There are very few things that all parents can agree on, but this one’s a certainty: Middle school is hard. If you have a middle schooler at home, you’ve probably thought this to yourself more than once just this week. It’s easy to understand why middle school is a universally difficult time. Kids are experiencing rapid changes in just about every area of their lives — physical, emotional, social, academic, and more. Their brains are still developing, hormones are surging, and they’re suddenly expected to handle more responsibility than ever before.
On top of all of that, today’s middle schoolers are also navigating something most parents didn’t have to: a 24/7 digital world. Teens are juggling group chats that never stop buzzing and apps that are designed to keep them scrolling all day (and night) long. Again, for a still-developing brain, this is more than a little overwhelming.
From the parents' perspective, it feels like our sweet little kids who once adored us are now annoyed by our very presence. They practically become unrecognizable overnight. As one parent put it, “They seemed to have been body-snatched and replaced, internally, by seventh graders.” This sudden shift, to say the least, is jarring, even for the most seasoned parent.
So, what are parents to do? We don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we can offer some practical advice. Bark has long been committed to making parents’ lives just a little easier, even in the toughest moments of parenting.
Take the Guessing Out of Screen Time
Child experts have always known that kids thrive with structure and a predictable routine, and that doesn’t stop in middle school. When rules aren’t clear, it quickly turns into power struggles and resentment. So the less guessing, the better.
We recommend setting clear, specific expectations as early as possible. Think about:
- How much screen time is allowed per day? On school nights vs. weekends?
- What time does the internet shut off at night?
- Does TV count as screen time?
- Which apps or games are allowed, and which aren’t?
- At what age can they have social media accounts (if ever)?
Bonus tip: Use our tech contract template to build one that fits your family!
How Bark can help: Bark has the most granular screen time features you can find! The Bark app and Bark Phone allows you to set screen time schedules so you can decide what they have access to throughout the day. The Bark Phone also offers time limits for apps, so they don’t get carried away on a specific app. The best part is that these screen time rules happen automatically. No more arguing to get them off Instagram or physically taking the device — Bark simply turns it off for you.
Bark Home is another great option for families to cover more than just smartphones. This is a small device that plugs directly into your router and allows you to manage internet access for all internet-connected devices — all from one place.
Give Them a Healthy Level of Privacy
Middle school is when kids feel an overwhelming desire to have their own life away from parents and family. They crave independence, autonomy, trust, and — seemingly most importantly — privacy. Even if kids have nothing bad to hide, they want to feel like they have something that is just theirs.
How Bark can help: This is exactly the philosophy we built our content monitoring on. When Bark monitors your child’s online activities, we use powerful AI technology that we’ve trained for over a decade now to detect problematic or harmful behaviors. If anything is detected, you’ll be sent an alert straight to your phone. The alert will include a “snippet” of the conversation, with some additional messages to give you some context for the situation. Aside from this, parents don’t get full, unfettered access to their child’s online world.
What does this mean for kids? It means the harmless messages with their friends aren’t constantly being seen by parents. Bark passes over those messages just like you would if you manually check their phone. What does it mean for parents? You get to have peace of mind that you’ll be notified of the important things, so you can be there for your child when they need you most.
Let Them Explore the World One Step at a Time
Not only do they want digital independence, but they also want real independence to go places without their parents all the time. Oftentimes, this just means down the street to a friend’s house, staying after practice to grab ice cream, or biking around the neighborhood without a parent tagging along.
Those small moments of age-appropriate freedoms are immensely formative for a young teenager’s development, but it’s equally as nerve-wracking for parents to loosen the reins for the first time.
How Bark can help: The Bark Phone and Bark app both have powerful GPS location tracking abilities to help you keep track of your child, without having to be right next to them. Not only do you get live updates, but you can also get location alerts, location check-ins, and more.
Bonus tip: Not sure if your child is ready for a smartphone yet? You could check out the Bark Watch instead! This gives you the communication and location tracking you need without the distractions of a phone.
Ready to Get Started with Bark?
Middle school is tough, but we want to help make it a little easier. If you’re interested in trying Bark, we offer a 7-day free trial for the Bark app so you can see for yourself why tons of parents have trusted Bark to help during these difficult yet important teenage years. You can also learn more about our full suite of parental control products, including the Bark Phone, Bark Watch, and Bark Home. Your kids don’t have to navigate middle school all by themselves, and neither should you, so Bark is here to help!
Read more
Bark helps families manage and protect their children’s digital lives.
