Sensitivity Settings

#1

My daughter just got her first phone for her 13th birthday so I am working on setting up her iPhone Screen Time and Bark. We aren’t allowing any type of social media. Her phone will mainly be used for texting, listening to music, playing games and taking photos/videos.

I’m wondering how relaxed/strict to set the sensitivity settings on her Bark account. Right now all are set on the strictest setting, which is probably more than we need. What kinds of content alerts do you receive at the 50% mark?

I understand it will be a matter of trial and error. I’m just curious what other parents of children this age have experienced. Thanks!

#2

Hi, Dennis! My oldest is 13 too, and our iPhone situation sounds a lot like your daughter’s! Personally, I have our settings set to strictest, because I’d rather have a few false alerts than loosen up too much and miss something (that I may have considered concerning). You can adjust the settings here. The triggers for possible concerns are extremely vast and complex. We suggest trying different settings to get a feel for what kinds of alerts you’ll receive. You can always change and go back to a more strict setting if you like! If there’s anything we can do for you, please reach the Bark team any time here. Always happy to help! :slight_smile:

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#3

I agree…I’d rather have false alarms than not be alerted to something. We do get a fair amount of false alarms with Bark, but I always just giggle. It’s usually the girls being silly.

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#4

@Angela_Powell_Woulfe, or the parents texting them something like “behave you goofball!” and they label you a Cyber-bully. How embarrassing! (I speak from experience…)

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#5

Yes! Or my daughter will text me when I’m out with my friends for girls’ night and tell me to not drink too much. Always flags for “alcohol or drug use”. She’s just being a good kid and looking out for her momma!

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#6

Hi Tammy. I’m also mom to a 13 year old. I left the sliders the way they were to gage what it flags and sue enough my husband emailed my younger daughter the caption “dumbo” which was flagged for cyberbullying. It actually a photo of my 7 year old riding dumbo at Disney. Now that I have used it for a few months I have adjusted the sliders accordingly. Of course it’s different for the 7 year old than it is for the 13 year old. Hope that helps,

#7

Thank you, Lisa. I’ve found some silly notifications too but I’d rather see those than miss something important.

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#8

I would rather have false alerts than miss something. It makes me laugh when I text my kids to get their medicine and it gets flagged as drug related. So I keep my 14 and 12 year old sensitivity high.

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