Parenting in a Tech World

Holiday tech gifts can turn a magical morning into months of screen addiction, especially when the gift is a first phone, a gaming console, or a surprise iPad from Grandma. School breaks also bring looser rules, unsupervised time with cousins, and travel that quietly opens new safety gaps.

Titania Jordan, Bark’s Chief Parent Officer and bestselling author of two books on digital parenting, opens up about the PlayStation 5 Christmas gift she still regrets and what she would do differently.

Titania and Sam get candid about why an iPhone usually isn’t the right first phone for kids, how to match a device to what your child actually wants to do, and the holiday blind spots parents miss, from Snap Maps and hotel Wi-Fi to time zone changes that quietly stretch screen time limits. You’ll also walk away with a gracious script for handling a relative’s surprise tech gift and a simple way to set break-time screen rules you can actually hold.

Key insight: Apple’s Communication Safety feature blurs nude images, but your child can still tap through to view or send them, and parents are never notified.

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Join the conversation in our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw

Looking for a first phone you can actually say yes to this holiday season? Explore the Bark Phone: https://www.bark.us/learn/bark-phone/

Worried about how much screen time your kids get at school? In some Utah classrooms, iPads were coming out on the first day of kindergarten, and kids on school devices kept sneaking off to Roblox, Minecraft, and YouTube.

Representative Ariel Defay, a mom of three and Vice Chair of the Utah House Education Committee, sponsored HB 273, the Balance Act, after years of parents asking her for help, and her earlier work took on AI-generated explicit images of kids.

She breaks down what will actually change at your child’s school, why every district’s version will look a little different, and how to make your voice heard before your district adopts its policy. You’ll also hear her personal rules for a first phone (no phone before 13, and no social media or internet access until 16), why she believes screens are making it harder for kids to read and focus, and the simple five-minute habit she recommends to bring balance back home. Titania Jordan, Bark’s Chief Parent Officer and bestselling author of two books on digital parenting, also shares why risky online activity spikes between 3 and 5 p.m., after kids leave school devices behind.

Key insight: Under Utah’s new model policy, kids in K-3 should see little to no technology in class, elementary devices should stay at school, junior high take-home devices become opt-in, and AI literacy becomes part of the core curriculum.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you’re watching or listening. It only takes 30 seconds and helps other parents find us.

Join the conversation in our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw 

Explore the Bark Phone, which blocks nude photos and videos from being saved or sent: https://www.bark.us/bark-phone/

Links from this episode:
Learn more about Ariel Defay: https://info.bark.us/ariel-defay
Rep. Ariel Defay's UT legislative efforts: https://info.bark.us/rep-ariel-defay
HB0273: https://info.bark.us/defay-hb273
In the news: https://info.bark.us/defay-news
Connect with Ariel on LinkedIn: https://info.bark.us/ariel-defay-li

Social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram are designed to keep kids scrolling, and for some families the cost of that design has been devastating. Carson Bride was just 16 when he was cyberbullied through anonymous apps built into Snapchat, and he died by suicide in 2020.

Kristin Bride, Carson’s mom, founded the Carson J. Bride Effect and has testified before Congress, while Trisha Prabhu built the anti-cyberbullying tool ReThink at age 13 and now runs ReThink Citizens, a nonprofit helping young people build a safer internet.

Host Titania Jordan, Bark’s Chief Parent Officer and bestselling author of two books on digital parenting, talks with both women, who appear in the new documentary Your Attention Please. You’ll hear what Meta’s recent settlement does and doesn’t fix, why the Kids Online Safety Act matters, and what the social media reckoning should teach us about AI chatbots. You’ll also find out whether the film is right for your teen (it’s rated 12 and up) and why so many young people say they want off social media but can’t.

Key insight: Neither guest has met a single young person who regrets getting social media later than they wanted it. Delaying is a win for parents and kids.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you’re watching or listening. It only takes 30 seconds and helps other parents find us.

Join the conversation in our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw 

See how Bark helps parents spot cyberbullying and other online dangers before they escalate: https://www.bark.us/

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Stream Your Attention Please: https://info.bark.us/your-attention-please
Learn more about the Social Reset: https://info.bark.us/social-reset
Learn more about Carson's story and support the Carson J. Bride effect: https://info.bark.us/carson-bride-effect
Learn more about ReThink Citizens: https://info.bark.us/rethink-citizen

Screen time battles have become a nightly fight in many homes, and pediatricians are seeing the fallout in the exam room: kids who aren’t sleeping, struggle to hold a conversation, and melt down the moment a device is taken away.

Dr. Lisa Petit is a board-certified pediatrician with nearly 20 years in practice, a background in psychology, and three teens of her own.

She joins Titania Jordan, Bark’s Chief Parent Officer and bestselling author of two books on digital parenting, to walk through her FIRST Down Framework (Focus, Intention, Resilience, Support, Teaching) and the Saturday her kids lost screens for the day and ended up writing songs and playing chess. She explains where gentle parenting falls short with tech, why parental controls work like training wheels on a bike, and how to talk with your teen about limits on Snapchat, Instagram, and gaming without it feeling like punishment. You’ll walk away with one change you can make tonight.

Key insight: A screen time boundary is only as strong as the reason behind it and what you do when your child breaks it. The single most effective change most families can make is having phones sleep outside the bedroom.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you’re watching or listening. It only takes 30 seconds and helps other parents find us.

Join the conversation in our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw

Explore the Bark Phone, a kid-safe smartphone with parental controls built in: https://www.bark.us/bark-phone/ 

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Dr. Petit's website: https://info.bark.us/dr-lisa-petit
Screen Time scorecard: https://info.bark.us/screen-time-scorecard

For teens in foster care, smartphone safety cuts both ways. No phone leaves them cut off from peers who live on Snapchat and Instagram, while an unmonitored one exposes already vulnerable kids to unsafe adults online.

Jordyn Braun, MSW, has spent over three years as a Team Lead and Case Manager in Oregon Community Programs’ treatment foster care, and Jami Teran is a first-time foster parent who just guided her youth through senior year and the move toward college.

Host Adam Brooks hears from both sides of the table: how case managers roll out Bark phones that start locked down to a few contacts and open up as trust is earned, and what happens inside a foster home when the alerts start coming in. They’re honest about the friction, too, from inaccurate location pings to false alarms over song titles to a teen who feels watched. You’ll also learn why turning off a phone remotely during school and at bedtime ends the daily fight over handing it over.

Key insight: Taking phones away doesn’t keep foster youth safe. It isolates them. Starting with four approved contacts and expanding access as trust grows builds the skills they’ll need after leaving care.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you’re watching or listening. It only takes 30 seconds and helps other parents find us.

Join the conversation in our Parenting in a Tech World Facebook community: https://info.bark.us/join-pitw

Learn how Bark partners with schools, agencies, and organizations to keep kids safer online: https://www.bark.us/learn/barks-connected-communities/