Growing up we were taught to look both ways before we crossed the street, not to answer the phone/door when we were home alone and not to go with strangers. But, our parents didn't teach us how to be safe in a digital world because there wasn't a digital world.
There has been lots of studies done on the effect of television on kids, but not internet use. Our kids ARE the study. There is no rulebook, only common sense and lessons learned from mistakes. So, whether your kids are 2 or 52 (or you don't have kids at all) I want to know what you've learned and what you think.
1. Blogging Safety. Here are great links to blogging safety...
Because I don't want to be a Dateline Special
Blog Safety
(Thanks Glittersmama for your links)
And if MY last name (or any other identifing info) is posted in YOUR blog (or blog roll) PLEASE REMOVE IT. thanks.
2. Internet Safety. Kids nowadays have facebook accounts at 14 and email addresses at 8. My friend told me today that her 8 year old runs home every day to check her email account and was asking her the other day how to google an image and add it to her outgoing email. Our kids are going to grow up to be much more computer literate than we are, so how do we stay ahead of them now? What things must we be doing to keep them safe? What should we be teaching them and what guidelines should we be setting?
With facebook, youtube, myspace and personal email addresses, there is a whole new world out there for our kids.
3. Cell Phone Safety. A kid in a nearby town just got arrested for child porn because he was sexting. In this case he forwarded on a naked pic of his ex-girlfriend to his current girlfriend and the pic went viral. What guidelines do we need for cell phone use? What should we be teaching our kids here?
My kids are still kinda young, but they are growing up fast and before I know it, I'm going hear, "Mom, can I have my own email address? But, John, Sam, and Harry ALL have their own." I don't want to hide my kids away from the world. I want to teach them how to safely live in it. Without being featured on Oprah.
So, tell me, my digital friends, What do you think?
Here are some safety links to get you started..
Safekids- Entertainment Media
Safekids- Online Safety
I Spy on My Kids
Little Surfers
12 Tools TO Keep Kids Safe
Risks for Kids Online
8 years ago
1 comments:
Bryan and I watched an episode of Dr. Phil today about a 17 year old who was obsessed with her boyfriend, calling him about 230 times a month, texting him 3,000 times a month, lying, stealing money to give it to the guy, and saying that she hated her mother because she was a five letter word and saying basically that she was doing nothing wrong. These parents or Dr. Phil could not get through to this girl. As I`m watching I`m thinking that if this were my kid she would be chained to the arm of the couch. She wanted to know why her parents had the right to tell her what to do and the rights to take her things. If I were that girl`s mother, she would have ZERO privileges. We absolutely have the right to spy on whatever we feel like, to set whatever rules we like, to remove doors, to revoke licenses, cellphones, whatever we feel like. I laughed really hard when that girl told her mother that she had no right interfering in her life. I would love to hear Aidan tell me that in 15 years and I will gladly give him all 10,000 reasons why I do. And for a final word, if I ever called Mom a female dog to her face, she would have slapped me to kingdom come and back, and I would have expected nothing less. That girl was some kind of stupid. I`m done ranting now.
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