Wednesday, October 12th has come to be known as National Stop Bullying Day. A little brief history for you.

National Stop Bullying Day: How Can You Do Your Part?

Here are 4 ways you can use FamilyKeeper to keep your kids safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Child safety during Coronavirus (COVID-19)

How to keep our kids safe online while giving them the space they need to grow.

Let Your Kids Spread Their Wings, Safely!

How to balance your kids’ need for technology with your need to protect them.

Worried about cyberthreats? Get your kids a digital helmet!

The current dangers of overexposure to YouTube.

The Dangers of YouTube

Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that happens over digital devices like smartphones, computers and tablets.

Cyberbullying - What You Need To Know

The three main indicators of Screen Addiction that you should watch out for

The Dangers of Screen Addiction

When discussing cyberbullying with your children, it’s hugely important to keep the lines of communication open. The more confident youngsters feel in discussing their online activity, the more autonomy it will give them in terms of pushing back against cyberbullies.

How to Help Your Kids Prevent Cyberbullying

With in-app purchases, it is all too easy to rack up the credit card bill by paying for added extras – whether it’s accidentally or on purpose.

Kids vs. In-App Purchases: 6 Tips to Prevent a Surprise Hefty Bill!

Here are a few tips to help you with gifting digital devices this Christmas.

New Phone for Christmas? Here’s How to Keep Your Kids Safe Online

The aim of Safer Internet Day is to make the internet a safer place, for kids in particular, by raising awareness of emerging online issues and current concerns – from cyberbullying to social networking to digital identity.

Safer Internet Day: What Can We Do to Effect Change?

We’ve put together 5 Pillars of Cyberbullying Prevention for parents to easily implement in the fight against cyberbullying.

5 Tips for Parents to Help Stop Cyberbullying

These five tips aim to help parents manage the unwitting dangers of screen time in a practical and purposeful way.

5 Simple Tips to Manage Kids’ Screen Time

Here are 7 apps to familiarize yourself with in order to best understand what kids may be viewing, how we can find safer ways to monitor them, and how to open up those conversations with your child surrounding if, how and when they should use certain apps.

The Dark Side of our Favorite Apps: 7 Most Dangerous Apps for Kids and Teens

International Stand Up to Bullying Day is a semi-annual event to raise public awareness around bullying in all its forms.

Don't Be a Bystander: It's International Stand Up to Bullying Day!

We’ve delved into the heart of social media use to find the 5 most prominent dangers that we need to be aware of.

The Dark Side of Social Media: 5 Dangers to Be Wary Of

The word ‘games’ implies fun – but some of these popular online experiences, even those aimed at kids, contain worrying content. Here's what you should be looking out for.

7 Alarming Online Games to Watch Out For

This International Children’s Book Day, whether your child is holding a tablet or a physical book, it’s time to explore the world of children’s literature.

International Children’s Book Day: Switch Off Screens and Curl Up with a Good Book!

Our job is to keep you and your family cyber safe – so this year, enjoy our top tips for a stress-free Easter!

3 Tips to Keep Your Loved Ones Cyber Safe this Easter!

Over 40% of teenagers have reported experiencing loneliness as a result of social media – an astonishing figure considering that ‘social’ implies togetherness.

40% of Teenagers Experience Loneliness. Help Protect Them With These 3 Steps

Social media platforms, chatrooms, WhatsApp and text messaging, online gaming – the advent of web-based connections is affecting our ability to form face-to-face relationships with people.

Too Much Screen Time? Risks, Dangers, and What We Can Do to Help

As adults, we may have trained ourselves to function on less sleep – but try reasoning with an overtired toddler or a moody teenager and you may well be on a mission to lessen screen time, and create a more serene bedtime experience for your family!

Put Those Screens Away! 4 Ways To Make Bedtime Easier

National Missing Children’s Day serves as a reminder that we should continue our efforts to reunite missing children with their families.

Keeping Our Children Safe – The No. 1 Priority Of All Parents

We’ve rounded up 5 top apps that provide educational value this summer – so that you can get stuff done, your children can be happily occupied, and they learn a little something too!

Can Screen Time be Beneficial? 5 Apps with Educational Value

How do you set the boundaries when your child receives a phone? And how do you keep your kids safe from online harm? Never fear - we've got you covered!

Back to School, Back to Routine. Why Do I Need A Parental Control App?

Lead gaming app Roblox is an online platform where games can be both made and played by users. With so many varied games on offer, there are games on the platform that aren’t remotely child-friendly or appropriate for all ages.

Worried About Sexual Roblox Content? 5 Games to Look Out For

Which are the latest dangerous crazes that have emerged from social media?

Online Threats To Be Aware Of: 3 Dangerous TikTok Challenges

Wednesday, October 12th has come to be known as National Stop Bullying Day.

FamilyKeeper has rounded up the top apps to help you and your kids enhance Thanksgiving.

Top Apps To Enhance This Year’s Thanksgiving With Your Kids

Cyberbullying can affect a victim’s self-esteem, self-confidence, social behavior, school work, self-worth, and self-awareness, and lead to extremities such as self-harm and in the worst cases, even suicide.

Cyberbullying on Social Media: When Does It Become Violent?

There are more new apps than ever exploding onto the scene. We’ve rounded up the top 3 new apps that parents ought to know about.

Three Popular Apps in 2023 That Parents Should Know About

There are some inherent risks that parents and guardians should be aware of when it comes to their kids and Discord's safety.

Is Discord Safe For Kids? Everything You Need To Know

There are so many popular apps for kids in 2023, but there are several genres of mobile apps that parents should be concerned about. So which popular apps should you consider blocking?

Dangerous Apps To Block: How To Block Apps And Why

Gacha Games are a relatively new genre of online gaming, whose popularity is on the rise.

What are Gacha Games and who plays them? Everything you need to know

"Sneaky link" is a slang term that refers to a secret or discreet meeting between two people who are romantically interested in each other.

Sneaky Link: The What, Who, How, and Why of This Online Slang

The content of YouTube Shorts varies widely, and while some YouTube Shorts may be appropriate for kids, others may not be.

Are YouTube Shorts Safe For Kids? How to Block YouTube Shorts

Why should parents use a web content filtering solution? And how is it used to block harmful websites?

How Do I Safeguard My Child Online? Web Content Filtering in Parental Control Apps

In this blog, we will explore what screen addiction is, why it is detrimental to young minds, and how parental control apps can help prevent and manage this issue.

Prevent Screen Addiction & Tips for Screen Addiction Treatment

Instagram Threads is relatively new - but is it safe to use? Everything parents need to know

Is Instagram Threads Safe for Kids? The Risks You Should Know

There’s no getting around it. Sooner or later, your kids are going to ask for a smartphone. They might even already have one. As they should. Today, smartphones are an essential part of our lives. We use them for socializing, to pass the time, as well as tools to support our work and our studies. We’d even go so far to say that in many places, kids who don’t have access to a smartphone are at a big disadvantage.

In fact, the latest research [shows](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens-2019) that smartphone ownership among children is quickly growing. In the US alone, more than half of children already own a smartphone by the age of 11. That number goes up to 84% when looking solely at teenagers.

This means that in our smartphone-driven world, the question isn’t whether to buy or not to buy your kids a smartphone, but whether or not you’ve properly prepared them to be smart, safe and responsible while they’re using it. Unfortunately, just like in the real world, there are dangers in the digital world. Cyberthreats like online predators, cyberbullying, inappropriate usage and screen addiction are all real problems that cannot be ignored. 

So how can you balance your kids’ need for technology with your need to protect them? It’s not like anyone ever taught us how to use the internet or our smartphones. Well, like many other issues in the modern world, preventative measures that reduce the risk are a great place to start. 

When you think about it, smartphones are just another tool that your kids need to learn how to navigate on their road to independence. As a responsible parent, it’s up to you to teach them how to correctly use this tool, without exposing themselves to dangers. 

It’s our responsibility to equip our kids with protective gear that keeps them safe until they learn how to properly use smartphones on their own. This protective gear gives you the ability to allow your kids to use their smartphones, while ensuring that they are protected while doing so. It’s the ultimate compromise. Kids get the freedom to use their smartphones, while you, the parents, can rest assured that they are protected as they learn the right way to do this.

Just like we give them helmets before they start riding their bikes and seat belts when they start driving, we should use apps like FamilyKeepers when they get their first smartphones. The same way that we sit in the passenger seat and closely watch our children’s first attempts to drive, we should monitor the way they use their smartphones. 

FamilyKeeper is an advanced smartphone app for Android and iOS that uses the latest technology to protect your children from cyberthreats and to monitor their usage to ensure that they are using their smartphones for the things you want them to. 

**Monitor** — Get real-time alerts about any problematic behavior and inappropriate usage. Quickly understand if your kids are at danger from cyber predators or cyberbullies. Easily take in how your kids are using their smartphone by accessing in-depth analytics. 

**Set rules** — Establish guidelines about proper smartphone usage. Use FamilyKeepers to establish rules and regulations about which apps they can use and about when and for how long they can use their smartphones during the day. Set up usage limits, block specific websites and apps and turn off internet access during school hours.

Use FamilyKeeper to give your kids the protection they need to safely use their smartphones.

Remember, to work correctly FamilyKeeper should be installed on your childrens’ devices and your own. [Contact us](https://familykeeper.reasonlabs.com/contact/) if you have any difficulties setting it up.

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We’re sure that by now you’re all aware of at least some of the digital dangers that await your kids on their smartphones, tablets and computers. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading this post. Regardless of what you know (or don’t) about cyberthreats, we felt it was worth taking the time to dive into one specific cyberthreat. Cyberbullying.

[Cyberbullying](https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it) is a type of bullying that happens over digital devices like smartphones, computers and tablets. It can take place over any medium through which content is shared including SMS, messaging apps, IMs, social media and even in multiplayer games. Boiled down to its essence, cyberbullying can be defined as the sharing or sending of negative, harmful, false or mean content about someone else. The sharing of personal or private information about someone without prior consent is also considered a widespread form of cyberbullying. 

Here’s some fresh [stats](https://cyberbullying.org/2019-cyberbullying-data) about cyberbullying to help you understand just how prevalent and common it has become today.

Yes, cyberbullying is a problem that your kids will most likely encounter at some point in their lives. Parental control apps like FamilyKeeper help protect your kids by alerting you to any problematic language or behavior across different social media apps and platforms. But that’s not enough. The better you prepare your kids for appropriate, safe digital behavior, the more secure they will be while on their devices. 

Cyberbullying comes in many shapes and forms. The more you know about the different tactics, the better you will be equipped to deal with them. From nude photo sharing, spreading lies and false accusations, to creating fake profiles to solicit information, and encouraging self-harm or suicide, the list is long.

Like any other problematic behavior, there are ways to pick up on whether your child is being cyberbullied, or is cyberbullying others. For example, increased (or decreased) usage of devices and strong emotional responses to what is happening on their device are warning signs. Other signs to watch out for include a child hiding their device or refusing to discuss what they’re doing on it, along with depression or withdrawal from social activities.

Along with using FamilyKeeper, a great way to protect your kids from cyberbullying is to establish rules and talk about what you consider to be appropriate types of content and digital behavior. By creating an open, honest dialog with your kids you can convey your values and expectations. Discuss the importance of maintaining a good online reputation and educate about the harmful effects of cyberbullying. Be very clear about the type of content you think your kids should be sharing or seeing. Set up limitations on usage and screen time and always set an example of displaying positive, respectful behavior when using your own digital devices. 

Another way to prevent negative digital experiences is to teach your kids appropriate actions to take if they’re witnessing cyberbullying. Teach them that they should never share or “like” hurtful texts or other forms of cyberbullying and should consider responding privately to the person doing it. Consider reaching out to the targeted child to publicly show that cyberbullying is negative behavior that isn’t supported by the majority.

FamilyKeeper is a leading parental control app that gives you tools to prevent cyberbullying and other digital dangers. Advanced monitoring across social media apps and messaging platforms alert you to any dangerous or suspicious behaviors.

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Growing up in today’s hyper-connected world comes with a whole host of issues. In and of themselves, the majority of apps and sites aren’t inherently dangerous. The problems occur when they are mismanaged or, as with anything, used for bad instead of for good.

It’s scary to see how the apps we love the most can also be the most dangerous. Even the least unassuming apps, such as YouTube, enter the realm of being unsafe once we realize how much alarming content our kids are subject to – whether it’s the videos themselves, the comments underneath posts, or the various ads.

As with most things in life, moderation is key – as are expectations. Here are 7 apps to familiarize yourself with in order to best understand what kids may be viewing, how we can find safer ways to monitor them, and how to open up those conversations with your child surrounding if, how and when they should use certain apps.

**⛔ 1 TikTok**

There are negative newsworthy stories related to this app seemingly every week, whether it be mental health issues, dangerous challenges, or body image issues. Just last month, kids in Texas were hospitalized after trying out the TikTok Benadryl Challenge 

According to TikTok’s community guidelines, the video-sharing app is “deeply committed” to child safety and has “zero tolerance” for behavior that could lead to child abuse or sexual exploitation – but even so, parents should make sure to turn on all privacy settings for their kid’s account, so only people their kids know can interact with them.

**⛔ 2 Snapchat**

As the images and messages get deleted instantly, people sometimes use the app for unethical activities, including images and messages they think they can ‘get away with.’ These include embarrassing photos, nude images and ‘revenge porn.’  And once those images are out in the ether, it only takes one second for a crafty person to take a screenshot – and then that proof is out there forever. 

**⛔ 3 Psst! Anonymous**

Psst! Anonymous is a chat room app that prides itself on messages being deleted almost immediately from the server, ID-masking, and identity-less private chat. For parents, these so-called benefits are super disturbing. Basically, if someone contacts / messages / trolls / bullies your child – there is no way to catch the perpetrator. 

Psst! Anonymous is only one of many anonymous chat room apps available – other current popular versions include Whisper, Blendr, Tellonym, Ask.fm, and more. Not only is anonymity an issue here in terms of ‘stranger danger’ and online grooming – but at the most basic level, social etiquette goes out the window. There’s no accountability for what someone writes – and kids are losing the ability to empathize, as they don’t see the negative impact that their hurtful words may be having.

**⛔ 4 Kik **

Kik is a popular free messaging app used for group chats or direct messages – and enables you to contact both friends and strangers. As with the apps mentioned above, it also allows users to remain anonymous. While anonymity could be seen as a positive aspect, it’s also a concerning one – anonymous messaging apps can make kids feel safer and bolder, leading them to divulge too much information, participate in cyberbullying, or even make risky decisions. Kik Messenger has been associated with sexual predators and inappropriate content in the past, and is rated as inappropriate for anyone younger than 17.

**⛔ 5 Instagram**

Instagram’s emphasis is on ‘the visual’ – the best pictures, photo collages, reels and ‘stories’. 

One of the main problems with Instagram is the ‘My Perfect Life’ pretense – users are so keen to match their lives to the ‘picture perfect’ images they see on this social media app that it becomes difficult to separate fantasy from reality, especially as the majority of images are heavily edited and filtered. This often leads to low self-esteem, low self-confidence and body image issues. 

Additionally, ‘Influencer’ culture is rife on Instagram – and not all influencers are a good influence! They may also hold religious, racial, or cultural beliefs which you wouldn’t necessarily want your child to be influenced by – and there is the added worry of ‘dangerous selfies’, whereby influencers will post pictures in risky situations, prompting their followers to try and emulate them. 

**⛔ 6 YouTube**

YouTube’s incredibly vast array of content is not always kid-friendly. As well as educational and How-To videos, YouTube is also host to explicit videos and offensive language. While YouTube does monitor content, their commitment to openness means that some videos remain that may be suitable for adult viewing, but may not be suitable for kids.  Once a child has access to YouTube, including every ad that precedes the videos, they can roam freely – and it can be very difficult to monitor what disturbing, offensive or age-inappropriate content they may be viewing. 

YouTube will also auto-recommend videos it thinks a user is interested in – so one violent video could prompt a viewer to watch many more as the app continues to auto-load ads and videos – leading to a downward spiral of negative influence. 

Remember: YouTube is user-created – so while the app can and does red flag content where it needs to, this doesn’t necessarily happen before a child has already viewed it.

**⛔ 7 Roblox**

Roblox is an online platform where games can be both made and played by users. While imaginative play is to be applauded, there are games on the platform that have horror or bloody themes. Roblox themselves do offer parental controls, but it’s important to check what types of games your child is actually accessing.

**What Part Can We Play**

Part of the danger isn’t necessarily the various apps and online content – it’s the scaremongering amongst parents can often distract from the real issues at hand.

Using any social network can be risky, but it is possible for kids to safely use certain apps as long as they have excellent privacy settings. Parental supervision is also recommended. 

The answer is not to remove social media from kids’ lives completely. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) as well as the camaraderie that some games and social media apps bring can be important aspects of children’s, tweens’ and teens’ lives.  Our job as parents is to make sure that whatever is happening, it’s within a safe environment. 

Parental control apps are a great solution for managing the vast amount of potentially dangerous apps out there. You’ll be able to have peace of mind that your kids are keeping cyber safe.

**A parental control app like FamilyKeeper will:**

- Notify you if incendiary keywords are used
- Supervise which apps your child is downloading
- Allow you to block age-inappropriate websites
- Help to protect your child from online predators
- Alert you when unknown numbers or profiles attempt to contact your child
- Detect suspicious or dangerous images

FamilyKeeper also encourages parents to discuss with their children the dangers of these apps, and why a parental control app is an important safety feature. During the app set-up process, you can review with your child when, why, and how to use certains apps and sites – and why some may not be a good idea.  

For further information, visit www.familykeeper.reasonlabs.com.

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Kids are under immense pressure in today’s ‘Look at me!’ world. It’s become the norm to judge ourselves and others by the number of followers and reactions that we garner on social media – but using social media stats as the bar against which self-confidence is measured can be extremely harmful.

We’ve delved into the heart of social media use to find the 5 most prominent dangers that we need to be aware of:

## 1) Body Image

Social media platforms, such as Instagram, are flooded with photos and selfies of users trying to show their best self, but the images are often heavily filtered, edited and photoshopped – so what we see is often unattainable.

When kids only see picture-perfect imagery, they may start to question themselves – how they look, and how others see them. Throw in puberty and changing bodies, and suddenly there’s a maelstrom of uncertainty.

Using social media, we scrutinize images over and over again. The search for “perfection” can be obsessive and unhealthy, and bring up all kinds of insecurities – so much so that the AAFPRS reported that the dramatic 2021 increase in facial reconstruction requests stemmed from ‘selfie awareness’, triggered by overuse of social media.

## 2) Online Privacy

Generation Z are notoriously laissez faire when it comes to online privacy – private details such as address, habits, check-ins and locations are often splashed across social media. The culture of ‘sharing’ on social media can lead to an over-sharing of personal information. This can lead to doxing – hackers steal information gleaned from social media cybersecurity breaches to set up fake accounts based on a person’s profile, friends lists, and likes or dislikes.

By 2021, it was estimated that 43 million Americans had experienced doxing – leading to publishing of personal details, harassment, embarrassment, and loss of personal information.

## 3) Cyberbullying

Despite international efforts to prevent cyberbullying, harassment on social media apps is still on the rise.  Currently, the top three social media apps most associated with cyberbullying are YouTube – where 79% of users have reported a form of cyberbullying, Snapchat (69%), and TikTok (64%).   

Cyberbullying includes sending or sharing harmful or embarrassing content, trolling, and making malicious comments. By posting online anonymously, cyberbullies can write whatever they want, without fear of repercussions. This trend is causing a really nasty side of humanity to emerge.

Cyberbullying can affect mental health and can cause physical harm, self-isolation, anger, and mistrust of those around you – making it harder for the victim to confide in someone.

## 4) Predators

One of the best things about social media is the ability to connect with people all around the world, from all walks of life – but the flip side is that this is also one of its biggest dangers. Cyber predators can contact your child through public chat rooms, online messaging platforms, and gaming apps. 

Grooming and inappropriate messaging is becoming more prevalent. The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reported that 2021 was the worst year ever for online predators, as the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the amount of time spent indoors and online. It’s a horrifying thought that strangers could be contacting your child without your knowledge, and endangering them. And as always with the internet, once content is uploaded, it’s lurking out there for the world to see.

## 5) Sexual Content

Although social media apps all have a minimum age requirement, it’s very easy to bypass this, and countless numbers of kids are using social media at increasingly younger ages – despite the content not being age-appropriate. Sex education through online media has become extremely common – but if a child is too young to be viewing it, it can disrupt their childhood innocence, and impact their attitudes, behavior and health. Social media  increases the likelihood of a child being faced with pornography, and ‘sexting’ messages or images that they may be too young for.

The use of sexual content on the internet is also one of the drivers of cyberbullying and online predators  – as well as affecting online privacy, and body image. These dangers are often intertwined with one another – and can have an all-consuming effect.

How do we go about preventing these dangers?
## 
Being aware of the dangers of social media apps is the first step – but it isn’t enough. And taking social media options away from your kids isn’t the answer either – interacting with friends, taking part in online games, and the educational and social elements of social media platforms are considered by most users to be paramount in 2022. 

Using a parental control app like FamilyKeeper can help your child navigate social media apps safely. Millions of users around the world are using FamilyKeeper to allow their kids, tweens and teens to use social media without any worries.

## With FamilyKeeper, you can:

☑️ Monitor and block inappropriate apps and sites

☑️ Receive alerts if offensive or incendiary keywords are used

☑️ Set screen time limitations

☑️ Locate your child with the geo-location tracker, so you know that they are somewhere safe

☑️ Monitor saved images on your child’s device

☑️ Help your child with their Privacy Settings, so that they can’t be contacted by strangers

☑️ Track conversations and content across a range of social media platforms

And more!

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#Cyberthreats