This Week's Biggest Win—and Biggest Warning

Happy Monday, friend!

Here is what I am watching this week as we work together to protect children, strengthen parents, and build Christ-centered homes.

A new lawsuit accuses Meta and Discord of giving online predators virtually unrestricted access to a teenage girl who was allegedly groomed, blackmailed, and coerced into producing horrific content.

The predators reportedly operated through online groups that specifically target vulnerable children. Several members of these networks have already been arrested or charged—but the platforms are still fighting attempts to hold them responsible.

This is why parents cannot blindly trust a platform simply because it advertises parental controls or claims to be safe for teenagers.

Parents:

• Know your child’s passwords.

• Check private messages.

• Pay attention to Discord, disappearing messages, gaming chats, and secondary accounts.

• Do not allow devices behind closed doors at night.

Privacy is appropriate. Secrecy from parents is not.

A federal appeals court blocked part of Texas’ SCOPE Act that required social-media companies to address content promoting suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, substance abuse, and other dangers to minors.

The court ruled that this portion of the law conflicted with federal protections shielding technology companies from liability for content posted by users. However, the court left the law’s age-verification provisions standing.

This is an important reminder: legislation matters, but no government regulation will ever replace vigilant parenting.

We must stop outsourcing the protection of our children to Silicon Valley.

French lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation prohibiting children under 15 from using social media. The law also prohibits mobile-phone use in high schools and is intended to take effect as early as the upcoming school year, although it may still face constitutional review.

Whether every detail of the law proves workable remains to be seen—but the cultural shift matters.

For years, parents who delayed smartphones and social media were called controlling, fearful, or overly strict.

Now entire nations are acknowledging what many parents have known all along:

Children were never designed to carry the psychological weight of the entire internet in their pockets.

New research examining data from tens of thousands of Americans found that parents remain the most powerful influence on whether children carry their Christian faith into adulthood.

Regular family prayer, church attendance, conversations about faith, parental modeling, and strong parent-child relationships were all associated with stronger adult faith.

The culture is loud—but it is not all-powerful.

Your children still need to see you pray and talk about God in your everyday life. They need correction—but they also need connection. They need to know following Jesus is not simply something your family does on Sunday. It is who you are.

Sometime today, ask your child:

“Is there anything you have seen online lately that made you feel uncomfortable, afraid, confused, or pressured?”

Do not begin with an interrogation. Begin with a conversation.

Then establish one concrete digital boundary for your home—whether that means charging phones in your bedroom, removing devices from the dinner table, reviewing private messages, deleting an unsafe app, or delaying social media altogether.

We cannot control everything happening in the culture, but we can faithfully guard the gates of our own homes.

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
—Joshua 24:15

If these weekly briefings help you feel more informed and equipped, I would love for you to join my Inner Circle - The Family Defense Network.

It is a private community for parents who want biblical encouragement, practical guidance, and a trusted place to discuss the cultural issues affecting our children.

Membership is just $7 a month. Join us HERE!👇