Is Your Tween or Teen Playing Hide and Seek with Apps?
Is your tween or teen playing hide and seek with apps? Many kids are getting smartphones at earlier and earlier ages. Did you know that Sprint has come out with a smartphone for 5 year olds! Personally I think this is crazy! Most parents say that they get their child a smartphone for safety reasons, so that they can be in touch with them in a nano-second. But isn’t safety and smartphones an oxymoron? After all the online world is hardly safe and is associated with all kinds of risks. Just today, the Department of Homeland Security launched a program to combat online predators, because...
Read MoreCyberbullying – Family Makes a Difference
Parental Engagement in Your Tween/Teen’s Online Life A recent study found that 87% of kids have witnessed cyberbullying. The impact of cyberbullying can be severe, so it’s vital that parents are engaged in their children’s online lives as well as their offline lives. We all know that adolescence is a time of roller-coaster emotions and raging hormones. During adolescence kids often experience angst. They worry about all kinds of things – friendships, dating, how they look and if other people will notice that horrible pimple on their chin. It can be hard for a parent to sort out normal...
Read MoreAre Your Tweens/Teens Using Apps to Sext?
Apps Make it Easier for Tweens/Teens to Sext Is there a parent out there today that doesn’t know what sexting is? I doubt it. With the help of apps like Snapchat, Kik, Instagram and many other apps kids are sexting. One in five kids is sending a sexually explicit image of themselves to others, often their boyfriend or girlfriend. Nearly twice as many teens are receiving sexting images and a quarter of those that receive a sexting image are forwarding them to others. This research done by the University of Utah alarmingly also found that they did so even though they were aware of the legal...
Read MoreDoes the Online World Influence Your Child, Tween or Teen? You Bet It Does!
What Kind of Influence is the Online World Having On Your Child? The internet has its good side. It can be entertaining and educational, and can open up new worlds for kids, giving them a chance to travel the globe virtually, learn about different cultures, and gain exposure to ideas they may never encounter at home or in their own community. Sites with a pro-social message can have a positive impact on a child, tween or teens behavior. There are sites/games/apps that teach and even promote antisocial behaviors such as aggression or cyberbullying but there are sites/apps that teach...
Read MoreA Grandfather’s Story – His Granddaughter’s Close Encounter Online
What can happen when a 12 year old is online without any parental supervision? Today a grandfather of a 12 year old tween told me his story. While his granddaughter was visiting he discovered that she was chatting with a 19 year old man that had friended her on Facebook. This girl had plans to meet up with this “friend.” This grandfather said that his daughter and husband didn’t pay attention to what their kids do online. He was incensed by this situation and said he wanted to “pummel” the 19 year old who was taking advantage of his sweet, naive granddaughter. He was able...
Read MoreA Child’s Natural Curiosity May Lead to Trouble Online
A child’s curiosity is a wonderful thing… A person’s mind develops the most their formative years and has a tremendous influence on the rest of their life. Right from infancy, curiosity plays a big role in a person’s life. It is curiosity which leads people towards sources of knowledge. When a child is young, he or she learns primarily from their parents. As they enter school, their circle of knowledge grows to their teachers, peers and life experiences. In today’s digitally dominated world the internet is a leading source of information for children, tweens, teens and adults...
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