But if your child is posting on social media — which is likely especially while they’re on their spring break adventures — it’s easier than ever for online strangers to find your child’s location. 

Apps like Instagram, Snapchat, BeReal, and more have location-sharing features. Snapchat has the most concerning location feature called Snap Map, which allows users to publicly post stories linked to a specific location and see stories of other users posting from the same place. In essence, this broadcasts your child’s real-time location to total strangers.

Whatever platform your child posts on, make sure you’re both on the same page about their location — strangers don’t need to know where they are in real time. Remind them to not tag their location in posts and to consider not posting in the moment at all. 

Use Bark for the best screen time features

Whether your family is going on a grand, once-in-a-lifetime expedition, or your teen is just adventuring through the neighborhood this spring break, Bark can help make managing screen time a breeze. With just one app, you can set daily screen time routines, block inappropriate sites and apps, and turn off Wi-Fi to their phone with a single tap.

Additionally, Bark’s powerful content monitoring can scan their texts, emails, and 30+ social media apps to send you alerts forany concerning content they may come across. Try all of Bark’s parental controls with our free, 7-day trial and see how it can transform your family’s approach to tech. 

Many parents have realized that making an Android phone — or any smartphone — safer for kids isn’t always easy. Whether you're trying to manage screen time or keep tabs on potentially inappropriate messages, it can be a complicated and ongoing task for parents to add to their already long list of responsibilities. 

But with the Bark app, it’s different. We offer parents the best Android parental control app that’ll give you peace of mind when it’s time for your child to have a phone. Parents can scan for concerning content, block distracting or inappropriate sites and apps, and seamlessly track location — all in one app! 

Get the Best Android Parental Controls with Bark

When parents use Bark, they don’t have to spend time digging through their kid’s phone looking for dangers. Most parents don’t have the time or energy for this, and kids don’t like the idea of their parents seeing all of their messages. So instead, Bark scans the kid’s phone using AI technology to look for contextual signs that something may be off or need adult help — things like bullying, predation, sexual content, suicide/self-harm content, and much more. If something is detected, an alert is sent straight to your phone.

These alerts are great for giving parents insight into their child’s online world. But it’s not all Bark can do! Bark also offers comprehensive and reliable web filtering to help you manage what your child has access to and when. More distracting sites, like games and social media, can be put on a schedule so that they’re blocked or allowed exactly when needed. And Bark’s location tracking can ensure you know where your child is while they’re exploring the world offline. 

So why is Bark the best parental control app for an Android? Because with one app, you get all the controls you need to support your child in their online journey. And the cherry on top? Any alert you may receive from Bark also comes with advice from real child experts so you know how to best handle the situation. Bark doesn’t want to just help you protect your child, we also want to help you build a strong, trusting relationship with them. 

What Bark Monitors on Android Phones for Kids

Bark can monitor over 30+ platforms, but here are just a few of the popular apps that Bark can scan and send you alerts for:

• Snapchat 
• Instagram 
• Roblox
• Discord 
• TikTok
• YouTube 
• WhatsApp
• X
• Spotify 
• Kik
• Google Drive 
• GroupMe

Want to learn more about why Bark is the best parental control app for Android? Check out our full list of platforms and learn more about what content we monitor on each. 

The Bark Phone: The Best Android Phone For Kids

The only thing that could make Bark an even better Android parental control app is if it came with the phone itself — so that’s why we made the Bark Phone! We took a Samsung A series and gave it an unmatched level of security by building our parental controls directly into the phone. It’s the only Android phone for kids that actually gives parents the peace of mind they need when it comes to their child’s safety. 

The best part about building our phone is that we get to decide on certain device settings that with just the app, we don’t have much control over. And we made sure that every step of the way was guided by parents like you. We spent years listening to what parents wanted in a safer smartphone and we put all that feedback into the Bark Phone. Features such as requiring parent permission to delete text messages and our robust location tracking came from what we know both parents and kids need in this online world. 

Not an Android User? No Problem!

Generally speaking, we recommend Androids for parents who are looking to get the most out of parental control for their kid’s phone. Parental controls for Android devices are more friendly to third-party apps like Bark, which allows us more capabilities with their software. Apple, on the other hand, highly prioritizes user privacy. This is great for adults — but not for kids. Parents often have a harder time monitoring content and keeping Apple Screentime locked down from common loopholes that kids find.

But if you happen to be an Apple user, no reason to stress! The Bark app is available for iOS devices as well. Tons of Apple families have found Bark to be an invaluable tool in their digital parenting kit. You get the same robust context monitoring, screen time controls, and location tracking. 

Try Bark for Free Today

If you’re ready to try the best parental controls for Android for your child, you can sign up for our free, 7-day trial today! We believe Bark will be a great fit for your family, but we’d love for you to see for yourself at no cost. When you see how great it is, you can continue to use Bark’s powerful tools for just $14/month. 

Most teenagers have a lot on their plate — never-ending school assignments, extracurriculars, part-time jobs, and social lives to keep up with on and offline. Because of all these, it’s easy for their health to fall by the wayside. So you or your child may have found yourselves looking for a health app for teens to help them keep track of certain habits. School and friends are important commitments, but those become much harder to keep up with if their body and mind aren’t properly taken care of!

We’ve tracked down the best apps in the most important areas of health: physical fitness, mental health, sleep health, nutritional health, and menstrual health. These are great places to start if your teen needs a helping hand in their health education and practice. Let’s take a look!

Physical Fitness: Seven — 7 Minute Workout 

iOS

Android

Some teens may have a workout already built into their schedule from a sport. But if not, they may need a good resource to learn self-guided workouts that will get their heart rate pumping. This 7-minute workout app is great for teens who want to build a habit of exercise that works with a busy schedule. The app allows you to set a workout plan and choose your preferred area of focus (full-body workouts, upper body, core, etc.) These exercises are great whether it’s a home workout, at the gym, or just in any open space. 

The app lays out your plan and progress clearly, and it also keeps track of any achievements or badges you earn. You can earn these by hitting a certain milestone or completing one of the in-app challenges. The app does allow you to invite friends with a text link, but there’s no messaging feature or way to communicate in the app. There’s a free version of the app, or you can join the “7 Club” for $9.99/month or $59.99/year.

Mental Health: Calm app 

iOS

Android

The Calm app has been well-loved by its users for a long time now, and we can see why! The app is chock-full of quality mental health content, from courses and meditations to playlists and more. Whenever teens need to bring the intensity of life down a little bit, the Calm app can definitely help. Reducing anxiety, getting better sleep, and growing in gratitude are just a few of the goals that this app can help with. There is a limited free version of the app or a premium subscription for 69.99/year. 

Sleep Health: BetterSleep 

iOS 

Android 

There’s no question that teens need good sleep — and at least 8–10 hours of it. But sleep can be elusive for teens, which is not surprising considering how many teens struggle with anxiety these days. BetterSleep helps teens turn off the mental chatter and drift into deep REM sleep with music, sleep stories, and meditations. There are also guided sessions that teach things like how to get the best sleep with certain sleep positions or through breathing exercises. Teens can also track their sleep each night to see what may be helping their sleep or disrupting it. BetterSleep has a one-week free trial and then a yearly subscription for $49.99.

Nutritional Health: MyPlate  

iOS

Android

MyPlate takes the cake (pun intended) when it comes to nutritional apps for kids. The main function of the app is all about learning healthy habits and tracking your progress as you make better food decisions. The best part is that there’s no content about body image or eating in order to look a certain way — it’s all about eating quality food for quality health. 

The app gives you some easy goals to start with, like adding veggies to your lunch one day during the week or eating fruit as a sweet treat. MyPlate is a great way to get teens thinking about their food goals in an achievable, no-pressure way. Not to mention, it’s free to use! 

Menstrual Health: Period Diary Ovulation Tracker 

iOS

Android

If you’ve tried looking for a menstrual tracking app for your child, you may have noticed that tons of them were not necessarily made with teens in mind. It’s common for these apps to have adult content about more than just periods (think sex and masturbation tips, including suggestions to watch porn in some apps). But teens really just need a simple calendar and a place to track their symptoms. And that’s what the Period Diary offers!

There is a discover tab with content but it’s much more health-related and straightforward. Articles include topics like, “What is PMS?” and “Ease Your Cramps With These 3 Teas.” Period Diary has a limited free version or a premium subscription for $8.49/month or $33.99/year. 

Digital Health: Bark

The last area teens may need some help is their online life, and that’s where Bark can help! Bark offers a whole suite of parental controls to ensure teens are having a healthy and positive tech experience.

Bark can help you manage their screen time, block inappropriate websites, and scan their messages to look for potentially concerning content. If your teen is expressing feelings of anxiety, depression, or disordered eating, Bark can alert you so you can address it right when your support is needed. Start your free, 7-day trial today.

It’s a simple fact of nature: Kids will eventually want more privacy as they get older. It’s only natural for young people to want more independence from their parents, like having a later curfew or using a popular app to connect with friends. But they might not be considering their safety in the same way their parents are. Parents have to walk a thin line between protection and privacy, and it can be hard. 

At Bark, we’re a team of parents who’ve walked the same exact line. That’s why we take a unique approach to your child’s privacy with our content monitoring. In this post, we’ll explain what that approach is and why so many parents find it to be their favorite part about Bark. 

Why Bark Values Your Child’s Online Privacy  

Bark’s ultimate mission is to help parents foster healthy relationships with their kids, both on and offline. Privacy for kids — or rather, giving your kid a healthy amount of space as they get older — accomplishes two things. One, it builds their confidence in their own decision-making. And two, it creates trust between you and your child. 

Allowing your child to have a popular app like Instagram means you have to trust them to be responsible while they use it. And it also means your child can trust that you recognize their ability to do so. But it doesn’t mean they won’t make any mistakes with their newfound independence —it just allows them to remember what you’ve already taught them. 

This is something the experts have long advocated for, even as they’re calling for legislation to crack down on better parental controls in tech. The American Psychological Association notes that parental controls for social media such as adult monitoring should be “balanced with youth’s appropriate needs for privacy.” 

If you think about it, kid’s conversations online are likely similar to the conversations you had growing up when you hung out with your friends at the mall. Generally speaking, your parents were probably not privy to all these conversations. For many kids today, apps like Instagram and Snapchat are their version of meeting up at the mall. It may seem different now, but kids today can still have a healthy level of privacy online and be safer — the two aren’t always mutually exclusive.

How Bark Strikes the Perfect Balance 

When you look at the current options for monitoring apps, it can feel like an all-or-nothing approach. You can either use an app to spy on and access all of your child’s messages or use an app that only really focuses on how long your child spends time on an app. It’s either zero privacy or not enough.

Here’s how Bark strikes the perfect balance — we created a technology that will scan your child’s messages for you and alert you to the concerning content you need to know about. If your child is messaging a potential predator on Instagram or receiving texts from a friend that indicate suicidal ideation, Bark will notify you. This helps you keep them safe. 

But all the innocent conversations about favorite Fortnite skins and the boring school assembly that day? Bark simply passes over those, just as you would if you were manually checking the phone yourself. This helps you give them privacy. 

Bark as the Fan Favorite 

So why do parents love Bark’s monitoring so much? Because they don’t have to waste time digging through the harmless messages just to find the one that may be concerning. They don’t have to sacrifice their child’s online privacy and independence just to keep them safe — they get the best of both worlds. 

Tons of kids prefer Bark, as well. Most of the time, they don’t even realize it’s there as it runs quietly in the background. However, despite the level of privacy they get with Bark, you may find your child apprehensive about the idea of monitoring. If this is the case, we have some helpful resources about how to best address it with your child. Once they learn how it really works, kids often understand it’s better than a lot of alternatives — like spot-checking or spy apps.

Ready to Get Started With Bark?

If Bark sounds like a good fit for your family, we’d love to offer you a free, 7-day trial so you can get a feel for how our monitoring works. In addition to content monitoring, Bark also has a host of other parental controls, including screen time management, web filtering, and location tracking. You may even consider checking out the Bark Phone, our smartphone built with children’s safety in mind. 

Important note: You might be curious about how Bark manages all of the data we analyze. We recognize this is an important concern for child’s safety and privacy. When Bark scans your data, we immediately encrypt it so it can’t be traced back to you. Additionally, we purge data every 30 days (and parents can request us to purge their child’s data at any time). We hold ourselves to the highest security standards for the safety of you and your child. 

We can all probably agree that group chats are one of the most convenient parts of texting. Instead of messaging each of your kids individually, you can simply throw them all in a group chat and say things like “We’re having tacos for dinner tonight” or “Don’t forget to tell Grandma happy birthday!” But when it comes to kids being in their own group chats with friends, it can be a little trickier to manage. 

For many kids, group chats are simply the way they communicate with each other. That’s why there are so many apps dedicated to messaging, like Snapchat, Messenger Kids, Kik, GroupMe, Discord — it’s just what the kids are doing these days.

Some friend groups naturally pick up on “group chat etiquette” without much coaching. However, kids can sometimes get carried away with the influx of notifications or find themselves at the center of group chat drama. 

We’ve picked the top five most important topics around group chats that parents should keep their eyes on. Consider talking with your kids about these, whether they’re about to join their first group chat or even if they’re already a part of several.

Top Five Things Parents Should Know About Group Chats

1. More notifications mean more pressure

Sometimes, when some kids join their first group chat, they feel they need to send a message for every single thought they have. And sometimes, they decide to send one thought in seven different messages. Suddenly, a group chat could be sending and receiving dozens of messages in the span of a few minutes — which is a notification nightmare for some parents! 

But for children, it’s not only just distracting, it can put a lot of pressure on kids to keep up with every new message and feel like they need to be sending just as much as their friends. It can quickly turn into a real fear of missing messages anytime they're away from their device. Make sure your kid knows it’s okay to put some group chats on “mute” or even put the whole device on Do Not Disturb mode.

2. Misunderstandings over text can be intensified in group chats 

We all know what it’s like when we send a text — and because you can’t send tone or facial expressions with it — your message gets taken the completely wrong way. With a group chat, you now have multiple other people who can misread your message in tons of different ways. Now add in kids who are often not mature enough to consider all the different meanings of a text, and you’ve got a radioactive zone for tons of unnecessary drama. 

It’s a common scenario for kids to start group chats with an entire class or even an entire grade. This means your kid could be messaging with people who don’t know them well enough to interpret their message correctly. The drama becomes ten times more complicated when the misunderstanding happens with someone totally outside your child’s social circle. 

3. When the chat makes a kid feel left out

Group chats can bring friends together, but they can also be very exclusionary. Sometimes this happens on accident with no ill intent, other times it’s done on purpose as a form of cyberbullying. Kids will create a group chat just for the sake of having one without a certain person and use it to talk behind their back. 

Kids can also feel left out even if they’re in the group chat. It’s one thing to not be invited to a certain event or just simply have to miss it for various reasons, but it’s another thing when your phone starts blowing up with pictures and messages about said event and you’re not there. FOMO (fear of missing out) is real. 

4. Hot spot for spreading inappropriate content

Speaking of impulse control, sometimes when kids come across something interesting on the internet, their first impulse is to share it with their friends. Kid group chats often function as a trading space for memes and funny videos, which can be totally innocent and harmless. But sadly, it’s not uncommon for kids to think it’s funny to send something inappropriate and get a reaction from the group. It’s easy to be exposed to things like porn links or disturbing videos from YouTube or TikTok while in a group chat.

Group chats are also a hot spot for swapping nudes. A study by Thorn reported that 1 in 6 kids (ages 9–12) admitted they had seen non-consensually reshared nudes of other young people. Sadly, in the age of sexting, this seems to be increasingly common among kids and teens. 

5. Group chats have become a normal part of growing up

While group chats can certainly be high risk, it’s important to remember that not all group chats will have these problems. In fact, they’re just a normal part of friendships for kids nowadays. Group chats can be used to plan in-person hangouts or share funny memes and say “this is you!” Or it can be just a space to talk about the things they didn’t get a chance to during school — like how we grew up calling our friends to chat after school in the 80s and 90s. 

The best thing to do as a parent is to consider if your child is ready for the responsibility of group chat. And, if they are, use it as a teaching opportunity for online safety as well as how to be a good friend in the digital world.

Group Chats Got You Down? Let Bark help! 

Giving your kid free rein on group chats can be scary, considering the potential dangers they come with. But Bark’s got what you need! Our content monitoring can keep an eye on your child’s texts without having to scroll through hundreds of messages yourself. 

Bark uses a highly trained AI to look for issues such as cyberbullying and inappropriate content, and this includes things in texts, images, and videos. We can also monitor many of the popular messaging apps like GroupMe and WhatsApp. You can take the Bark app for a spin with our free, 7-day trial. 

Also, consider the Bark Phone — our kid-friendly device that comes with Bark’s parental controls built in. With it, you get the added protection of contact approval, the ability to prevent text message deletion, and so much more. If you only want your kid texting certain people, texting at a certain time, or both, you have the power to create those settings with the Bark Phone — which can greatly increase your peace of mind when your kid is online. 

Video games are an undeniably entertaining pastime, not just for kids but for all ages! It’s no wonder why tons of family game nights now look something like a Mario Kart tournament or a Minecraft building session.

The trouble with all these games is that there can be some that are not meant for all ages. Or the appropriate ones are created to be addicting and kids find it difficult to manage their game time on their own. So the question becomes:  Are there any safe gaming consoles where kids can play with the necessary boundaries? 

We took a deep dive into that exact question and came up with the top 5 safest gaming consoles for kids! This review will focus mostly on the level of parental controls you can expect from each console. Let’s jump in! 

Nintendo Switch 

Taking the number one spot for best gaming console for kids is — hands down — the Nintendo Switch. The Switch has parental controls that no other console seems to match. And not only that, it has all the popular games kids actually want to play like Super Mario Bros, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, and more. All the while, parents can have peace of mind that their child’s gameplay will be uninterrupted by chats from strangers or inappropriate internet searches. Parents can also set play time limits, customize their child’s communication settings, and do all of this straight from their smartphone with the Nintendo Parental Controls app.

Xbox Series S

Geared towards the 13+ crowd, the Xbox Series S is a great option for kids as they get a little older and expand their gaming world. Xbox uses Microsoft Family Safety, an app that parents can add to their gaming console to apply a selection of helpful parental control features. You can put restrictions on content, messaging, and privacy. And for the cherry on top — you can password-protect your settings with a PIN code! This means kids won’t be able to go behind you and change any of the parental controls. 

Razer Kishi V2 

If your kid is an avid mobile gamer, this on-the-go console is the perfect way to step up their gaming experience. The console comes with pieces that you can fit on either side of your smartphone, effectively turning it into a game controller. To use the Razer Kishi, you have three options: play games downloaded on your smartphone, play games from the cloud (stream the game, as opposed to is being downloaded), or connect it to a PC or other game console and play games from there. 

The best part about the Razer Kishi is that it doesn’t have to have its own parental controls — as long as you already have parental controls set up on the device it connects to, you’re all set! Pro tip: Looking for the best option for a safer kid's phone? Check out the Bark Phone which has all of Bark’s powerful parental controls built right in.

PlayStation 4 

Another popular option is the PlayStation 4 that — when using the available parental controls — can make your teen's game time both fun and safer. It has many of the features we’ve already seen from other consoles such as restricting internet access, choosing age-appropriate content, restricting communication with other players, and creating a settings passcode. One thing the PS4 has that may excite some parents is that you set a monthly spending limit — so no more surprise discoveries of too many game purchases on the credit card bill! 

Nintendo Super NES Classic Edition 

Now hear us out — what can be safer than a retro gaming console with no internet and pre-loaded games? On the parental control side of things, there’s technically none with this console. But it’s hardly needed when there’s no secret games or internet for kids to access. It only comes with 21 games that are mostly family-friendly (parents may want to know that it comes with Street Fighter II and Earthbound, which are rated “T” for teens due to a higher level of violence). 

If you grew up playing Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, or Kirby Dream Course, we promise this console will give you fond nostalgic feelings, while giving your kids a unique gaming experience. 

Bark Home: Your Video Game Sidekick 

It’s great when gaming consoles and other technology come with their own parental controls, but it can be easy to lose track of how each device needs to be set up. Luckily, parents can use the Bark Home as their trusty screen time sidekick! The Bark Home allows you to manage all of the internet-connected devices in your home and set custom screen time rules for each one depending on what kid is using it, what time of day it is, and what it’s being used for. With the tap of a button on your phone, you can block the internet to the PS4 during homework time and only allow the shared family laptop to have internet. Then once homework’s done, simply switch rules! Order the Bark Home for your family today.

One of the best things about technology is the art we can make with it! If your child is creatively inclined, it wouldn’t be surprising if they had an itch to explore the world of digital art. Digital art allows you to create anything you can think of without having to find the time, money, and storage for in-real-life art supplies. 

The two things your child will need for digital art are a drawing tablet and a quality design app. There are lots of options to choose from, so we rounded up the top three tablets and top three apps for teens ready to take their virtual drawing skills to the next level. And who knows? This could be the next step towards your child’s future career as an animator for Pixar or a graphic designer for a multi-million dollar company! 

Top 3 Drawing Tablets for Kids and Teens

iPad Pro 

If there’s one drawing tablet that seems to be the most highly recommended for the average digital artist, it’s the iPad Pro (specifically using Procreate, see below for more on that app). From its high-resolution display to its accuracy and responsiveness with Apple Pencil, your teen is sure to find their art groove with the iPad Pro. 

Wacom One 

Wacom is a well-known and highly reputable brand for its drawing tablets. The Wacom One is user-friendly and offers tons of different options to create any piece of art your child desires. It’s also one of Wacom’s more affordable options, which is great for beginners. Parents should know that it requires a home computer to connect to, but fortunately it’s compatible with Mac, PC, Chromebook, as well as certain Android smartphones and tablets. 

Huion Inspiroy 2 m 

Another top dog in the digital art space is Huion Inspiroy. This model is aptly named, as it will surely inspire great works from your teen! Unlike the iPad and Wacom One, this Huion tablet doesn’t have a display, it connects to your computer, phone, or tablet where the image will appear. It’s a little different to get used to, but rest assured artists can pick it up quickly. The Inspiroy’s look and feel is all your kid needs to feel like a professional.

Top Three Drawing Apps for Kids and Teens

Procreate 

As mentioned before, Procreate is a highly recommended drawing program, but it’s only available on iOS products. So keep in mind you’ll need an iPad as well as an Apple pencil for this app. For some artists, the iOS requirement is well worth the complete package of intuitive creative tools that Procreate comes with. With all the available options, it can be a learning curve to take advantage of everything it has to offer. But Procreate can certainly help your child’s art dreams come to life! 

Adobe Fresco 

Adobe Fresco is another loved drawing program that has the features any aspiring artist needs for their digital masterpieces. Both professionals and amateurs alike have utilized Adobe Fresco for their projects. Not to mention it’s compatible with both Apple and Windows drawing tablets. Whether your child is honing their skills in realistic portraits or Bob Ross-like landscapes, Adobe Fresco is a great sidekick to their art adventures! 

Sketchbook

Sketchbook is a perfect fit for true beginners. Its interface is simple and tools are easy to grasp no matter what ideas you bring to the platform. One cool feature it has is the drawing aids and stabilizers that help young artists get those smooth and steady lines. Sketchbook is compatible with Windows, Apple, and Android products. 

How Bark Can Help

Even if your child is using their tech time to enhance their art skills, it’s always good to have balance around screen time. And Bark can help you structure your teen’s screen time in a way that’s the most beneficial for them! With the Bark Home, you can create schedules for any internet-connected device in the home and have it shut off when it’s time for a screen break. So whether it’s your child’s iPad Pro or their Chromebook connected to their Wacom tablet, you can be sure your teen is following a healthy tech routine! Learn more about the Bark Home and order one today.

If there’s one question every parent has to answer, it’s this: Are you going to allow your child to use social media? This, of course, begets several other questions, like how do you introduce it to your kid? When’s the best time? What are the pros and cons of social media? Parent opinion varies widely on all of these questions. And if you didn’t grow up with it, it can be hard to know how exactly this decision will impact your child.

To put some of these questions into context, we’ve compiled a list of the most important pros and cons of social media for parents to consider. Of course, there are tons of positives and negatives, many based on your unique situation with your child. But these are some of the more broad, researched areas that can get you started as you make this decision for your family.

The Pros of Social Media  

Social connection

This seems to be the biggest draw for parents to get their kids social media at perhaps a younger age than originally intended — the social connection it provides between peers. The average childhood nowadays is more intertwined with screens than ever before. It may seem silly to us as adults, but for kids, sending memes back and forth on Instagram is just one way they show affection in a friendship. And it’s hard for parents to sit back if they feel their child is being left out of these social interactions that all their peers are having. 

It’s certainly a fine line between allowing social media for that crucial connection-building and allowing it simply because of peer pressure. But remember, your child’s social needs are just as important to take care of as their physical, mental, emotional, and academic needs. 

Access to information 

Something true of social media (and the internet at large) is the wealth of information it provides. Whether it’s new cooking recipes on Pinterest or fun science facts on TikTok, kids can learn so many cool things from social media. And who knows? Perhaps something they come across online will spark an interest that leads to a hobby, skill, or even full-on career one day! 

Creative expression

One of the most wonderful things about social media is how it allows people to express themselves. If you have a passion or a skill, now you can share it with a real audience. While singing a song in front of a live audience may not be the same as posting a video, it can still give you butterflies to think of people listening to a performance you worked hard on. For kids, it can be extremely formative to use social media as a means of putting their talents out there and building confidence.

The Cons of Social Media 

Exposure to harmful content 

Remember how we said social media gives access to a wealth of information? That’s actually more of a bittersweet aspect of social media. With all that information, there’s inevitably inappropriate content that is not safe for kids. But you can’t get the good without the bad for almost all popular social media platforms. And even as social media companies have tried implementing community guidelines and explicit content filters, it’s still all too easy for a child to stumble across this while scrolling. 

Just one example of this is the prevalence of porn in these social media apps. Many parents don’t know just how accessible porn can be today. You can even find it on less assuming apps like Pinterest. Other apps like TikTok say their algorithm doesn't allow for explicit sexual content, but users have quickly found loopholes that allow them to post content without getting flagged by the filter. It’s called “algo-speak," and people use certain words or emojis to evade the algorithm (i.e., people will type corn or 🌽 instead of porn). 

Online predation  

With kids freely interacting in the public online space, it creates a wide open door for bad actors and predators to access and cause harm to your child. Online predation can sometimes be overlooked because of something we call the “not my kid syndrome.” As parents, we do our best to teach our kids to be smart and responsible, so naturally, we believe our child wouldn’t even engage with a stranger online. But the fact is, all kids are capable of making mistakes or having a lapse of judgment — including talking with a stranger online.

Addiction

Experts have found that social media can impact our brains in the exact same way as any other addictive substance. When we swipe through content on our feeds, dopamine is released in our brains. Soon enough, our brains start to crave that dopamine release, which constantly sends us back to our scrolling without hardly a conscience thought. If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to stay off Facebook for too long, imagine how much harder the temptation is for the not-yet-developed brains of our kids. 

Increased mental health struggles

As more research comes out about the impact of social media on teens, we’re seeing more evidence that social media can contribute greatly to mental health struggles. Studies have found that adolescents who spend more than 3 hours per day on social media are twice as likely to experience mental health problems like anxiety and depression. And remember, social media can be highly addictive, so 3 hours a day is hardly out of the ordinary for many teens. 

Outside of general anxiety and depression, we also see a higher likelihood of things like suicidal ideation, self-harm, and disordered eating among kids who frequently use social media. 

Still Not Sure If You Should Allow Social Media? Let Bark Help! 

The good news is that, as we said, this is a question all parents are having to face. Which means you’re not alone! And at the end of the day, the most important thing is making an informed decision based on what’s best for your child. So if it differs from other parents, that’s okay! But no matter where you land, Bark can help support you in your parenting tech journey. 

With Bark, you can block all or just specific social media apps that you don’t want your child to be on. If you do allow social media, Bark can scan 30+ popular apps and send you alerts if it detects any type of harmful content. This includes things like sexual content, predation, anxiety, depression, and much more. Start your free, 7-day trial today!