"I couldn't believe it. He's only eight years old"

Most adults remember their first encounter with sexual content coming from a magazine or the adult section of the video store. However, thanks to the rise of the digital age, pornographic and explicit content is never more than two or three clicks away. It’s a scary prospect for parents because it means children are exposed to inappropriate pictures and videos from an increasingly young age. 

According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, nearly half of children between the ages of 9-16 experience regular exposure to sexual images. Unfortunately, pornography use can shape sexual practices and is associated with unsafe sexual health practices. It may also strengthen attitudes supportive of sexual violence and violence against women.

Navigating this as a parent can feel immensely challenging, particularly once children start to use devices independently. 

This was the case for Sydney mother of two Clea Sherman. “My son had just started Year 3 when he came home from school having heard some very graphic details about sex. I couldn’t believe it… he was only eight years old. I definitely didn’t think we’d be having more advanced conversations so soon but his questions prompted me to do some research.”

“What I learned is the basic but essential strategy to ‘talk early and talk often’. You can’t just have one conversation and think that’s that when it comes to the topic of sex. I also realised that I needed to be proactive about my son’s internet use. At his current age, I don’t want him to inadvertently encounter images that traumatise him. When he’s older, my concern is that his main source of information about sex will come from the wrong places.” 

Clea has since installed Canopy, an advanced app that relies on AI to block inappropriate images and website access. “I like that Canopy gives me a hub where I can control the apps and websites he uses.” 

Canopy is more effective than traditional parental control platforms because it identifies and blocks images in real time, rather than relying on a ‘black list’ of sites that may be out of date. Compatible with any device, the app also has a world-first capability to identify and block the exchange of nudes or explicit images. This is a game-changer in today’s message-based world. 

Tested and certified by Australia’s Communication Alliance Family Friendly Filter Program, Canopy is the creation of Israeli company Netspark. According to CEO Yariv Peer, “The Canopy parental control app has been developed on a mission to make the internet a safer place for families worldwide”. Yariv adds that the company's cutting-edge technology made it possible to solve some of the most fundamental problems on the internet — by blocking pornographic material in real time and by developing an anti-sexting tool. 

Key features of Canopy: 

• BLOCK PORN ACROSS THE ENTIRE WEB: Canopy automatically scans every website your child visits and instantly blocks any that contain explicit images or videos. No exceptions.

• DON'T BLOCK SAFE CONTENT: If a website contains a mixture of appropriate and inappropriate content, Canopy automatically detects and blocks the bad stuff without blocking the good – even within a single webpage!

• PREVENT SEXTING: Canopy detects sexting and alerts parents when necessary, so they can help their kids make smart choices about the pictures they take and share.

• EASY SETUP: Canopy is easy to use and doesn’t require additional hardware or a special browser. Simply download Canopy Kids to your child’s device and manage it from the Parent Dashboard.

Canopy is the only digital parenting app that detects and blocks pornography before it reaches your child’s screen. “We recently spent a week in isolation with a lot of screen time. Knowing my son’s device was protected by Canopy gave me so much peace of mind,” says Clea.

To find out more about Canopy or start your Free Trial visit https://mycanopyapp.com