FRUITPORT, Mich. — A Fruitport mom is taking action to help her community navigate the growing challenges of raising children in a digital world, and she's bringing a West Michigan organization along to help.
WATCH: Fruitport mom calls on 'Protect Young Eyes' to help bring digital safety education to her community
Abbey Sladick says parenting in an increasingly digital landscape is daunting.
"Just searching on the internet what to do to keep your kids safe is super overwhelming and creates a lot of anxiety…" Sladick said.
So, Sladick reached out to Protect Young Eyes, a West Michigan organization that helps communities create safer digital spaces, and asked them to host an educational event for neighbors.
"We not only want to educate ourselves, but create this community that is equipped to be able to keep our kids, our neighborhoods, our schools safe online," Sladick said.
Chris McKenna, founder and CEO of Protect Young Eyes, said the event will include a presentation on digital discernment, creating a tech-ready home.
"What we have found is that in homes where digital trust is high, digital friction is often low, and there are certain things that we do to build digital trust," McKenna said.
McKenna said the presentation covers five core principles:
- Model the right behaviors.
- Pursue authentic connection.
- Encourage work and play.
- Delay addictive technologies.
- Prevent harm with certain hardware and software solutions to create layers of protection.
For Sladick, protecting her 7-year-old daughter started early on.
"From the moment that she was born, we decided we weren't going to show her face on social media," Sladick said.
Sladick has also given her daughter her own landline, which allows her to call select friends and family members.
"It's hers alone that she can own, and she can call anytime she wants, so she has that freedom within a safe space," Sladick said.
While Sladick's approach centers on delaying technology exposure, she also focuses on open conversations with her daughter about the reasons behind those decisions.
"If we can share the why behind decisions that we make, she's always much more receptive to that," Sladick said. "We can't protect our kids all the time, forever, but we can help reduce the risk by educating ourselves and putting some simple protections in place."
The Protect Young Eyes event will be held at Olivet Evangelical Free Church on Tuesday, May 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
The event is free and open to everyone. Free childcare will also be available at the church.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
