School is almost out and summer break is just around the corner. Do you know what your kids will be doing this summer? How will they be spending their spare free time for the next sixty or so days? Whatever you may or may not have lined up in terms of activities for your children, one thing is certain for most kids - free time offline means more time spent online.
This year add a new tradition to your usual end school year routine, along with graduation parties, summer camp registration and vacation preparations. Before this summer begins, talk to your children about staying safe online. A safety conversation is probably the last thing your kids want to have before they are set free for the lazy days summer, but it's important and it won't take long. Pick a day and put it on the calendar so you both stay committed. As a matter of fact, make it a complete safety briefing covering all their summer activities.
SafetyClicks strives to bring our readers as much information and points of view as possible so that you can determine the best approach to Internet safety for your family. In that effort, we will from time to time invite guest bloggers to share their points of view with you in addition to the information we bring you. In return, we are offered that same opportunity and are privileged to be able to share our input on safety topics on some of our friends of SafetyClicks blogs. See NetSmartz.org for a post I recently contributed regarding Parents taking a Facebook course.
Richard A. Smith provides some great insight in The Huffington Post about Social Networks and what they mean to us today. Here is just one of his interesting observations as to why being a part of a social network is so beneficial.
For the first time in human history, technology enabled social media allow us to exponentially expand our network of weak ties, potentially into the thousands over a lifetime. In so doing, these tools dramatically increase the flow of knowledge and opportunity available to each of us.
A recent market research group conducted a Kids & Digital Content study that revealed kids are downloading and playing games as much as ever.
"Although the most dramatic increase in usage of these devices happens at about age 9, playing games appears to be an activity that first engages young kids with the digital world," commented NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "Our study finds that 82 percent of kids ages 2 to 5 play games on one or more of the devices surveyed."
Parents often ask me what the right age is to begin discussing online safety and how to navigate the dangers of online safety with their children. My response is usually, "As soon as they get online."
What and when you engage your child on specific net safety topics depends on who they are and what they are doing online. As we've said often on this blog, each child is different, and as parents we have to consider those differences when we determine what our kids are ready for. The more they do online, the more guidance and rules they will need. However, make no mistake, the rules, whatever rules you choose to start with, should be in place before they even get their first mouse clicked. Whether your kids are 6 or 16 the first time they venture online, they should have some fundamentals in place.
We have all heard about the unfortunate trend of cyberbullying. We have listened to the news stories, we have read the articles and we know it is out there. However, we don't want to think that it is in our own homes. We so want to believe that cyberbullying is something that involves other people's children, and not our own. It is unimaginable that our child could be one of those bullies or worse yet, be the one getting bullied. But it happens, and it could be happening to your child.
The first step is to recognize that there might be a bullying situation taking place. The signs that a child is being bullied online are pretty much the same as those that you would notice if he or she was being bullied offline. If your child falls into some of the behavior patterns below, consider the possibility that they are involved in a cyberbullying situation.
* having trouble sleeping * feeling depressed * mood swings * feeling unwell * becoming anti-social and losing friends * falling behind in homework * spending a lot of time online
Recently Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell paid us a visit here at AOL and we got a chance to chat with him about online safety. You don't have to be on the topic long before you realize how important General McDonnell considers educating families about online safety. He did not hesitate when we asked if he would blog on the subject for our SafetyClicks parents.
Working Together Fosters A Safer Online Environment
Reach out to your local elected official to see if your state provides Internet safety training in the classroom. By listening to parents, government can institute sound and effective policies to foster a safer online environment. Our goal is to stop child endangerment on every front. With regard to the Internet, we have learned that a little knowledge can go a long way.
In just a few short years, the Internet has brought about remarkable advances and fundamentally changed how information is disseminated. Today, we have unprecedented access to valuable data and the ability to communicate with people around the globe instantly.
With the click of a mouse, our children can access the complete works of Shakespeare, the latest scientific journals and ancient religious texts. They have an entrée into far off communities and, at the same time, better insight into their own state and local government. The potential is wonderful.
As society's virtues have found a home on the Internet, so too have some very disturbing evils. The inherent openness and anonymity of the Internet have provided a hiding place for child predators, con artists and identity thieves.
Refreshing ourselves with some tips and tricks on how to keep our passwords safe has never seemed more timely in light of recent news that one of our Vice Presidential candidates, Sarah Palin, recently had her email hacked. How was this possible? While we may not be able to go back and change what happened to Sarah Palin, we hope that we can give you some information that will prevent anything like that from happening to you.
Our very good friend at AOL, Consumer Advocate and fellow blogger, Regina Lewis, has written up some very effective ways to protect your password. Regina offers very practical and easy to do tips that will no doubt help increase the security of your passwords.
The following seven tips for teens are brought to you by our good friends at ConnectSafely.org. I recommend sending this post to your child via e-mail and then following up with a conversation. You may even want to print it out to stick to the refrigerator:
Be your own person. Don't let friends or strangers pressure you to be someone you aren't. And know your limits. You may be Net-savvy, but people and relationships change, and unexpected stuff can happen on the Internet.
Be nice online. Or at least treat people the way you'd want to be treated. People who are nasty and aggressive online are at greater risk of being bullied or harassed themselves. It's a vicious cycle you really don't want to get into.
Think about what you post. Sharing provocative photos or intimate details online, even in private emails, can cause you problems later on. Even people you consider friends can use this info against you, especially if they become ex-friends.
There is only so much you can control in life. This is especially true when you have young children that grow into curious tweens and (inevitably!) willful teens. The older our little ones get, the less say we as parents seem permitted. On the one hand you want to support their independence, on the other you wish they remained inside a safe little bubble where you controlled what they did. Since the "bubble" approach to parenting is obviously no good, the best we can do is make sure we equip our children with good information and the confidence to use good judgment.
Being armed with the combination of good information and good judgment is particularly important when you allow your child to be online. Talking to your kids regularly about how to be safe goes a long way. Even if you think they aren't listening, some or all of what you tell them is bound to sink in. So the more you can make the topic of keeping safe online a part of your day-to-day conversations, the more you provide your child the building blocks for a fun, enriching and safe online experience.
Although it is up to each parent to develop the rules that best apply to your child, there are some fundamental household rules that every parent should think about including.
? Keep the computer in a central location in the home instead of a child's bedroom.
? Anything that makes a child feel uncomfortable should be shared with a parent.
? Do not believe everything you read on the Internet.
? Children cannot meet people they meet online without a parent.
? Do not share passwords with anyone, including friends.
As September rolls around again the familiar scents of the season begin to fill the air. I am of course referring to the smell of new books, shiny erasers, bright highlighters and sharpened pencils. Yes parents, it is that time of year again: Time to roll the kids out of bed at the crack of dawn and see them off to their next milestone, whatever grade that may be. For some parents this is a little sad; they love having the kids around and truly enjoy the summer pursuits that go along with it. For other parents, this day could not come soon enough. But no matter which camp you fall into, you no doubt want your child to start that first day of school as prepared as possible. Not just equipped with the right school supplies. You want them armed with knowledge on how to keep safe.
To help parents in the pursuit of keeping their children safe online, the Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL), a coalition of technology and consumer groups, recently launched a "Back to School Center" to help educate parents on ways to keep kids safe online as they head back to school. This is a wonderful tool for parents to refer to as they prepare to discuss Internet use and expected online behavior with their kids. The tips are broken down into several areas so that parents can focus on the information most important to them.
I encourage you -- as a parent that cares about what your child is doing online (otherwise you would not be reading this blog) -- to take a few minutes and peruse what this group has put together. Let us know what you think.
You have probably heard the term "social network." You may have even used it yourself a few times. But are you really comfortable with what a social network is? If yes, great! You are ahead of the curve. If your answer was no, though, read on.
An online social network is a virtual community where people gather to share interests, find new ones or build relationships. What makes online social networks unique and valuable, especially to teens, is the ease with which users can make new connections through their extended network of friends. The convenience and fun of quickly connecting with other people -- and large numbers of them, if you like -- has made online social networking one of the most popular activities on the Internet today.
Here are some of the things teens like to do once they've joined a social network:
- Meet new people: Once two users have connected, it's easy for them to view each others' list of friends, and invite those people to be their friends in turn. - Post messages: Sort of like e-mail, users can post messages on a friend's "profile page." Often these messages are posted publicly for others to read. - Share photos: It's super easy to upload photos to a profile page and broadcast them to friends. - Chat or Instant Message: Social networking sites are increasingly offering tools for users to chat in real-time in the website, rather than using the more traditional, external messaging programs.
Now that you have, I hope, a basic understanding of what social networking is all about, here is a short list of the more popular sites out there. I suggest you spend some time exploring these sites, and even sign up and create your own profile page. Doing so will give you a good feel for how these sites are used by tweens, teens and 20-somethings, which collectively generate the heaviest usage (unsurprisingly) on social networking sites.
As parents it is our job to not only teach by saying but more importantly to teach by doing. By that I mean going beyond setting a good example by our everyday behavior. Teach by doing here means getting involved with what your child is doing online. Our friends at ConnectSafely.org have outlined some great tips for parents who have kids or teens on the social web.
Be reasonable and try to set reasonable expectations. Pulling the plug on your child's favorite social site is like pulling the plug on his or her social life. Instead of being protective, it can shut down communication and send kids "underground" where they're more at risk. It's too easy for them to set up free blogs and profiles from anywhere, including friends' houses or even a cell phone.
Talk with your kids about how they use the services. They, not news reports or even experts, are the ones to consult about their social-Web experience. Help them understand basic safety guidelines, such as protecting their privacy (including passwords), not harassing peers, never talking about sex with people they don't know, avoiding in-person meetings with people they "meet" online, and taking care in what they post - because anything people put online can be grabbed, reworked, and used against them.
School is almost out and summer break is just around the corner. Do you know what your kids will be doing this summer? How will they be spending their spare free time for the next sixty or so days? Whatever you may or may not have lined up in terms of activities for your children, one thing is certain for most kids - free time offline means more time spent online.
There is only so much you can control in life. This is especially true when you have young children that grow into curious tweens and (inevitably!) willful teens. The older our little ones get, the less say we as parents seem permitted. On the one hand you want to support their independence, on the other you wish they remained inside a safe little bubble where you controlled what they did. Since the "bubble" approach to parenting is obviously no good, the best we can do is make sure we equip our children with good information and the confidence to use good judgment.
You have probably heard the term "social network." You may have even used it yourself a few times. But are you really comfortable with what a social network is? If yes, great! You are ahead of the curve. If your answer was no, though, read on. 
