Posted by Joyce on February 10, 2009 under Cyberbullies | Comments are off for this article
Get ready mom and dad! Yes…..here comes another book!
More importantly, I’ve linked up with Vanessa Van Petten of On Teens Today fame - leading teen guru, writer, and major mom blog-maven.
We’re starting a series of posts and events on cyberbullying but from the side you would never expect. If there are some 70 million kids online saying they have been badly cyberbullied, chances are one of those bullies is your child.
So we’re getting real about it. We’re teaming up and I’m the old maid, internet safety “head” and parent and she’s the young, beautiful and brilliant woman writer with a massive teen and parent following.
It doesn’t get any better than this!
Look for our posts on both our blogs starting March 1, 2009. Look for the book next year! Send me your stories on your child’s online activities, too! Did you see an email or text message from your child you shouldn’t have?
In the meantime, check out Vanessa’s superb blog By Clicking Here and look for us to go toe-to-toe on cyberbullies.
Did you teach them how to be safe online when using them, too?
Bad Santa!
Many of these electronic items allow Internet access or have the ability to send and receive messages, pictures and videos.
As a parent, you should realize that many of these allow your child to play with people from all over the world. They can also communicate with them.
So, it’s time to have a chat with your child about using any or all of these items. Here’s my 3 Post-Christmas Internet Safety Gaming Quick Tips:
1. Make sure your game player knows to not give out personal information to fellow game players. This
is information such as their names, ages, address, school or phone numbers.
2. Check the game system instructions for information about privacy controls and parental restrictions that can protect children.
3. Encourage children to report inappropriate contact with strangers, especially sexually suggestive comments, attempts and such.
For Your Tween
Just because these items connect to the Internet does not mean you actually have to do it. Assess what comfort level you have with your child alone online. Assess their ability to understand the most basic online safety skills. If either of these have the slightest uncomfortable feeling to it, do not connect them to the Internet. Neither you nor your child are ready to take on the world of online strangers at this time.
For Your Teen
Teach them to be part of the solution. Teens understand the Internet and its connections to others, especially people they don’t know. Make sure your teen readily accepts the responsibility to online safety practices in exchange for the privilege of being online, no matter if they TEXT, FLIX or PIX. Empowering them with trust and respect for themselves and others will go a long way.
Myspace is in the news again and its about online predators. You know how much I enjoy the irony in this, don’t you?!
My friend Susan Safipour - our boys go to school together - sent me an article this morning on the amount of predators they “uncovered” and booted off last year.
90,000
That’s right, and they seem surprised at it. I remember how vehemently they fought to keep these people hidden. I remember it took a Class Action lawsuit (the feds won) before they put in any online safety measures at all.
The good news is they took action - even if they were forced to - and now they are a bit shocked at how many predators they found. Tsk! Tsk!
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