As the average age of a first mobile device increases and the number of social tools our kids use to connect increases, us parents are often left scratching our heads when it comes to keeping our children safe online. Today the average age for a first mobile device is 13, according to new PEW research, with 24% of teens reporting being ‘almost constantly’ online. So how to do we are parents ensure that our kids stay safe while navigating the digital world inside their screens?
The key is to keep the conversation positive, by discussing safety with our kids at a positive moment – when we give our kids a phone, or give them permission to use Instagram. That is the best opportunity to have open communication about digital responsibility and safety.
While new social technologies are sprouting up daily, there are also safety technologies that are working hard to keep those social communications safe and help prevent the tragic media stories we increasingly see. One such technology is VISR, which uses natural-language processing, machine learning, and feedback from parents to present parents alerts when their kids may be facing problematic situations on social media. VISR alerts parents about concerning behavior like sexting, drug use, and bullying on channels in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and KidsEmail.
We recently partnered with VISR to add Kids Email as a channel to their technology. We did this for two reasons: first, it allows KidsEmail users to receive alerts about potential problems within the email content, and second, you can use VISR to increase the digital safety net for your kids by getting alerts for all the social channels they support.
If you’re not yet a VISR user, head on over to VISR.co and use the promo-code ‘kidsemail’ to sign up. Once signed up, follow the steps outlined here to add KidsEmail as a channel.
We are excited to provide you with great tools to keep your kids safe not only on e-mail but on other social media channels as well. If you have any questions or feedback contact us at support@kidsemail.org and contact VISR at support@visr.co.