Parenting in a Tech World

Discord is rated 17+ in the App Store, but kids can sign up at 13, a gap that leaves most parents feeling a step behind the moment their kid asks to join. This year Discord rolled out teen-by-default settings, a new age verification system, and a parental controls tool called Family Center, and today we break down what actually changed, what didn't, and the one gap no setting can fix.

You'll learn what "teen by default" actually restricts day to day, how Discord's age verification works (and why the global rollout was delayed), and exactly what Family Center shows a parent and what it deliberately doesn't. You'll also hear the honest recommendation on minimum age for a kid to be on Discord, and the specific setup every teen should have before they're allowed on it.

Key insight: Voice channels on Discord aren't recorded and leave no log, so no parental control tool, including Bark, can see what's said there. Experts describe a common pattern: a friendship starts in a game like Roblox or Fortnite, moves to Discord, escalates through DMs, then continues in voice calls, often paired with isolation language like "keep this between us."

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See how Bark monitors platforms like Discord for red flags in text and shared content: https://www.bark.us

Standardized test scores among American kids have been dropping for years, and one neuroscientist says classroom technology is a direct cause, not a coincidence. Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath is a neuroscientist and educator who has studied learning at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Melbourne, and his latest book, "The Digital Delusion," has led him to testify before the U.S. Senate.

In this conversation, Jared breaks down what happens in a child's brain when they learn from a screen versus paper or discussion, and why he believes EdTech is fundamentally mismatched with how kids actually learn. You'll hear his response to critics who call the screens-to-scores link "just correlation," what he says is really driving the spike in classroom ADHD-like behavior, and the one move that actually gets a school board to listen. He also shares where technology does have a legitimate place in education, so this isn't a call to ban devices altogether.

Key insight: when kids are given free rein on YouTube, only 3% of their time goes to educational content. The other 97% is influencers, gaming videos, and content with zero learning value.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Buy The Digital Delusion: https://info.bark.us/digital-delusion
Connect with Jared on LinkedIn: https://info.bark.us/jared-horvath-li
Follow Jared on Instagram: https://info.bark.us/jared-horvath-ig
Subscribe to Jared's Substack: https://info.bark.us/jared-horvath-substack
The Learning Blueprint: https://info.bark.us/jared-horvath-blueprint

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

Curious what your kid is actually doing on their school-issued device? Bark can help you see the full picture: https://www.bark.us

Every month, 430 students at one Texas high school watched two of their own classmates lead an assembly on cyberbullying, online predators, and the gap between who teens are online and who they really are.

McKenzey Roach and Malayna Mitchell are graduating seniors who built and ran their school's monthly digital citizenship program, called CHAT, reaching every student at Lubbock-Cooper High School as part of a DECA project.

In this conversation, they walk through how a mandatory video segment nobody wanted to watch became something students actually engaged with, why they sent an anonymous survey to the entire school before choosing a single topic, and what it felt like to have their opinions on cyberbullying and online safety broadcast to freshmen and seniors alike. You'll hear their honest take on why the same post feels safe on Instagram but terrifying to say out loud, and what they'd tell an incoming freshman about building a social media presence without losing themselves in it.

Key insight: McKenzey and Malayna say the friendships that lasted through high school were the ones built face-to-face, not through a Snapchat quick add. Reach online and real connection, they agree, are not the same thing.

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 helps families navigate cyberbullying, screen habits, and online safety conversations at home: https://www.bark.us

Cyberbullying, drug conversations, sextortion risk, and violent threats aren't just happening on your kid's phone, they're showing up on school-issued laptops too. New Bark for Schools data breaks down exactly how often, by category and by state.

Titania Jordan, Chief Parent Officer at Bark Technologies, shares data from Bark's work protecting students across more than 3,700 school districts nationwide since the program launched free in response to the Parkland shooting.

In this episode, you'll hear the real alert breakdown from school-issued devices: violence-related content topped the list at almost 40%, with drug-related conversations close behind at nearly 23% and medically concerning content at almost 12%. Titania also shares a state-specific finding from Georgia, where over half of all alerts were tied to a child being contacted by a predator.

You'll also learn about Bark's free Connected Communities program, which brings hands-on digital safety education directly to fourth and fifth graders, and TechSafeLearning.org, a resource founded in memory of Nate Bronstein that gives parents templates and guidance for opting their kids out of unsafe school tech.

Key insight: In Georgia, more than half of all school-device safety alerts Bark sent were for a child being contacted by a predator.

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 more about how Bark protects kids on school-issued devices: https://www.bark.us/schools

Additional resources mentioned in this episode:
https://info.bark.us/tech-safe-learning
https://info.bark.us/cc

The teachers walking into classrooms right now grew up glued to screens too, and that's reshaping how teacher prep programs handle screen addiction, shortened attention spans, and phone distraction in the classroom.

Melanie Lay and Amy Hickman train future educators at Texas Tech University, and both also evaluate teacher preparation programs nationwide, Melanie through US PREP and Amy as a TPI-US inspector.

In this conversation, they break down what's actually being taught to future teachers about managing devices, social media, and mental health in the classroom, and what's still a gap. You'll hear why even 20-something teacher candidates get pulled off task by smartwatch notifications, why Texas now requires phones to stay in lockers during the school day, and what happens when a one-to-one device rollout has unintended consequences for kids' attention and eyesight.

Key insight: after a decade collecting data from 7.5 million families, Bark says pediatricians are now reaching out directly for guidance on what to tell parents about kids' screen time.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe or leave a review wherever you're listening; it only takes 30 seconds and helps other parents find us easier.

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

Learn more about how Bark helps families navigate screen time and online safety: https://www.bark.us