Tag: "kids social networks"
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
At what age is it OK for your child to have a cell phone? Better yet, a smartphone? If your children are like my elementary and middle-school age children, what they really just want to be able to do is text their friends. Deciding when to give your child a cell phone really comes down [...]
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 [...]
Mary Kay is a nationally-recognized Internet safety expert, and the founder of 
