Game and tech safety tips to help you make your Xmas list!

Speaker 1 (00:00):

So Christmas is upon us only a couple of weeks away. And with that come shopping and getting our kids new things and so prevalent in our world right now is all the digital stuff. So if you are getting your kiddos, some new form of tech or a new game, this episode is for you. Stay tuned,

Speaker 2 (00:21):

Welcome to your source for tips, tools, and support to help you be that mom that is tuned in and proactive for yourself, your family, and for the wild ride of raising kids in this digital age, inspired by a mother's love with a relatable, real life. Proud to be that mom flair. This is the bead that mom movement with your host, Dolly Denson. Alrighty, here we are for now

Speaker 1 (00:47):

Another episode, and today we are going to talk about how, you know, whether or not that game or that tech that you were getting, your kiddo is safe. What are the ins and outs? What things do you need to know? You don't have a lot of time to spend on it. Your kid is asking for this specific game, what do you do? Where do you go? That is what we're going to talk about today. But before we get to that, I have to just take a moment to mention something that I am continually just amazed with as I learn more about it. And that is the pinwheel phone. It is a dumb smartphone that is designed with the use of therapists and a team of people that will look at all of the apps and all of the features and are very, very much focused on making sure the kids stay safe and that the phone is used as a tool.

Speaker 1 (01:34):

And it is an intro to tack and how to use it without being addicted to it, without it controlling you or the kid. So this is something that I highly highly recommend. You check out. If you have a kid that you're considering getting a phone for Christmas, depending on how their age, what age they are, this is such an amazing option for you. Check out the link in my show notes. And there is a discount code that you can grab to get your pinwheel phone today. You cannot go wrong with this phone. They are continually updating it and they take recommendations from parents. They consider all suggestions for apps, and it's basically a phone that can grow with your child that has you in the driver's seat of which apps they can access and what times of day they can access and how they use that phone.

Speaker 1 (02:22):

You can't go wrong with it. Definitely check it out, check out the link in my show notes and grab the discount code. All right. So now let's get on with the topic today. This is something that I wish I would have had. I think I see that like a thousand times in this podcast so far in all of my episodes, but there's so much that I wish I would have had back when I was trying to navigate this without any sort of guidance and not knowing what was important to focus on what was okay to kind of let slide and not worry about too much. Like I just had no clue. I didn't know where to turn. There's just so much that's out there now to help us. And I just want to make sure that you're connected with these things because they certainly are that I wish I would have had a few years ago.

Speaker 1 (03:02):

Like I seriously need a time capsule. I need to grab all of this stuff. I need to go back in time and change how I did things like Holy cow, it has to be one of the biggest regrets I have as a mom, but it is what it is. We live in this age. We are the first generation of parents to have to navigate this. And so that's why I'm here. And if I wouldn't have gone through all those things, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you today.

And that absolutely is something that lights up my heart. And it's something that I absolutely want to help you with. And I hope that you find this so-so helpful as you try to navigate this with your kiddo to, so that we together can help this generation of kids grow up to be strong and confident and be in control of their lives and know where they're going and not allowing tech or some, you know, danger on the other end of the internet to trying to get to our kids.

Speaker 1 (03:52):

So it is what it is. That's the moral of the story today. So I want to just talk about a couple of tools that are out there that you may not be aware of that can help you. If you like in the scenario of you having a boy that has a gaming console or wants to play certain games. So they say, I want this game, like it's the popular thing. Their friends are playing it. You know, it's what they want. Well now there are different things that you can use to where you can go. And specifically look at that game. If you're looking at getting them tech, if you're getting a new gaming console, if you're getting a phone, if you're getting, you know, like a Roku device, anything like that, there are things out there that can help you navigate these things now to where you don't have to go in them blind.

Speaker 1 (04:33):

You don't have to go with the mindset of, we'll just worry about it. And if there's something to worry about, and the reason that I'm bringing this up is because I was in a I'm in a group on social media that is like parents of, you know, trying to navigate tech and a person posted and said, I don't know about you. I've thought about leaving this group because I just don't parent like the rest of y'all do. I mean, y'all put up all these walls and it just makes it to where there's, there's just more walls for the kids to climb. Like, why aren't you trusting your kid first? And why aren't you helping guide them all of that stuff. And it's so frustrating for me to read those things, but I completely understand because I was that mom too, that was like, seriously, I'm just going to kind of, you know, let my kid will let me know if there's something to be concerned about.

Speaker 1 (05:21):

But the truth is that what we are dealing with today is nothing like anything we had as kids. And it absolutely is not something that they can navigate. The influence is enormous from all kinds of different directions. It's not something that they can navigate on their own. There are so many different facets to this. If you've listened to any of my earlier episodes, you know, there's just so much that goes into this. So it's better in my experience to start from a place of being very proactive in learning about all of the little things. And then as you see that they can learn to navigate this and as can build a trust for them to come to you, if there is a concern, then you can let those, you know what, whatever you want to call it, like the draw string out, you can let the, I don't want to say leash, but you know, you can let that out a little bit more as they get older and they gain kind of knowledge on how to navigate it, as well as knowing when to cut them off from screens and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (06:18):

So while I get it, if you never experienced it, I do recommend that you come from a place of being very active in this space when it comes to giving them any new game, any new type of console access to the internet in a new way, just know that they don't know how to navigate this. It doesn't matter who they are, where they grew up. If they went to church, if they ate at the dinner table, if they have a TV in their room or they don't have a TV in their room, all of the different things out there that you hear about, you know, well, I've done this, this and this, so my kid's gonna know how to do it. They just don't, you know,

it's not anything against your kids specifically. It's not a personal attack on anyone. Some kids do do better with it, but how do you know which ones I have yet to figure out how that could be predicted?

Speaker 1 (07:05):

So it's better to just come from that place of, you know, being concerned from the get go, rather than having them prove you wrong. And then things that are said and done and things that they see can't be undone. Like the damage is done. You can't go back. Right. So I know that's probably why you're here listening to this podcast. And you're like, Dolly, you're seriously preaching to the choir here. Like I'm not listening to your podcast because I think that I need to just let them do this. Okay. So I get that. I know, but if you're one of the ones that's on the fence about any of that stuff, just know that I have been there. I understand, but I recommend that you follow my tips, follow some of these tools that I'm going to share with you today. And, you know, just have a keen and cautious eye for what is out there and whether or not it is in the best interest of your kid.

Speaker 1 (07:52):

Like I said, in one of the last episodes, all the stuff that is going on in the world right now, it's pretty obvious that social media and all of the tech companies do not have our kids' best interest in mind. We are the parents and we have their best interests in mind. And so that means that we are the detective when it comes to putting any of this into the realm of our kids, being able to utilize it. Okay. So that's my soap box and I'm sticking to it. So I want to talk about a couple of tools that I think you might find helpful. If you should have some new game or something new that you are introducing to your kid, that they want for Christmas. The number one is a website called common sense media. I have no association with any of these I'm sharing with you today.

Speaker 1 (08:37):

These three things that I want to share with you, I just found, I was looking through the website and looking at how it could help and wishing, like I said, that I had had it when my son was younger and he was wanting to play different games. But common sense, media has multiple different ways that you can look at the digital things, the games, all of the things that you may be buying for your kid, it gives you recommendations. It gives you the, the ratings on games and gives you details about each one. So you can decide for yourself whether or not it's something that you want your kid to have. The second thing is a website called plugged in it's P L U G G E D I N. Dot com and plugged in.com basically has a place for you to look up movies, to look up television shows, music, games, books, and YouTube channels.

Speaker 1 (09:27):

So you can have an informed decision about which things you allow. So it's very much like common sense media and common sense media. Someone had said recently that now there's a charge. Like if you want information, maybe you only have a certain number of times that you can search for things in a month. And then you pay a small fee, but it's like $3 a month or something like that. But I personally, when I was looking at their website, have not seen that pop up, or it requires me to pay. So maybe it is after you do a couple of searches that it will require you to pay, but they have so much on their website that I think that it would be a worthwhile investment for you to help, you know, have in your back pocket as a tool when you're going, you know, Christmas shopping and different things like that.

Speaker 1 (10:11):

So plugged in, it appears to be free. It looks like it has a donation button on it, but there you can enter in the games and the different things and look at what the concerns might be in whether or not you want your kid to use those. And then the third thing is a resource that bark put out, and this is really cool. It's similar to the Barco MADEC that I have mentioned in some of the other episodes, but this thing with bark actually has it's a blog post that they did, and it's actually not super recent, but I think it's kind of highlighting what the Barco MADEC does go to Barco madec.com, but it has all the different devices and web browsers, cable providers, email providers. So it's basically like the Barco MADEC and then video games, gaming systems, all of those things, you can go and specifically pick the things that you're looking for, and it will give you the parental controls to help set those things up.

Speaker 1 (11:06):

So you can help to guide your kiddo and to not let some person out there contact your kid that you don't want to. So those three things are things I recommend you utilize as you are making your shopping list and deciding what you're going to buy for your kid. And then always, always, always take a look at it. Once you do have your, you know, like your kid opens their presents for Christmas, certainly be active in them, setting it up and communicating with them about what the game's about. Look for the parental controls and all of those things to get them set up as they get started. But probably the most important thing is to keep an open line of communication with them in case it does have dangers of talking to other people, you know, like having the conversation with them about what they need to look for and things that they need to tell you about that seem inappropriate or that make them uncomfortable and that they can always come to you for any of those concerns.

Speaker 1 (11:59):

Okay. So I hope you found that helpful, common sense media plugged in.com and then Bart resource list and Barco madec.com. Those things can all help you to determine whether or not that tech or that game is safe for your kiddo or what things you need to do to help make it safer. Okay. So that is it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining me. Thanks so much for your support. I have made a channel for the, be that mom movement on telegram. You can find the link in the show notes, if you would like to join in on that. I just send out updates on different things. You can also follow me on Instagram and I have a Facebook community that you can join if you would like to chat with other moms. So please connect with me and I will

Speaker 2 (12:43):

Chat with you next time. Thanks for tuning in being that mom isn't easy, but together we can be that mom strong. Don't forget to leave a review, connect on social and join Dolly's free community till next time.