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"Contested" And "Uncontested Divorce"
A divorce case is contested if the parties cannot agree on every one of the issues involved in their particular situation. Common areas of disagreement include, but are not limited to: grounds for divorce, custody of the children, visitation...
Cyber Parenting 101
Many parental units are not "techies" and openly admit they are not. They seem to use that as an excuse to not be informed and "trust" their children to do what is right in an environment that is clearly risky. When it comes to underage...
Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) for Teen Drivers
The crash risk is highest for drivers 16 years of age due to their immaturity and limited driving experience. A series of five research papers published in a September 2002 supplement of Injury Prevention address reducing the crash risk among young...
Pets can be fun for the whole family!
Pet's, any kind of pet can be a welcome addition to your family. Children love to play with puppies and kittens. They learn about life as their pets grow and mature. Dog’s and cat’s are wonderful companions to both the young and old of any...
Teach Your Child About Money
What are we teaching our children about money? Hopefully something!
I remember when I was growing up, our family did not discuss money. Money was a taboo subject, discussed by the parents and handled by the father.
This is one thing that...
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Does Your Family Know How to be Safe on the Internet?
A USA Today article that ran in July 2005 cited findings from a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. They found that during the school year, kids between the ages of 8 and 10 years old spent an average of 6 hours per day watching television, playing video games and/or using computers.
Since more than half of America’s 100 million households have Internet access, I can only assume that some of their computer time is spent in online activities. My question is how safe are these kids? Do they know what to look out for? Do they know how to handle themselves online?
Here are some topics to discuss with your children. Keep in mind that each family has their own rules for Internet use. Some parents don’t allow their children to be on the Internet at all, others will monitor their child’s Internet use, and still others have no concern and let their kids surf wherever and whenever they want.
Strangers.
The Internet is a wonderful place to meet people from all around the world. I remember having a pen pal when I was young and would check the mail every day to see if I got a letter. Now all one has to do is turn on the computer and check their Inbox! Friends who are separated by a move can still talk every day through email, chat rooms and Instant Messaging (IM).
The drawback to this is that no one knows who you really are on the Internet. Even in so-called “safe” chat rooms someone can be posing as a teenager and they are really a predator. Just as you wouldn’t want your kids to tell a stranger on the street where they live, you don’t want them to do so online either. Teach your children to never tell anyone online their names, addresses or other pertinent information.
If you decide to allow your children to use IM or chat rooms, monitor their activity. Set up their profile yourself and give as little information as possible. It may be helpful for you and your child to watch the short movie “Tracking Teresa” on the Kidsmartz.org website (http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm#realTeresa).
Commercialism.
Just like TV, there are lots of ads on the Internet. Unlike TV, we don’t get a break from them! They are everywhere! They show up as pop-up ads, banners, hover boxes, games and they are even disguised as articles or information items. They warn you that your computer is infected, you have new mail, you are the umpteenth-million visitor to this site or they may look like a survey or poll. And ads on sites geared for kids are often very inviting and intriguing.
Along with ads we also have adware. Microsoft defines adware as “Advertising that is integrated into software. Adware is often combined with a host application that is provided at no charge as long as the user agrees to accept the adware.” So a child could download a “free” game or screensaver that has adware attached to it. This
adware will install itself on your computer, track all of your Internet activity and show you advertising in the form of annoying pop-ups or banner ads. If your kids are like mine, they don’t always read the fine print and just click on the “I accept” button to get their freebies!
Talk to your kids about Internet advertising and Adware. Let them know that they are the same as ads on TV. Someone just wants you to buy their new product. Take your kids to PBS’ Don’t Buy It! website (http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/) for great information on Internet and other media advertising.
Inappropriate Content. The Internet is a great place to find information for any school science project or report. Just type in a phrase or topic in any search engine and you will get loads of links with useful information. But there are also many sites that contain inappropriate content under presumably innocent searches.
My friend was looking up information for her daughter’s animal report and typed in “horse lovers” in a search engine, figuring that she may get horse enthusiast sites dedicated to providing information on their favorite animal. She got sites with horses on them, but they were horse lovers of a COMPLETELY different kind… And not too long ago, there was a site at www.whitehouse.com that was of an adult nature. (The real White House site is at http://www.whitehouse.gov.)
The only way to be sure that your child does not inadvertently find themselves on the wrong site is to be with them and guide them in their searches. It is also helpful to use a search engine specifically designed for children such as http://www.yahooligans.com or http://www.askjeeveskids.com.
Regardless of how much or how little your kids are on the Internet, take a minute to talk with them about the benefits and dangers involved in being online. Let them explore some sites that will help them learn about Internet safety. Here are a few that are extremely helpful when teaching Internet Safety to kids:
Netsmartz.org – Teens -- http://www.netsmartz.org/netteens.htm
Netsmartzkids.org – Kids -- http://www.netsmartzkids.org/indexfl.htm
IKeepSafe.com (this site is specialized for each state) – http://www.IKeepSafe.com
Disney’s CyberNetiquette -- http://disney.go.com/cybersafety/
And remember – be involved in your children’s Internet activity. Teach them to use this powerful tool responsibly. It will save them time and you headaches as you travel the
About the author:
Lisa Workman is the author of Tokens for TV: A Sensible Approach to Balancing Television, Video Game and Computer Activities. How much time does your child spend “plugged in” to some sort of electronic device? Get your FREE worksheet at http://www.tvtokens.com
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| Family.org |
| Offers practical help for marriage and child-rearing. Recent magazine articles, letters from Dr. James Dobson, news, and RealAudio broadcasts. |
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| FamilyFun: Fun stuff for Kids, Parents - and More Family Fun |
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| Family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| Family (biology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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| Family Guy |
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| Family Life Today |
| FamilyLife, a division of Campus Crusade for Christ, provides practical, biblical tools to strengthen marriage and family relationships, including the ... |
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| WorldVillage - A Family Friendly Portal for Families, Kids, Adults ... |
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| Open Directory - Home: Family |
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| Google Directory - Home > Family |
| Many articles dealing with a wide range of topics from single parenting, family life, child development and stress management. ... |
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| Family Research Council: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 |
| Christian organization promoting the traditional family unit and the Judeo-Christian value system upon which it is built. Provides links, commentary, news, ... |
| www.frc.org |
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| Sesame Workshop - Home Page |
| The non-profit educational organization behind the show and related educational outreach. |
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| National Sex Offender Registry |
| Free national US search for registered sex offenders. Map registered sex offenders to see who lives in your area. |
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| FHI Family Health International |
| Provides the highest quality research, education and services in family planning, STDs/HIV and family health to improve the health and well-being of ... |
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| National Family Caregivers Association |
| Caregiving advocacy organization with tips and statistics on caregiving in America. |
| www.nfcacares.org |
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