Tag: "internet privacy"
11 Mobile Parental Controls from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile
Finding a mobile plan that’s right for your family can be tough. And I’m not talking about deciding which texting or minutes plan to get, I am talking about parental control plans that help you manage your children’s texting, talking and mobile web browsing usage. The four main providers—Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile—all offer very [...]
An Easy Way to Introduce and Teach Your Children Responsible Texting
Update 1/23/2013: The Text Free application now allows for picture messaging. I recommend that parents keep a close look at the content of their children’s texts just to make sure they’re talking about age-appropriate content. At what age is it OK for your child to have a cell phone? Better yet, a smartphone? If your [...]
Social Networking Linked to Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Researchers at The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (Columbia University) recently released a study where they found that teens who regularly use social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are twice as likely to smoke marijuana and three times are likely to drink alcohol. As well, the study points out that cyberbullied [...]
Social Media Clean-Up in 5 Easy Steps
After the Social Media Background Check article, I received a significant amount of feedback from readers and parents asking if there’s a way for them, or their teen, to “clean up” their social media profile. As I pointed out in the original article, a person’s social media profile officially consists of “up to seven years” [...]
One Network for Adults and Children: A Recipe for Disaster
Over 7 million kids are lying about their age to join Facebook. by guest columnist, Luke Gilkerson, from Covenant Eyes – It’s called “Smash or Pass.” Boys and girls alike can submit a photo of themselves or someone else to any number of smash-or-pass pages on Facebook. Others then stop by and say whether they [...]
How to Deal With Cyberbullies and Online Creeps
It can be a scary thing when you notice a change in your child’s behavior and you come to find out that something happened, or is happening, to them online. That’s what happened to a friend of mine who recently reached out to me. The details are private, but she said her daughter was dealing [...]
The Social Media Background Check
Yes. You read that right. A social media background check is now possible thanks to a ruling by the Federal Trade Commission. It also provides us parents with further reinforcement that it’s incredibly important to teach our children how to “safely and responsibility network online.” The FTC ruling authorizes companies to provide reports on an [...]
Giving In to Tweens Who Want to Join Facebook – Is It Too Much Pressure for a Parent to Bear?
From firsthand experience, I can tell you that it’s very difficult not to simply succumb to the pressures of letting your tween have an account on an adult-intended social network like Facebook. Most of their friends probably have one—in fact, their friends’ younger siblings probably have one. But does that justify giving in? That’s the [...]
Jeff Sutphen Joins Yoursphere!
Rising TV Game Show Star Jeff Sutphen Brings His Unique Brand of Loony Fun to Yoursphere.com Now hosting shows on two TV networks, Sutphen teams with kids-only social media site Yoursphere to advocate for online safety and connect with ‘tween & teen fans via his new “Jeff’s Madness” sphere DAVIS, CA – July 13, 2011 [...]
How to Form Good Technology Habits Early
As soon as your children start tapping on the keyboard, that’s the time you should begin your online parenting. You’ll be happy to know that parenting online isn’t much different than parenting your child when they aren’t in front of a keyboard. Much like the food pyramid that helps guide our knowledge of a healthy [...]
How to Set Parental Controls on Mac OS X
It isn't hard to look around and see the social and technological influence that Apple has had on our society. They’ve slowly placed an iPhone, iPod or Macbook (sometimes all three) in most American homes, and Apple isn’t showing signs of slowing down any time soon, which is all the more reason to understand how [...]
Twitter – A Revolutionary Way for Kids to Text for Free, Cyberbully and More
Everyone uses Twitter—or at least it seems that way. Major news companies use it to engage audiences from all over the world; politicians use it to leverage their outreach, and celebrities use it to let their followers know what kind of dressing is on their salad. But, you probably already know all of this. What [...]
iTunes Parental Controls and Safe Syncing
Knowing how to set parental controls on iTunes is just as important as settings parental controls on the home computer, web browser, and social networking accounts that your kids use. Because iTunes is essentially the media center for any iDevice that your child uses, making it safe for them should go hand-in-hand with making their [...]
An Internet-Safety Educational Tool That Shows Great Promise
Linda Criddle’s LOOKBOTHWAYS Foundation has always been a go-to Internet-safety resource of mine. Not only is her website filled with original content about online privacy, mobile safety, cyberbullying and other Internet concerns, but her perspective is backed by 13 years of experience as an online safety expert for Microsoft’s MSN division. Linda’s latest project, NetSkills4Life, [...]
Book Review: The Golden Rule of the 21st Century
Richard Guerry’s Public and Permanent: The Golden Rule of the 21st Century: Straight Talk About Digital Safety: The Real Consequences of Digital Abuse isn’t just an educational resource for parents and teens, it’s an eye-opening analysis of what really drives the Internet safety issues we see today in digital communication and social networking. The educational [...]
Yoursphere Parents Unaware of Internet Dangers
Mark Zuckerberg’s most recent effort to get children on Facebook has left parents, including myself, wondering exactly how he plans on keeping children safe from the adult culture on Facebook. I’ve posted my thoughts about this issue here, but what concerns me the most is that there are millions of parents out there who are [...]
In response to Mark Zuckerberg Wanting Children Under 13 to Be Able to Join Facebook
Article being referenced: Zuckerberg: Kids under 13 Should Be Allowed on Facebook Plain and simple, Facebook isn’t a place for children. As I’ve shared in the past, and as many of us know – the content and culture is adult-intended. While I agree with Mark, children should benefit from social media, Facebook just isn’t the place. [...]
50 Percent of Bullies Go Beyond the Playground
Yesterday, technology journalist Larry Magid posted an article in the Huffington Post called “Online Safety Tied to Real World Behavior”. In the article, Magid points to some interesting statistics related to real-world bullying and how it ties into cyberbullying. Magid points to a recent study from the Cyberbullying Research Center: out of 4,400 11-to-18-year-olds, the [...]
3 Ways Kids Can Become Good Digital Citizens
Education – Whether this is facilitated through teachers or parents (hopefully both!), awareness of the issues that exist online are first and foremost in an effort to avoid them. Parents also need to be educated so they can have…well, educated conversations with their kids about safe online practices. Of course, education goes hand-in-hand with open [...]
Cyberbullying Number One Concern for Kids, Not So Much for the Average Parent
Just like with “traditional bullying”, it’s close to impossible to eliminate cyberbullying entirely. The fact of the matter is, online anonymity not only makes it easier than ever to be mean and cruel, but it makes it easier to be mean and cruel on a massive scale. Two things that we can do—as a community, [...]
Mary Kay is a nationally-recognized Internet safety expert and the founder of 
