{"id":1464639,"date":"2022-05-05T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T12:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1464639"},"modified":"2022-05-05T08:01:04","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T12:01:04","slug":"parents-should-never-let-children-have-unsupervised-internet-access-period-and-that-means-no-cell-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parents-should-never-let-children-have-unsupervised-internet-access-period-and-that-means-no-cell-phone\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents Should Never Let Children Have Unsupervised Internet Access, Period \u2014 And That Means No Cell Phone"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fparents-should-never-let-children-have-unsupervised-internet-access-period-and-that-means-no-cell-phone%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1464639&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>I made a huge mistake this week: I allowed my children to click onto the next video in YouTube after they watched a classic cartoon for their weekly movie night. My eight-year-old son came running out three minutes after asking permission to watch what my kids thought was another clip from the same series, telling me my kids had stopped the video after it \u201cshowed some stuff for grownups.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>I immediately remembered that sickos embed porn and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-6478981\/Paedophiles-grooming-children-young-six-live-streams-YouTube.html\">grooming<\/a> into YouTube cartoons (as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-5922707\/Roblox-fire-thousands-cartoon-porn-videos-game-revealed-YouTube.html\">online children\u2019s games<\/a>), and I worked to keep my face and voice light and calm while figuring out exactly what my children had seen so I could do as much damage control as possible. Thankfully, it turned out to be merely a fast-paced cartoon-violence segment that alarmed my sensitive four-year-old. <\/p>\n<p>I vowed never to let my kids click on anything on YouTube without supervision again, our general rule that I just forgot while distracted struggling to get chicken wire around beds of pea shoots destroyed by baby rabbits. We have a filter on our internet, but perverts use cartoon images and other schemes to get around such protections. We also keep all devices in common areas (the kitchen and den), but that doesn\u2019t help when mom\u2019s outside.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190608210858\/https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/03\/world\/americas\/youtube-pedophiles.html\">reality<\/a> that the <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@jamesbridle\/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2\">internet<\/a> is a virtual <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mos_Eisley#:~:text=Mos%20Eisley%20is%20a%20spaceport,hive%20of%20scum%20and%20villainy%22.\">Mos Eisley<\/a>  \u2014 \u201cwretched hive of scum and villainy\u201d \u2014 is why my husband and I are unashamed internet Nazis. That movie night is all our children get of screen time in a week, and usually it\u2019s from a DVD we choose. <\/p>\n<p>This stance is rare but constantly affirmed by tales such as my movie night scare and others that constantly cross my desk, this week including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/alexandralevine\/2022\/04\/27\/how-tiktok-live-became-a-strip-club-filled-with-15-year-olds\/?eType=EmailBlastContent&#038;eId=ec346b0d-3a84-4f12-b071-a72549987438&#038;sh=d16f9fb62d78\">a Forbes article<\/a> titled bluntly: \u201cHow TikTok Live Became \u2018A Strip Club Filled With 15-Year-Olds.&#8217;\u201d Noting that \u201cAlmost half of minors in the U.S. use TikTok at least once a day,\u201d the article goes on to detail how TikTok connects children to predators, who seem to be increasing in conjunction with the Internet-enabled porn explosion. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The wildly popular social media app best known for its lighthearted videos of dance routines is, beneath the surface, a cash cow \u2014 one where money and gifts are often sent by adults to minors. Top legal, law enforcement and children\u2019s safety experts told Forbes that such activity on livestreams can enable predators to groom targets for online or offline sexual abuse and sextortion, warning of the consequences of unfettered access to girls\u2019 bedrooms and bathrooms, where most of the streaming occurs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Girls as young as 12 and 14 can make serious cash posing, sending pictures of their feet, and exposing their bodies for the phone camera. It\u2019s illegal and TikTok\u2019s statements to Forbes firmly stated the company works to stop this as soon as possible, but it\u2019s clear that even if the company does its best it can\u2019t whack underage livestreams fast enough to protect children without exception.<\/p>\n<p>Technically, users are supposed to be 18 to send or receive money on TikTok, and at least 16 to livestream on TikTok, but everyone knows that\u2019s a mere formality surmounted by lying about one\u2019s age. That TikTok hasn\u2019t chosen to require a more legitimate age verification makes TikTok (and all social media companies) a lot of money. Forbes notes this is not just a TikTok problem: \u201cDespite TikTok\u2019s intended restrictions around livestreaming and gifting for minors, verifying that users are, in fact, old enough to be using certain apps or features remains an unsolved problem across many mainstream social media platforms, TikTok included.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also clear that most parents are oblivious to the massive harm they enable by allowing their children to access the internet unsupervised. Parents facilitate this access by buying their kids smartphones, tablets, and internet-connected gaming systems. The result is that children ages 8 to 12 use screens for entertainment for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commonsensemedia.org\/sites\/default\/files\/research\/report\/8-18-census-integrated-report-final-web_0.pdf\">more than five hours per day<\/a>. That\u2019s 35 hours per week, almost as much as a full-time job. <\/p>\n<p>That figure doesn\u2019t include using screens for non-entertainment purposes, such as homework. Among teens aged 13 to 18, daily entertainment screen use is <em>more than eight hours per day<\/em>. That\u2019s an astonishing 56 hours a week, <em>purely<\/em> for entertainment! <\/p>\n<p>Besides increasing their risk for being propositioned and viewing abominable images, what an astonishing waste of human potential. Young people could be doing so many amazing things with that time instead, such as hiking, learning craft skills, working, making friends, volunteering, and more. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screensinthehome.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-271889\" width=\"446\" height=\"484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screensinthehome.jpg 340w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screensinthehome-276x300-1.jpg 276w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/internet\/2010\/12\/01\/is-the-age-at-which-kids-get-cell-phones-getting-younger\/#:~:text=The%20bulk%20of%20teens%20are,a%20phone%20for%206%20months.\">typical age <\/a>a child gets unsupervised internet access via a personal cell phone now is 12 or 13. That\u2019s far too young to be doing strip-teases for strangers on TikTok. Here\u2019s Forbes:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n[Homeland Security child sexual abuse agent Austin] Berrier says parents he speaks to are generally not aware of what\u2019s happening on livestreams and that when the money exchanged takes the form of fun pictures, as is the case on TikTok, it makes what\u2019s really going on even easier to miss or dismiss. \u2018With the platforms where the monetization is through tokens or flowers or stupid little emojis,\u2019 he says, \u2018it doesn\u2019t click in a kid\u2019s head, I think, that they\u2019re actually being paid\u2019 and \u2018the parents don\u2019t really stop and think, \u2018Okay, someone\u2019s paying my kid to dance. No, they\u2019re just getting little flowers and little hearts.\u2019 It allows people to separate that.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Parents \u2014 and all of us \u2014 need to realize that the internet is so powerful, it\u2019s dangerous. Its power can be used for good, of course. My husband learns how to fix almost everything on our house and cars from YouTube. But the truth is that the Internet\u2019s powers are not on average used for such fruitful actions, and especially by children. <\/p>\n<p>Surveys show that parents lie to themselves about what their kids are doing on screens and how much time their kids actually spend engrossed with strangers online through their devices. A Common Sense Media <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commonsensemedia.org\/sites\/default\/files\/research\/report\/common-sense-parent-census_whitepaper_new-for-web.pdf\">report<\/a> from 2016 (the latest available) showed that parents largely think screen use is no big deal and may actually be good for kids.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/parentsutterlyclueless.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-271891\" width=\"937\" height=\"424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/parentsutterlyclueless.jpg 740w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/parentsutterlyclueless-300x136.jpg 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you just compare these statements to the reality of how much time the average child spends on screen-based entertainment, it\u2019s clear these positive views are a load of hogwash. Children are using their parent-enabled internet access almost exclusively to waste their lives, not to learn how to play the cello or code. In addition, essentially every one of the statements above is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Spoiled-Right-Delaying-Screens-Children\/dp\/1946665509\">contradicted<\/a> by research, which shows that people remember less information when presented on screens, become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.screenfreeparenting.com\/self-regulation-why-it-matters-and-how-your-child-can-build-it\/\">worse<\/a> at focusing (which means worse at learning), become <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeantwenge.com\/igen-book-by-dr-jean-twenge\/\">worse<\/a> at social skills, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barna.com\/techwisefamily\/\">damage<\/a> family relationships, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeantwenge.com\/igen-book-by-dr-jean-twenge\/\">often develop<\/a> anxiety, if not a porn habit. <\/p>\n<p>If your children are blessedly not at risk for such things because you limit screens like we do, their peers certainly are. Other parents\u2019 poor choices harm the rest of us by forming their children into the kind who show others porn on their smartphones or have nothing to share with others but some crappy YouTube ditty. Parents\u2019 collective refusal to do due diligence on everything from schooling to free time is worsening our culture, and our nation\u2019s future. It\u2019s long past time to have these conversations with friends and family, for their own and the nation\u2019s good.<\/p>\n<p>Something I like to do when discussing this topic is ask people to consider their own experience. When kids can use an Alexa, do they use it to play geography games or to learn French? Or do they mostly ask it stupid questions to get it to spin off some silly answer? When kids are on YouTube, are they learning to be creative or almost always passively consuming unedifying content? We all know the answers.<\/p>\n<p>Every one of us needs to take responsibility for our own and our children\u2019s media habits, which in almost every case means reducing screen time and getting a collective life. A key question I ask when considering whether my children need a screen at a particular moment is this: Is this the best way to solve the problem at hand? <\/p>\n<p>If the problem is that your teen\u2019s soccer team practice finishes at different and unpredictable times each day, maybe the solution is a dumbphone he can use to text you when it\u2019s pickup time. If the problem is that your kids are bored or annoying, the best solution is certainly not letting Mos Eisley parent them for you. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.screenfreeparenting.com\/\">Try this instead<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the mother of six children. <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/iX1dsZnedpJjPMoP7\">Sign up here to get early access<\/a> to her next ebook, &#8220;101 Strategies For Living Well Amid Inflation.&#8221; Her bestselling ebook is &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/payhip.com\/b\/R1JL\">Classic Books for Young Children<\/a>.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Mrs. Pullmann identifies as native American and gender natural. She is also the author of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Education-Invasion-Parents-Control-American\/dp\/1594038813\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1486730068&#038;sr=8-1&#038;keywords=education+invasion\">The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids<\/a>,&#8221; from Encounter Books. In 2013-14 she won a Robert Novak journalism fellowship for in-depth reporting on Common Core national education mandates. <\/p>\n<p>Joy is a grateful graduate of the Hillsdale College honors and journalism programs.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I made a huge mistake this week: I allowed my children to click onto the next video in YouTube after they watched a classic cartoon for their weekly movie night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":519,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1464639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/519"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1464639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1464639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1464639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1464639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}