Can this app save your kid from online predators?

Being a new parent in the age of social media can be tough. It’s so easy to share personal slices of your life on the internet for the whole world to see. And while all of this can be exciting, one can never be too safe in the cyberworld.

Your kid grows up, and he’s slowly discovering the wonders of technology. You kind of don’t want him to create a social media account but at the same time you don’t want to limit his freedom and the chance to learn new things. What do you do?

Any parent’s worst nightmare is to lose his or her child to the bad influences of the internet. In 2016, about 80 percent of teenagers aged 13 to 16 were cyberbullied on social media. It’s no surprise that these ‘small’ crimes are still rampant to this day, including sexual harassment and assault to name a few.

No to underage Facebooking. Facebook only permits users who are 13 years old and above, so it’s the parents’ responsibility to keep their children’s online activity in check.

The internet can be a terrifying place for children from a parent’s perspective but luckily, technology found a silver lining in all of this.

Bark, a software developed by Brian Bason and his team, serves as a solution to help parents navigate the dangers of the digital world together with their children. One might think, “Why does it seem like I’m invading my child’s privacy?” Well, Bark doesn’t seem to operate that way.

Through a systemized algorithm, Bark is able to analyze conversational data without interfering with your child’s digital privacy. What it does is it signals the parent if it catches instances of cyberbullying, possible drug use, sexting, or suicide and depression tendencies. The app sends an alert to the parents and even provides the necessary steps on how to handle the situation.

There’s nothing wrong with letting your kid run with technology as long as you teach them a set of rules and make sure they abide by it.

What sets Bark apart from other parenting apps is that it saves you from having to go through every information in your child’s social media accounts, as it filters only the alarming parts of your child’s online interactions.

In an interview with Vogue, Bark’s chief parent officer Titania Jordan says, “We use the most stringent forms of protection that will keep their data safe and not further expose them to the danger that we are trying to protect them from. We hope that the public takes heart in knowing that we are a team of parents who are just trying to solve the issue that we are also dealing with our own children.”