Children and Social networking

Over the last few years children and teens have become more engaged with what we call "Social Networking". This new medium should not be discouraged by patents, in my opinion. As a parent its important to contribute and monitor their communication ensuring proper conduct. Contribute by having your own page or helping in design. Either way GET INVOLVED! Being that you are reading this blog post I am sure you can sympathize with the your child's creative need to engage with different kinds of media. My Space, FaceBook, Text message, Twitter... these are all new mediums that will in most cases take your child more likely Teen away from the TV and interacting with their peers. I would argue that listening or watching a podcast will have a more positive impact than watching King of the Hill.

Tips:
1 - Be clear with your child on what type of information is appropriate to post online. Never put phone numbers, full names, address, and other personal info.
2 - Make your personal pages PRIVATE. In most cases teens use these tools to communicate to friends there is no reason to have a public page as a teen.
3 - Encourage the parents of you teens friends to also get involved. The more eyes the better.
4 - Take advantage of the parental tools available on most sites. Restrict access to adult content.
Here are a few short articles to check out:
Youth Focus - Social Networking
FaceBook shields children from adult content.

Parents and Children online.

This is the 1st post in a long time and I commit to post more. I have also cleaned up some of the older posts. Online safety for children is a top priority for me and my family. I hope I can bring awareness to parents out there. That being said...
Being that I am an older brother and one of the oldest cousins of 22, I have always been somewhat protective the people I care for. Having been fully engaged in the internet revolution and being online for the last 18+ years of my life I have seen a lot out there. Those of you with teens that are frequently on the computer, REALIZE that your teens are undoubtedly smarter than you on the computer. Don’t despair, there is no reason you can’t catch up, or at least establish a few ground rules to get you in the game.
Here are someTips.
1 – Accounts: You should have a separate account for your child. DO NOT give this account admin rights. DO NOT give your child the admin accounts password. (Yes this means you will have to install his/her video games or applications with your ADMIN login)
2 – Instant messaging: Most IM programs will now offer to save a log of content to your harddrive. Yahoo: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/messenger/messenger75/messenger/messenger-15.html MSN: cant find the link … but its in tools/options/ messages tab then click “automatically keep a history of my conversations” AIM: http://www.aim.com/didyouknow/imlogging.adp
3-Get a Tour: Have them show you the web from their perspective. Get a tour from your teen. You would be surprised at the world that is out there. What sites do they like to check out? Do they have a myspace page?
Side note: I am not encouraging that parents become spys, most of this stuff will be used when you need to react to something. Talk with your children, because if they find that you are (invading their privacy) their words…. It will be a lot harder to monitor them. Just a friendly warning from my inner 15 year old self. My next topics will be on Instant messaging, then on to Myspace, facebook and similar services. Till then Christian TechGuy is out.

Children and Teens with cell phones

We live in a world of instant communication on multiple mediums; text messages, instant messaging, and email are all relatively new standards for youth communication. As parents we need to understand these mediums. A teen with a cell phone can text anything they want if a parent is in the room. What things are being said while they quietly type into their cell phone for hours on end? The point is to know how your child or tween is communicating… then you can focus on the WHO.

Don’t get me wrong I think that all children over 10 should have a cell phone....even if it can only call one number HOME. Cell phones have become a necessity. As parents we can use technology and common sense to protect and monitor our children. Safety is the key consideration when you send your child out of the house. For parents with teens you may want to use GPS. You could see if they made it home on time while you are at work. GPS can also be used for directions, send them to the city knowing they won’t get lost.
Here is a quick article that is worth reading. http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/216498/3/

GPS link:
http://www.sprint.com/business/products/wireless/gps_navigation.html