How Xoul Helps Families Spot Online Risk Situations

When we interview families who use Xoul, one of the first questions we like to explore is the purpose: what Xoul has to offer them and what their main concerns are about their children's digital lives.

We often hear responses like: "I worry that a stranger might contact my child," "I want to know if they're having conflicts with classmates, or if they can set limits," "I want to know they're okay, because they don't talk to me."

Today we know that technology can be a bridge to many benefits, like staying in touch with peers and family, learning new things, and being entertained. At the same time, the digital world can come with online risks that understandably worry many parents.

That's why at Xoul we aim to support families by bringing them information about how their children are using their devices, and by providing tools to help them step in.

How Xoul works

Xoul uses artificial intelligence to analyze information from young people's phones, particularly their WhatsApp conversations. This analysis is done securely and generates reports based on observations that can help better understand what's going on, always protecting their privacy and prioritizing information that can be useful for their caregivers.

Through this analysis, it's possible to observe different aspects of their digital lives. Many interactions are part of an everyday, healthy use of technology, where kids connect with their peers, express themselves, organize, and build their relationships. In some cases, signals may also appear that point to distress or possible risks, which may require closer attention.

Having this information allows families to gain a closer view of that digital world and makes it easier to open conversations that often don't come up on their own.

Risk situations Xoul has already detected

Xoul currently supports more than a thousand families. In this time, we have been able to identify various risk situations that we report so that parents can have the information they need to look after their children's well-being.

These are some of the situations we encounter most often:

• Grooming: conversations in which an adult makes contact with the child, usually asking for inappropriate content, suggesting the conversation be kept secret, or even proposing to meet in person.
• Inappropriate content: groups where age-inappropriate material circulates, often related to sexual content or information about parties and drugs.
• Intense emotional distress: expressions of sadness, loneliness, anger, or other emotions that the person is finding difficult to process.
• References to self-harm and suicidal behavior: explicit references to a history of self-harm or recent self-harming behaviors, as well as thoughts or intentions of self-harm in a context of intense emotional distress.
• Abusive relationships: signs of relationships involving pressure, control, jealousy, fear, isolation from one's circle, or emotional dependence on one side.
• Violent language or threats between peers: mentions of physical aggression, insults intended to hurt, or references to planned encounters to fight.
• Mockery and peer harassment: insults or the circulation of content such as images or videos that can hurt, both in groups and in individual chats.
• A peer asking for help: conversations in which it is detected that the other party, often a friend of the user, is going through a difficult moment that could put their life at risk.
• Auditory hallucinations: Although less frequent, Xoul has also detected situations in which a child reports hearing internal voices that guide their behavior and cause distress and disruption in daily life.

Technology as a bridge

Many times, kids don't talk to the adults around them. Sometimes because they don't want to, or because they fear being judged or punished, because they can't find a space to feel heard, or even because they have normalized experiences that deserve attention, or don't have the tools to recognize that something isn't right.

That's why the role of adults becomes key in providing support through information and, above all, through availability and active listening.

Technology, used well, can be that bridge. It can help us better understand what young people are experiencing in the digital world, open conversations that wouldn't otherwise happen, and step in when the situation calls for it. Having information doesn't have to feel like an invasion when the goal is clear and oriented toward care. It means being able to support with more tools and fewer assumptions.

The digital world our children are growing up in is full of possibilities and also has its risks. Being able to navigate that world alongside them, from an informed and close place, is a concrete way to care.

‍