Online Predators Can Be Anyone

When you read all the stories about online predators and then hear about how online predators don’t fit into any one socio-economic group but rather fall across all socio-economic groups, it makes me stop and think, if and when will online predators’ cases be ceased.  

Unfortunately, online predators will not every completely disappear.  

The best approach for parents is to educate themselves about the new technologies and online dangers and communicate with their children on how to be safe online, no matter if they are five or 18 years old. 

Once children start using the internet, parents need to take an active role with their children and teach them how to protect themselves while still having an amusing and educational experience.  And for additional support for parents, there is always My Mobile Watch Dog.

Teen Text Message Monitoring

Parents are aware of how much teens are enthralled with texting so why are there so many parents in denial that their own teen maybe sexting other teens? I hear all the time, “Oh my child would never do that.” Well with all the latest statistics about teens’ sexting and how curious they are about sex, to put it mildly, it is common sense to monitor text messages. 

Teens view sexting as a modern version of cybersex or phone sex. A recent study in Pediatrics found out of 1560 kids between the ages of 10 to 17 years old that 9.6 % admitted to appearing, creating or receiving a sexual suggestive image. So with kids’ curiosity getting the best of them on their cell phones, don’t you think text message monitoring is an important habit for parents to get into?

Pornography and Social Networking Sites

When you hear about 55 individuals from 20 different countries including the United States were using social networking sites to exchange child pornography, it makes you think twice about the Internet. When the Internet was first commercialized in 1995, it was not for the purpose of child pornography. But here we are 17 years later with all the real life dangers lurking online. The Internet is an amazing digital age tool that has had an extreme impact on our culture in both good and bad ways. 

With children going up today with a laptop, iPad or smartphone in their lap, parents really need to establish an open line of communication with their children from the very beginning. As our children go up and start learning and experiencing all the different facets of life, it is only natural for our tweens not to want to open up to the parents and talk about uncomfortable situations but at the same time, it is one of the most important times for children to talk with parents.

Smartphones for Three Year Olds

It still surprises me when I am walking in a parking lot and I see a three year old in a car seat playing a game on his/her parents’ smartphone. 

It makes me think how different it is for toddlers growing up today than it was just 10 years ago. Ten years ago it was still the digital age, but the difference was the technology was not as advanced and user friendly. I think about what these toddlers will be exposed to on the Internet by the time they are 5 or 6 years old.

The digital age technology makes it so much easier for parents of toddlers just to give their children their smartphone to play a game than to plan ahead and bring their favorite toys with them in the car.  

This brings me to the point of what type of content these children will be exposed to and the proactive role parents need to take to help protect their children when online. It is hard enough to talk to our tweens about the online predators, sexting and cyber bullying but it is crucial to have parental monitoring for our children to help keep them safe. It seems with all the innovated technology our society is embracing, parents need to open the lines of communication with their children.