Family Tech Blog

Tag: limits

  • Instagram is Adding Useless Age Verification to Comply with Child Privacy Laws

    Instagram is Adding Useless Age Verification to Comply with Child Privacy Laws

    Users on most social media platforms are supposed to be 13 years old or older. Some apps have had a form of age verification available for a long time. This allowed them to collect data on all of their users without failing to comply with child privacy laws since you can’t have an account if you’re 12 or younger. They then, as much discussed on this blog and elsewhere, sell that data to advertisers or use it to sell targeted advertising on their own platform. Instagram hasn’t had age verification since it started. That is changing as of this week.

    You may have already seen your birthday show up on your profile in the Instagram app. Don’t worry, that information isn’t public, only you can see it. All users will have their birthday information on their profile as of this week. If the birth year used to create your profile shows that you are under the age of 13, your account will be suspended. When setting up a new Instagram account, the app will now ask for you to put in your birth date.

    “Asking for this information will help prevent underage people from joining Instagram, help us keep young people safer and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall,” the company wrote. “In the coming months, we will use the birthday information you share with us to create more tailored experiences, such as education around account controls and recommended privacy settings for young people.”

    Asking for users ages has already been a part of major social media apps like Snapchat but Instagram hadn’t added it to their sign up process yet. TikTok added age verification after being fined nearly 6 million dollars by the Federal Trade Commission. The problem with these age verification practices is that they are fully reliant on users being honest about their age. All you have to do is a little bit of math to determine when you have to have been born to be over 12 years old. When you enter your new determined birth-date you would be allowed into the app just like anyone else. Parents have been known to lie about their kids ages to allow them to have social media accounts, this is allowed by COPPA as it counts as parent permission. The problem is that developers of these apps can’t tell the difference between a parent making an an account for their child or the kid making their own and lying about their age.

    What Parents Should Know

    Age verifications on social media apps are a hand wave towards regulations that depend solely on users to take the rules into account when using the apps. This means that they aren’t concerned with the safety of users as much as their own ability to skirt around fines and other regulations from the Federal Trade Commission. It is very obvious that these apps are meant to be open and as public as possible. The want as many users as they can get because they aren’t social media companies, these are advertising companies. They sell ads, plain and simple. When you sign up to use social media you are signing up to be advertised to specifically and aggressively. When we sign our kids up and lie about their age we are telling these companies to treat them just like any other consumer.

    If you are honest with yourself, the reason you’re allowing your young kids to use social media is pretty weak. Because their friends have it? Because a teacher says that’s how they contact students? There are ways around any of the reasons you think lead to your hands being tied. All it takes is your own knowledge of what being on these social media apps means for your kids and then a little bit of confidence to just say no. Stand up to your kid, you are the parent after all, or stand up to that teacher or coach. Ask them why they want to contact your 12 year old on social media anyway, does that sound appropriate to you? I submit that in nearly any other context it would not be acceptable.

    You are the first line of defense. Advertising and data collection is the main issue that the government leans on when saying they are trying to protect children online. There are, however, so many other issues to be concerned with. Pornography is rampant on apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. You se report after report of young people discussing suicide, mental health problems, and eating disorders on these apps. This information is just sitting there for our children to see. When you give in and allow them to use social media at an early age simply because you think it’s no big deal, or you trust your child, you are allowing things into their minds that cannot be unseen. You’re giving them access to a world that cannot be left behind. Once you know about or begin to contemplate these things, they are permanently a part of your psyche. We must do better. We have to be smarter about our children’s access apps with user generated content. Whether it be games, social media, or any other software. We cannot trust software companies to do the right thing. They are looking after their bottom line first. It is up to us to protect our children. Not the government, not app developers, not the schools, or even police departments and social workers. It is up to you, mom, dad, aunt uncle, grandma, and grandpa. Only you.

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  • Get Parental Control Tools for Cheap on Amazon’s Prime Day

    Get Parental Control Tools for Cheap on Amazon’s Prime Day

    Meet Circle, Our Favorite Home WiFi Parental Control Solution

    We love Circle. It monitors our kids online activity and protects them from happening upon websites they should be avoiding. I recommend Circle everywhere I go and to everyone I talk to. They have released a NEW VERSION of Circle that includes a year of premium features when you buy the device. If you are ok with having the older version (which is still supported, at least for now) you can get it for a third of the original price on Amazon right now.

    A Kid Friendly Watch with Messaging

    You may not want your child to have their own phone but need them to be able to contact you when necessary. This watch uses the Android operating system and allows GPS tracking, WiFi, Calls and Messaging. It also has a camera. The watch is kid sized, made for children ages 4-12. If you want the phone call option you will need to get a sim card from your cell service provider (Verizon and Sprint not supported.)

    Have Some Screen Free Fun!

    Parental Control doesn’t always mean keeping them safe while on technology. Sometimes it means keeping them off of tech completely. Board games are a great way to achieve the goal of entertaining your kids without screen time.

    Whatever age your kids are, there are some awesome off screen games available on Amazon’s Prime Day today. Whether you want to build a Unicorn Army, expand civilization through villages and farms, or collect jewels to earn more points than your opponents, these games are a ton of fun! Check out the deals on these tabletop games and sit down with your family, with no screens, and have a good time. Board games encourage eye contact, communication, healthy competition, and creative/critical thinking. They are good for learning as well as fun.

     

    Enjoy Each-other Outdoors

    Sometimes you just have to get outside. These activities will give you a chance to leave the technology indoors and head out for some “green time.”  Use your aim and dexterity to score as many points as possible in the classic Ladder Toss game which is on sale at a special Prime Day price for then next couple of days. If you’d rather toss Horse Shoes, this kid safe version of the outdoor favorite is also priced for Prime Day. If you want a new twist on an old classic, check out this Cornhole/Golf Chipping Target combo. It’s only $40 today.

    Thanks for partnering with BecauseFamily (Four Point Families 501c3)

    BecauseFamily exists to protect children and teenagers by bridging the technology gap between them and their parents. As we work to provide resources to parents and kids alike, you partnership helps us continue our mission to keep kids safe. Your options for supporting BecauseFamily are available at BecauseFamily.org/partnership and include direct donation through PayPal, ongoing support of our media content through Patreon, using our affiliate links, and signing up to support us on smile.amazon.com. The links above all direct you to the smile.amazon.com page for those products. You may be asked to sign up for who to support, search Four Point Families to elect us as the benefactor of your Amazon Smile donations. We are eternally grateful for your support!

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  • The Three Worst Tech Parents

    The Three Worst Tech Parents

    I had the opportunity to speak at a conference last week that was full of educators and school administration. They were extremely excited about the things I had to share, they loved learning about ways to protect their students online, and they were generally interested in the statistics and facts about online dangers. They all, however, had one major complaint. “Parents just don’t seem to care.“

    That’s right! Teachers, administration, afterschool program leaders, and even librarians want to help kids learn the best way to use their tech devices. Everyone is concerned about overuse and too much screen time. Nobody wants kids to end up on the wrong websites or being communicated to by the wrong people. They all want kids to be protected while they’re on school property but they know that that is only a very small amount of time compared to the time they spend online at home.

    This all falls on parents. There is no one who has as much influence over their children as the parents who raise them. Teachers, coaches, pastors, and mentors all do what they can and have a real heart to protect your kids but if mom and dad aren’t taking part then it is an uphill battle.

    Here are three kinds of technology parents and where they mess up.

    1. The ”Do as I say, not as I do.” parent.

    I’ll never forget my neighbor’s grandfather when I was a child. He smoked like a chimney, several packs of cigarettes every day. When we would be outside playing with our friends, it never failed, he would come out light up a cigarette and immediately tell us all, “Never start smoking, it’s really bad for you.”

    I get addiction. I understand that there are things people can’t just give up. But this “do as I say not as I do” attitude can be very harmful to our kids. When it comes to technology most of us lift our phones about every 10 seconds on average. We spend 4 to 6 hours per day creeping Facebook, watching YouTube, and posting to Instagram.

    Even as a 10-year-old kid I realized how weird it was that this man was standing there, chain-smoking cigarettes, and telling us not to do the same thing. Our kids get confused when we tell them they can’t have any more screen time while we are looking at our phone just like we have all day long. Put it down, look up, and set a good example for your children.

    1. The “I’m super busy.” parent.

    I remember being told to play outside because my mom needed a few minutes to her self. We would go play at friends’ houses and every now and then a friend would say that his mom wouldn’t let us play there today because she needed the house to her self. Parents have always needed time without kids running around asking for things and getting on their nerves. The difference is that when I was a child I was going to the homes of people my parents knew. Now we set our kids down in front of devices on which they can communicate with the entire world.

    Using Netflix or YouTube as a babysitter is just simply a bad idea. It can be useful if you know how to set it up properly but most of the time parents know less about these sites and apps than their kids do. I get that you’re busy. I understand you have things you have to get done. It’s just very easy to allow your kid to be on the screen for 4 to 6 hours before you realize how long it has been. Use some sort of app that sets a time limit for your kids’ Screen time. That way it doesn’t fall to you to remember when they their time is up. It automatically kicks them off and you can tell them to get outside and have some fun in the sun.

    1. The “I have great kids.” parent

    Of course you have great kids. I know they don’t want to do anything wrong online. They will not bully people, they won’t send inappropriate photos, and they are definitely not visiting adult websites. The problem with this logic is that they don’t have to seek out these things, they come to them. Two out of every three kids who see adult content for the first time saw it by accident and the average age a young man sees pornography for the first time is age 8! These are, most likely, children whose parents would consider “Good Kids.”

    I sat and watched a young lady of seven years old create videos of herself and post them publicly on an app called Likee. I went to look at this app in the App Store and saw that it is rated 17+ because of the ability to post your videos publicly online. I guarantee mom didn’t know that app was posting videos that strangers can see online. Moms and dads trust their kids because they believe they’re going to do the right thing. The issue isn’t usually what your kid does online. Most of the time the problem is the strangers on the other side of that screen.

    Your kids need you to care!

    The worst thing we do, as parents, is decide that we can’t learn any more about the tech our kids are using. We cannot be fooled into thinking that the digital world is moving too fast for us to keep up. It does move fast, I understand, but there are resources that we can and should use to help us better wrap our minds around our children’s time on tech. Use FamilyTechBlog.com, our YouTube Channel, and Podcast to help you stay informed. Knowledge is definitely power. You need that power to keep your kids safe and help them develop healthy habits.

    Secondly, we often get too focused on ourselves and what we need. While our homes shouldn’t be fully centered around our children, we have to set some boundaries and standards to protect our kids from the nonsense that the online world can provide. We should pay attention to what they do on social media and not let them use those apps until they are old enough to use them responsibly. We need to be knowledgable about the video games they play, the sites they visit, and who they communicate with online. We should learn all we can, every chance we get, to continue to keep our kids safe.

    It is easy to get discouraged. We hear of the worst case scenario on the news almost daily. kids going missing, kids hurting themselves because of something they’ve seen online, and studies showing how damaging excessive screen time can be for our childrens’ brains. I advise that you don’t get discouraged but get inspired. Let this information drive you to learn more to protect your kids. Learn all you can and share what you learn with all of the parents you know. That’s the best way to protect our kids and help them build healthy habits.

     

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  • New Research Includes Screen Time Limits as Critical for Childrens’ Cognitive Health

    New Research Includes Screen Time Limits as Critical for Childrens’ Cognitive Health

    The elements that create a healthy environment for our children are ever-changing. We want them to understand how to eat right, get exercise, get an education, stay off drugs, and so much more. A new study in Canada has isolated three critical factors for our kids’ health, and not surprisingly, the amount of time they spend on a screen is one of the major players.

    Jeremy J Walsh of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario published the study that surveyed more than four thousand children ages eight to eleven. They measured cognitive abilities and the amount of time kids spent in active play, sleeping, and on screens. These three factors proved key to high cognitive health in children. The strongest results were from children who slept for 9 to 11 hours per night, spent at least 1 hour per day in active play, and spent less than two hours per day on screens. The study did not differentiate between types of screen time (entertainment/education) but researches say they are continuing their studies in that direction. 

    The report stated that sleep and screen time were the categories most strongly related to cognitive health and that only five percent of children surveyed met the requirements on all three categories. Sadly, nearly one third of the children in the study didn’t meet any of the requirements at all. 

    What Parents Should Know

    You’ve probably heard the fact that many of the developers of the most popular tech products have strict screen time limits for their kids. As do family tech safety experts, myself included. Research is continuing to show that unlimited access to screens can be detrimental to our health and especially to our children’s health. Childhood obesity, mental health, and even suicide rates are rising in the United States, right alongside the number of people who would consider themselves addicted to their screens and to social media. 

    I am looking forward to seeing what the researchers conclude concerning the types of screen time children are having. Smaller studies have shown that young kids learn less when they learn on screens, so I wouldn’t be surprised if cognitive health is affected just as negatively by screen time used for education as it is for entertainment. We will have to wait and see. 

    In the meantime I recommend using Apple’s Screen time, Accountable2You, or UnGlue to monitor the amount of time your child is using their screens. Include the amount of time you know they spend in front of a screen at school as well. Remember that four rounds of Fortnite is about two hours (if you’re pretty good at it) and that game is available on every device your kid has. YouTube videos, social media scrolling, and messaging all add up to two hours of screen time rather quickly too. This is why it is so important to monitor their time spent and even limit it with software or hardware on your wifi and data connection.