Dear Friends,

It’s no wonder we feel overwhelmed parenting in the Digital Age if even Melinda Gates admits to being unprepared. I think many of us can relate.

Now that we are signing iPad school use policies for our kindergarteners, we’ve unwittingly been promoted to Chief Technology Officer as the ‘Chief Overseers’ of homework. Some women are fortunate to have back-up from their partners, but others are managing the Home IT department solo.

Regardless of which scenario you find yourself in, there’s always a bit of family strife when Wifi’s down, Netflix isn’t loading or you forgot to back-up your device. It’s disquieting to think of our kids being more technologically agile and that we’re behind the learning curve instead of leading it. It would be nice to feel confident that we have a good system in place for triaging tech issues, managing screen time and social media accounts.

Whether you’re a reluctant or enthusiastic CTO, managing multiple devices in a household is undoubtedly challenging. With Heard It From A Friend, you’re never alone!

With best wishes,

Julie Paul
Founder and CEO

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After receiving a letter from the principal of a K-8 school that students were watching pornography on the bus, please consider this a Public Service Announcement. Most people don’t realize how easy it is for kids to access porn on iOS devices, AND how easy it is to prevent it. Befuddling as it may be, Apple has chosen to sell all of its devices with settings defaulted to allow explicit content. It takes only 30 seconds to change the settings, so it’s easy to make sure your kids are safe! Here’s how:

Step 1: Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions. Choose a passcode different from your phone’s passcode and store it somewhere memorable.

Step 2: Find the section called Allowed Content: Select ratings for the United States.

Step 3: Tap on Websites > Tap Limit Adult Content

There are also settings you can change for Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, iBooks and Siri to make sure you filter out explicit content. To see how…

Once you’ve adjusted these settings on your children’s devices, you may want to change them on your devices too. You can check off your entire family in under 10 minutes! Please be sure to share this message–it really is all about Friends Helping Friends!

 Melinda Gates spent her career in tech. Here’s what she had to say about not being prepared for smartphones and social media. It’s nice to know we’re in such good company!

 If your tweens keep asking for Musical.ly or Instagram, this article might arm you with some good ammo: 3 Reasons Why Social Media Age Restrictions Matter

 Maybe the answer to raising successful kids in this Digital Age is to stop treading warily around tech and dive right in? Here’s one perspective…

Here’s what Our Friends are saying:

Our Friend, Lorraine Candy, Editor-in-Chief for The Sunday Times’ Style Section and Parenting Columnist, featured our call to get Apple to improve its parental controls in this recent article. Thank you, Lorraine, for helping Heard It From A Friend to keep the conversation going and engage more women in technology!