Keeping Our Kids Safe Online – From Others And Themselves
As parents, we all care about our children. But protecting them in the digital age we now live in can be a challenge.
A few years back, I was interviewing prospective students for a university with which I’m affiliated. The kids I met seemed bright, respected and eager to learn. I was prepared to accept them into an educational program that helps produce leaders. That’s why I was so troubled when I performed a random Google search of their names later. What I found was shocking: everything from drunken photos to inappropriate communication amongst their friends. That was my “aha” moment, as Oprah would say. I realized that there was a real need for someone…or something… to help these kids (and their parents) understand that the Internet is just like a bathroom wall full of graffiti, only this wall is permanent.
As I began to research this concept, I found more worrying issues that face our kids on a daily basis. What you and I may remember as “school bullying” has ballooned into an unthinkable problem that is technologically-driven: cyber-bullying. Kids suffer public humiliation like never before and the impact is long-term. Tragic cases of teen suicides linked to cyber-bullying have
sprouted throughout the country, and social networking sites (like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter) make it easy for bullies to post hateful comments anonymously. In fact, these sites are a cyber-bully’s preferred playground.
Web filters don’t do the trick. Parental controls can only do so much. Our kids are both smart and tech-savvy, so it’s our responsibility as parents to mature with them. Let’s stay informed about news on social networking sites, changes to privacy policies and Internet safety laws. Let’s educate ourselves about cyber-bullying, virtual addiction, and the dangers and long-term
consequences of sexting. In essence, let’s strive to be the best parents we can be. Our children deserve it.
Guest blogger, Geoffrey Arone, is co-founder of SafetyWeb, a new service that helps parents to monitor their child’s activities online. For more information about SafetyWeb, visit www.safetyweb.com.
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