ScreenRetriever’s Online Safety Blog
Are your kids missing out on life because of Facebook?
A recent storm resulted in week long power outages for many in the northeast, including private boarding schools. They remained open and continued classes with the help of generators, but the internet was out. This caused much angst amongst students who were cut off from Facebook! Complaints of boredom were heard far and wide. Miraculously, after a couple of days of adjusting to being without this habit forming, constant companion called Facebook, kids started to read books, play games, and talk to each other face to face. Are kids missing out on life because of this Facebook habit? We’ve all seen kids so...
read moreTime to Review "Internet Safety" Tips With Your Kids for the Holiday Break
ScreenRetriever’s “Internet Safety” Tips: Tips To Remember Every Day of the Year! Important Fact: The Internet is not private and whatever you post on the Internet will be there forever. Do not give out personal identifying info such as name, age, address, telephone number, school name. Do not give out personal identifying info of parents or friends. Protect your computer password(s). Do not give them out to friends. Use strong passwords that include numbers and characters. Tell your parents right away if you get into a “sticky” situation, or when something just doesn’t feel...
read moreMultitasking While Doing Homework Results in Poor Grades
Multitasking Doesn’t Work When your child is supposed to be doing homework, are they chatting with their friends on Facebook or playing games? If you want your child to do a good job with their homework and get good grades than you may want to start teaching them that this isn’t the best idea. Multiple studies have shown that multitasking doesn’t work, even though your child is probably proudly claiming they can do ten things at once! Many people believe that they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously, but ADHD expert and psychiatrist, Dr. Edward Hallowell says this is a myth.The reality is...
read moreWant Your Child to Learn? Turn Off Their Computer & Cellphone at Night!
We know that many kids are going online or on their cellphones after they go to bed. In the morning they stumble out of bed bleary eyed and drag themselves to school. This doesn’t make for the ideal learning situation. Sleep deprivation really does impact our kids ability to learn according to Dr. Paul Howard-Jones, an internationally recognized neuroscientist. We need sleep to learn, plain and simple. Dr. Jones says that sleep allows the brain to consolidate information that’s been received and encoded. Learning actually takes place while we sleep. When sleep is disturbed the ability to learn is...
read moreParents Need to Teach Facebook Skills
Facebook wants everyone, including kids to share everything about themselves online. They have hired lobbyists and begun a Political Action Committee to overturn the current Child Online Privacy Protection Act because they want kids to be allowed on Facebook under the age of 13. Frequent users of Facebook don’t care much about privacy and how much they’re sharing about themselves to the online world. Adults can make those decisions about their personal privacy, but can kids? The lines are blurring about privacy. Kids are watching reality shows on television that “let it all hang out” and kids...
read moreIs Your Child's Online Privacy Being Compromised?
Many child safety advocates are working hard to improve safety online for kids. Part of this effort is from those working on COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) to protect the privacy of children under the age of 13. Why does COPPA matter? Many websites that your child visits collect personal information and data about your child for the purposes of targeted advertising and messaging. Think about that. What kind of ads or messaging is your child being exposed to? What kind of influence may they have? Where does this personal information go? Is a profile being created about your...
read moreIs Your Teen Presenting a Positive Online Image for Colleges/Employers?
Some teens who want to be what they deem “popular” and “cool”, boast, exaggerate and sometimes present an amazing image of themselves on Facebook for their thousands of “cool” friends (that they probably don’t know in real life).“21% of kidsclaim they make friends with people they don’t know on social networks to appear to have more friends” If they also think going to college is “cool” or getting a job is “cool” then they may want to get real about their Facebook pages. According to Forbes magazine “The number of college recruiters vetting potential candidates via...
read moreOnline Rules Need To Be Followed With Check-Ins
Parents are showing a strong interest in internet safety with 93% of parents establishing rules about usage and time limits, according to a recent Hart/FOSI Survey. Rules are not enough however. Rules need to be followed with check-ins to make sure that kids are learning and following them. One of the first rules we give our children is not to talk to strangers, yet kids are going to websites like Omegle, that opens with the allurement, “Talk To Strangers” and parents don’t know it. We teach our kids not to be bullies, yet cyberbullying continues to escalate with many parents unaware that their child is...
read moreCyber-Care and Child-Care Go Hand in Hand
A new school year starts again. A time of new beginnings and high hopes for our children. To help keep kids on the right path for a great and successful school year, include cyber-care on your school list along with pencils, notebooks, haircut, your child’s physical, and new clothing. Cyber-Care is just as important as all of these other school related necessities. Cyber-Care is knowing what your child is doing online to keep them out of harms way and on the path to success. Cyber-Care is teaching safe, appropriate, online behavior. There are so many risks, issues, distractions related to online activity...
read moreAre You Aware of the Dangers Online?
by Charlotte Margel “The internet is dangerous.” You hear it all the time. You know that kids have the ability to come across hazardous and inappropriate websites, but how aware are you of how dangerous it actually is? How many websites are there out there that can cause damaging effects on children? Does the internet really have the ability to ruin a child’s future? As a parent do you understand and truly know the effects the internet can have and the websites to look out for? This past June was the National Internet Safety Awareness Month, but the majority of you probably did not know this. Our...
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