Parenting Online is not Spying!

Unless you have kids online you may not truly understand all of the risks.  It’s really important that parents understand that “Parenting Online” is not Spying!

It’s bad enough that the obvious online risks include:

• cyberbullying,
• sexting,
• online predators,
• meeting up with strangers they’ve only met online
• internet addiction,

Then there are the not so obvious risks:

• children randomly connecting with strangers in chatrooms who often expose themselves,
• inappropriate websites and the url sounds harmless,  i.e. dancingdeer.com is a holiday cookie site and dancingbear.com is a porn site
• the creation of a permanent digital footprint that doesn’t disappear that can impact college admission and employment,
• phishing scams,
• malware
• identity theft
• other cyber-security risks
• anonymous apps that hides the user’s identity
• sexting apps that claim the images disappear but don’t
• decoy apps
• social media that allows young children to easily lie about their age to get on these social media sites and then easily connect to:
  • hook up apps like down (down with a bang) or
  • violent video games,
  • or join groups that promote everything from drug use, anorexia, self harm, alcohol abuse, nudity and more
• the ability to purchase substances like caffeine on sites like amazon or drugs via Instagram
• multitasking while doing homework by playing games, watching videos, texting so they never do a good job at any one task
• sleep deprivation from being on a device in the middle of the night and then falling asleep in class the next day
• using their devices in class, so they’re not listening to the teacher trying to teach
• learning from their peers online to behave in ways that parents wouldn’t approve of, because they see their peers doing it and think it’s ok.

This doesn’t complete the long laundry list of risks when tiny hands begin using those powerful devices that connect to the world.  There have been numerous studies that find there is a real disconnect between what parents think their kids are doing online to what they are actually doing online.  So wake up out there.  Parenting Online is not spying and it’s not about trust.  Would you expect your children to learn to interact offline, use a stove, or drive a car without teaching them?  The online world is no different.  Be a responsible online parent as soon as you put those devices in their tiny hands through out their teen years and until you know that they are using them safely and appropriately!