Sleepover Parties and Digital Device Use

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Sleepover parties generate lasting memories for our kids and lasting bonds with their peers. Some of my greatest childhood memories were while staying at a friend’s house and now my two boys beg to sleepover with a friend or have a friend stay the night just about every weekend. Today, digital media and screen time have turned sleepovers into a new environment and have become part of the parental discussion before sleepovers – should my kid bring their device, will you monitor their use, what time will you take their devices away for night, will they be behind closed doors with their devices?

Video rentals and late night board games have given way to streaming movies, social media and internet connect game consoles. Connectivity to even more people outside of the sleepover is now an option. The peer pressure and potentially skewed judgment of fun with friends mixed with available connectivity can lead to some embarrassing or reputation damaging consequences.

Adult content, chat rooms, webcam chat rooms, desired attention and bullying on the web and on social media are all very real threats that kids could face during the well intended sleepover. And then of course, there’s always the discussion of sneaking out to prank another friend or get into other mischief. Did you ever sneak out at a sleepover? Do you worry your kids will?

The MamaBear app can help minimize anxiety when you let your children stay the night out. Our location and social media monitoring can put your mind at ease and reduce the risk of potentially dangerous situations for our kids.

Give your children freedom to create some of the best memories of their lives when they aren’t with you. They can learn powerful lessons in independence, responsibility and accountability. But, you don’t have to suffer with worry and anxiety or text them every 5 minutes to check on them. Let the powerful suite of tools MamaBear app offers alert you to only the information needed to protect your kids. Parents can receive alerts if the child leaves the house or moves at preset driving speed. Social media alerts give parents an early warning about compromising photos, posts and inappropriate contacts and followers on Facebook and Instagram. The MamaBear child monitoring app gives parents the tools they need to sleep easy while the kids spend all night doing what they do best, being kids.

Is the Introduction of Video from the Instagram App Dangerous for Children?

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The first Instagram video to receive 1 million likes was from Justin Bieber. http://instagram.com/p/ay3XaiAvhC/

Instagram went online in 2010 and rapidly exploded into the 130 million user social media juggernaut that it is today. The popular photo app works on both Android and iOS platforms. The allure of easy photo sharing, liking photos, tagging and the unique filters and editing options make the app an endless source of social entertainment.  The thought of our kids sharing/viewing photos and now videos with and from 130 million people could be source of anxiety for many parents. Other social video apps like Vine already have a following, and the switch can be a hassle  for established users. This leaves a large community of young users that may not migrate, until of course their friends aren’t there anymore.

Instagram video allows for uploads of a 15 second video and joins the same stream as photos.

This addition to the stream doesn’t introduce new risk, maybe just some surprise when anticipating a photo to instead see a video.  However, the explore tab of Instagram has been and continues to be unsettling.  Search anything you’d like and be presented with that category of photos and now videos.   Preying adults and curious kids can easily cross paths by exploring Instagram.

As recommended prior to the introduction of video, be sure your child’s account is set to private.

Talk to your kids about talking to strangers. Stranger danger rules apply online the same as in person. They should not follow anyone they don’t know. And if your kids are going to post videos, talk to them about what’s appropriate.  Keep in mind revealing location, school name and other personal information can be a lot easier in a video than in a photo so they need to be extra careful to avoid potentially very dangerous situations.

MamaBear Instagram notifications can inform parents when a child is tagged in a photo or video, as well as when they add a follower or are contacted by a restricted follower. In addition parents can build a restricted word list to be notified when those words are used on their child’s Instagram feed. We’ll do our part to continue to monitor Instagram video to ensure parents are up to date with new features. Parents, we rely on you to teach your kids proper use of social media.

Download the MamaBear app today to ensure your children are using Instagram appropriately.

 

A Tool to Start a Safety Conversation With Your Kids

mamabear family safety app

Having a child is so many wonderful things. As a parent, you want to impart your wisdom to them and make sure their life is better than yours. So, is it wise to use technology to make sure they follow the right path?

You remember the lines from your parents. “Don’t do that!” “If she jumped off a cliff, would you?” And many other famous ones everyone knows from when they were growing up.  Every parent wants to share their stories as an offering for children to avoid making mistakes. You want to give your children advice and let them have their own life experiences.

But, sometimes, do you wonder if your children are actually listening to your words of wisdom? Continue reading “A Tool to Start a Safety Conversation With Your Kids”