✚ Parent Safety Library
Helpful research and tools for raising children online.
Start with a plan, choose devices slowly, and use trustworthy resources before a new app, game, phone, or social account enters your home.
Age is not the only question.
Ask: does my child sleep well, tell the truth, handle correction, resist peer pressure, and come to me when something feels wrong?
Age Guidance
A simple readiness path
Protect attention and sleep
Keep screens limited, co-view when media is used, and protect meals, prayer, play, and bedtime from screens.
Start a family media plan before devices become normal.
Shared devices, not private devices
Use tablets or computers in common spaces. No private messaging apps, open web browsing, or unsupervised YouTube.
Turn on parental controls, app approvals, safe search, and bedtime downtime.
Practice before independence
If contact is needed, consider a basic phone or watch before a smartphone. Delay social media and keep devices out of bedrooms.
Review app requests together and talk through ads, strangers, group chats, and photo sharing.
Teen tools with close coaching
Age 13 is a legal platform minimum for many services, not a readiness recommendation. Many children benefit from waiting longer.
If social media begins, start with one app, private account, no late-night access, and regular check-ins.
Prepare for adulthood
Shift from control only to discernment: privacy, reputation, pornography avoidance, scams, mental health, and time stewardship.
Keep non-negotiables clear: no phones overnight, no secrecy, and ask for help when something feels wrong.
Do This First
Four parent moves that matter
Make a written family media plan
Decide where devices sleep, what times are screen-free, which apps are allowed, and what happens when rules are broken.
Use parental controls as guardrails
Controls are not a substitute for parenting, but they reduce easy access to explicit content, purchases, strangers, and late-night use.
Keep the conversation calm
Children are more likely to come to you after a mistake if your home has correction without panic or shame.
Know the emergency pathways
If there is sexual exploitation, coercion, sextortion, or threats, preserve evidence and report it quickly.
Curated Links
Articles, tools, and research worth saving
Start Here
Best first stops when you need a plan, not just more opinions.
American Academy of Pediatrics
AAP Family Media Plan
A practical tool for setting screen priorities, device-free times, sleep rules, and family expectations.
American Academy of Pediatrics
AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health
Research-based parent guidance on healthy digital habits, social media, and youth mental health.
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media Reviews
Age-based reviews for movies, apps, games, books, shows, podcasts, and websites before your child asks for them.
Phones, Apps, and Social Media
Use these before giving a first phone or approving a new platform.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Surgeon General Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health
A careful summary of what is known, what is still uncertain, and what families can do now.
Parent-led smartphone delay movement
Wait Until 8th
A community pledge that helps parents delay smartphones until at least the end of 8th grade.
ConnectSafely
ConnectSafely Parent Guides
Plain-language guides for Snapchat, Roblox, parental controls, Google Family Link, cyberbullying, AI, and more.
Privacy, Predators, and Reporting
Save these before there is a crisis.
Federal Trade Commission
Protecting Your Child's Privacy Online
Explains parents' rights under COPPA and how companies must handle personal information from children under 13.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Online Enticement and CyberTipline
Explains online enticement, reporting options, and NetSmartz resources for teaching safer online choices.
FBI
Sextortion Safety Resource
Direct guidance on what sextortion is, how it happens, and what caregivers should do if a child is threatened.