Protect Young Minds is devoted to helping kids install an internal filter in their brains. That said, we want to help parents and kids understand and benefit from the technology that impacts all of us. Here are six easy tech solutions that every proactive parent will want to know about.
Related:Three Steps to Give Kids an Internal Filter
We’re so grateful for our contributing tech experts: Chris McKenna, Nathaniel Holzmann, Sarah Jenson (who helped with the VR article) and Felix Gilbert. They make understanding technology easy!
Make the Xbox Safe for Kids!
Xbox Parental Controls: Your Stress-Free Guide to Gaming Safety
Parents often associate laptops and smartphones with online danger. It’s easy to forget that gaming systems expose kids to the same online risks. Like other internet devices, gaming consoles can be portals to pornography, cyber bullying, and even pedophiles seeking access to young victims. Xbox parental controls exist to help parents make this “all-in-one games and entertainment system” safer for kids. This post will explain, step by step, what parents need to know in order to make their Xbox gaming console a safe experience for the whole family. Learn more here.
The Answer to Which Smartphone is Safest for Kids
Apple or Android: Which Smartphone is Better for Kids?
Parents, this post is a gift for you–it’s a very thorough analysis that makes comparison so easy! Lower prices around the holidays often prompt parents to consider gifting a smartphone to their kid. But which is the best choice–Apple or Android? Or is there another better choice for kids? In this post, I’ll outline 8 important features to compare, including parental controls. I’ll even lay them out in easy-to-read charts. Finally, I’ll make a recommendation (that might surprise you)! Learn more here.
Get Ready for Virtual Reality–It’s Powerful (and a little scary)!
Virtual Reality: What No One is Telling Parents
Virtual reality (VR) technology is exploding in popularity. Not surprisingly, the porn industry is fully exploiting VR. If you’re a parent, you need the answers to these questions:
- What exactly is VR?
- Can VR benefit my child?
- How accessible is porn on VR devices?
- Is VR more addictive that normal screen interfaces?
- Can it harm my child’s eyesight or visual perception?
- Should I give a VR headset to my child?
Discover the answers about VR here.
Instagram 101 for Parents–a Must Read
Group Of Children Sitting In Mall Using Mobile Phones
Instagram and Your Kids: 5 Hidden Dangers
In less than five years, Instagram has gone from “that picture app” to become the most popular social media platform with tweens (ages 8-12) and teens (ages 13-18), with no signs of a slow-down.
In September 2015, Instagram reached 400 million users, with over 75% of its user base living outside of the U.S. It is the doorway social media experience for most young people, making it critical that parents have a keen understanding of its uses and risks.
Tweens and teens know a lot about Instagram, but most parents do not. Time to catch up on the appeal and dangers of Instagram. Catch up on Instagram here.
Circle with Disney: Tech Solutions for Mobile Devices in the Home
New Parental Controls: Circle with Disney Manages Devices at Home and Anywhere
Would you like more control over how and when your kids use their mobile devices? Something that would include filtering, time controls and accountability reports? Let me tell you about a new parental controls option called Circle with Disney that I use with my family.
Includes a list and description of 7 major features that parents will appreciate, including one called Circle Go that monitors devices away from your home. Read more about Circle here.
VidAngel: A Family Friendly Filter for Streaming Movies
VidAngel: The Secret Weapon for Family Movies
Have you ever watched a preview to a movie and then been disappointed by the R or PG-13 rating? You’d like to watch it with your family, but you don’t want to hear the profanity or see that one gratuitous bedroom scene? Enter VidAngel to the rescue!
VidAngel is a clever service that allows you to customize filters (language, violence, nudity etc.) for the movies you view using their streaming service. Discover how VidAngel can help your entire family enjoy more movies here.
The Internal Filter
The only filter that will go with your kids everywhere and help them in every situation is their own internal filter. The internal filter is installed piece by piece as you educate your kids about a wide range of topics, including what pornography is and why it’s dangerous, how an addiction begins and affects the brain, and how to reject porn when they see it.
The internal filter must be built and upgraded on a regular basis. Every conversation makes it stronger. That’s our goal here at Protect Young Minds–to help parents empower their kids to grow up healthy, safe and happy–free from addictions and unhealthy attitudes. Hang in there and keep up the good work! We are cheering you on!
Have your kids benefited from the bestselling read-aloud book Good Pictures Bad Pictures? If so, please tell your friends and family about it so more parents will be able empower their kids to reject pornography!
“It’s like the perfect answer to an anxiety-filled question: ‘How do I talk to my children about this without just making them more curious?!'” Amazon Reviewer, Daria
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The post Our 2016 Top Tech Solutions No Parent Can Afford to Miss appeared first on Protect Young Minds.