https://www.today.com/parents/teens/kids-screens-resource-guide-parent-rcna121140

Kids in Crisis: Resource guide for parents

Wondering how to support your kids in a world driven by social media? Start here.

Oct. 20, 2023, 7:50 AM EDT

By Rosie Colosi

As a parent, you may be overwhelmed trying to help your child navigate a world of technology vastly different than anything you experienced as a child.

But you don't have to do it alone.

Here's a list of resources that are designed to help parents keep their kids safe.

Products

The average age to get a phone in the U.S. is 12, but that decision is intensely personal for every parent and kid. For parents looking for phones made specifically for children and teens, as well as apps to help manage their screen time, there are options.

The Light Phone II

• Has the ability to call and text

• Basic tools like: alarm, calculator, calendar, directions, hotspot, music/podcast player and notes/voice memo

• No social media

• Find out more here

Gabb Phone

• Receives calls and texts but NO access to the internet or social media apps

• Pre-programmed with a GPS tracker, camera, calculator, clock, voice recorder, radio/music, photo album, phone and messenger

• “Gabb Guard” blocks high-risk content from reaching your kid’s phone in the first place, whether it’s an inappropriate text or spam call

• Find out more here

Pinwheel Plus Phone

• Only contacts from your “safe list” can make or receive calls/text messages

• No social media apps, web browser, addictive games or ad-driven apps

• Find out more here

Xplora Xgo3 Watch

• No internet access or social media

• Has approved contact list, GPS tracking and “School Mode” to turn off notifications/distractions during set hours

• Find out more here

Apps

Bark

• Tracks kids’ accounts no matter where they sign in

• Parents can: monitor texts and social media, manage screen time schedules, block websites and apps, track location and receive alerts for issues like cyberbullying

• More info

Qustodio Parental Control App

• Panic button allows children to send an alert quickly from their phone to emergency contacts

• GPS location monitoring, lock out unwanted internet content,  receive alerts about web activity and blocked websites, blocks games and apps, enforces safe search

• More info

Organizations and resources

American Academy of Pediatrics: Screen time guidelines from the Center for Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.

American Psychological Association: Read the health advisory on social media use in adolescence.

Common Sense Media: Find parent guides, advice for social media platforms and reviews of all kinds of media.

KidsHealth: Nemours Children’s Health system has resources to help teach kids to be smart about social media

Social Media U at #HalfTheStory: Offers digital wellbeing training for parents and schools.

Family Media Plan: Learn how to create a family media plan with this resource from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Books

Disconnected: How to Protect Your Kids from the Harmful Effects of Device Dependency

First Phones: A Child’s Guide to Digital Responsibility, Safety, and Etiquette

The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide To Raising Adolescents and Young Adults

iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy and Completely Unprepared For Adulthood

Rosie Colosi

Rosie Colosi is a reporter for TODAY Parents. She has bylines in The Atlantic, The Week, MSNBC, and PureWow, and she has written 33 nonfiction children's books for Scholastic, Klutz, and Nat Geo Kids. Once upon a time, she played Mrs. Claus in "The Rockettes' Radio City Christmas Spectacular," but now she mostly sings songs from "Annie" to her two daughters…while they beg her to play Kidz Bop.