Who's Watching You Online?

How safe are you online?

Got a Feeling, someone maybe watching You!

Not sure nowadays if anyone is truly really safe from hackers and identity thieves. Especially after Sony's Hack  and the  rather rising insurgence of Identity Fraud. One often has to wonder how truly safe we are.

There are so many issues we have to deal with as parents when it comes to our Tweens and Teens, now we have to consider if our kids are safe online.

Who knew how dangerous this World-Wide-Web would have grown to be? I certainly did not some 20 years ago when I signed up for my first email account from Yahoo.

Wow, 20 years is such a long time ago.

Now we are dealing with Millenials...
Yes, your kids are the Fast Forward Generation, they are moving so fast because of technology, we as parents cannot keep up with them. We perhaps cannot keep up with much of  anything lately, as much as technology has been evolving, with a new app being birthed every second.

We live in a computerized world that engines are turning every nanosecond. Our information, banking, credit cards, drivers license, are stored on powerful databases on servers somewhere out there and we are not quite sure how safe they really are.

But we have to be cautious about safe guarding ourselves by ensuring that we do all we can to protect our identities and information.

Many of the things we do online involve us giving out our personal information, banking, shopping, chatting with friends etc.  Identity fraud is on the rise and many people are experiencing what it means to have their online privacy violated.

Be careful to treat your personal information as you would treat your money. You don't just leave your money lying around for anyone to pick up right. So, don't leave your information around for someone to steal online. We as parents also must ensure that our kids/teenagers are careful with our and their personal information.

Here are few tips for you to consider in keeping your information safe online:

• Choose strong passwords and do not share with anyone.Use a mixture of Uppercase and lowercase with symbols and or numbers.
• Frequently check your billing and  banking information regularly
• Be careful signing up to mailing lists-Spammer Alert!
• Make online purchases from sites that have clear privacy policy and secure payment
• Be careful of how much information you post or reveal online

So, you now know that everything that looks safe perhaps may not be safe. Just be alert at all times of your information sharing because you never know who's watching you online.

Family Stay Alert!

Some Facts about Cyber Bullying...

GET TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CYBER BULLYING

Parents, your child may not be letting you in on their secret but someone has been bullying them for awhile. Most parents are unaware how prevalent online bullying has become in recent times. Moreover, online bullying has increased in recent years within the age range of tweens to teens. Your tweens and teens probably have to face ridicule by vicious and slanderous posting by peers one time or the next. It is a cruel world nowadays for tweens and teens to reside in and very hard for the introverted, shy child to fit into this world.

Nowadays, social media rules our youth lives and because of this trend, many children find themselves fighting online wars, putting out social fires because of deviant behavior of some of their peers.

You may ask why I would label it as deviant? A mere tease is now more vicious by using explicit and cryptic messages. Some people may shrug their shoulders and say it is harmless but social media is attributed to some of the recent teen suicides. Everything goes viral, one image online can travel the world in a matter of several minutes to say the least.

I am passionate about seeing our youth display more responsible behavior online and using the technology that they may have access to, for the common good of mankind and not its demise.

So what am I really talking about...
I am referring to cyber bullying, which is bullying online
What is it exactly you may ask? Below is a more textbook version for clearer understanding

CyberBullying is using the Internet, cell phones, video game systems, or other technology to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. It is also defined as acts of aggression through computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices” (Jackson & Cohen, 2012).

This type of bullying can happen across many technology media such as cell phones, Ipads, chats, blogs and all. It can spread across all channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, any or everywhere your Tween or Teen hangs out online.

How do we distinguish this form of bullying? Well, for instance it is not face to face, it is overt and covert. It happens in unsupervised spaces, anywhere and anytime. It may consists of threats of harm, gossip, exclusion and ignoring etc. There are many more features that would suggest it is this form of bullying.

Read More about Cyber Bullying Here...

So parents, a little bit of motherly advice, take an active role in your child's online life as well as personal life. Perhaps, as parents we must always believe that there is more that meets the eye. Start having active discussions with your child about bullying and their online presence and follow-up by constantly monitoring their social media spaces.  We need to know whether our children are being bullied or are they bully? We have to ensure our children navigate this generation equipped with the right tools and the information and practice responsible behavior online.

It's A Matter of Trust...Let's Talk Privacy!

Let's Talk Privacy

There is a school of thought that goes around about how parents should respect children's privacy. Well, personally, I don't subscribe to that school of thought.

Privacy is a subject that constantly sparks debate especially with older teens and their parents. However, privacy must be an issue that parents must discuss with both tweens and teens especially in regards to online and internet activity.

Access to passwords and account information of your children should be yours (the Parent). There should be no child roaming the world wide web without your permission or approval. There are so much dangers that children can be exposed that it is the parents ultimate responsible to keep children safe.

Teenagers, may argue that it is all a matter of trust. However parents, you can counteract the argument by assuring them, that you may however, trust them but not the online community, that consists of hackers, stalkers and in some cases pedophiles that all lurk out there in cyber space.

For your older teens, parents must spend time in active dialogues and discussions about your expectations on how your teenagers should spend their online activity. Parents should be transparent and share their concerns and fears with their teenager but also allow some freedom, however, when abused ensure measures are in place that would prohibit the offending activity.

As much as technology is an advantage to our children it can also be a disadvantage. Information is processed with one click; accounts information can be accessible to those who you may or may not want  access and with the increase on identity fraud and mishandling of information, privacy is an extreme concern.

Talk with your children about putting up too much of their information online, consists of images, personal information, phone and home address. Ensure for your tweens who may have email and social media accounts that you have their passwords and establish ground rules for their online activity. One particular ground rule is I reserve the right to access your account anytime I would like. Parents, you reserve the right, because you are the adult and the parent.

In the end, the safeguards you put in place will ultimately help to secure a safe, responsible and fun online experience for your kids.

Stay Ahead of the Game, Learn the Language of the Web

Text & Code of the Web

Do you know that the Web has it's own language and I don't mean HTML code?


I am talking about how our tweens and teens communicate with one another. It is not the usually grammar, subject and verb agreement and or punctuation, it is code within a world of code.

In this instantaneous generation, our teens are off the opinion that writing structured and proper sentences are a thing of the past because of this intrusive net lingo that is taking their lives over.


What is a Net Lingo, it is the language of the web filled with shortcuts and abbreviations. Nothing is ever spelt out nor spelt correctly. Everything written on the Web by our teens are most likely. shortened and to the point. Parents, we have the delightful task to decipher all this code.


Yes, we probably remember from AOL, MSN and ICQ messenger days with the basics code such as ASL (Age, Sex, Location), BRB ( Be Right Back) and the more popular ones today LOL (Laugh Out Loud), SMT (Suck My Teeth)... Well those are the polite and appropriate versions but then there are more explicit codes that parents must be aware, and moreover of our teen's world filled with mystery and secrets.


Any parent raising Tweens or Teens must be exposed to the language and no it is not an issue orf privacy but an issue of ensuring that safeguards are in place to protect our kids. Awareness is key for parents, no one needs the wool pull over their eyes. The more things are hidden from us as parents, the more parents lose contact and connection with their kids, this can be to our children's detriment.


There are many websites that you can access to download cheat sheet for Internet Code or popular net lingo. The largest list of acronyms are found on this link below, so I encourage you to take time and examine the list below and stay ahead of our Tweens & Teens!


NETLINGO ACRONYMS OF THE WEB
http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php

Parents Stay Informed!

PARENTS GUIDE YOUR CHILDREN ONLINE

What do you know about your child's internet activity

Are you aware of the sites your child visits on a daily basis?

Do you know who and with whom they are communicating with online?

All of the above questions are for parents to consider,  how important being aware of your kid's daily practices are online.

The internet is filled with endless possibilities and resources that interests your kids, whether it is educational, interactive and fun games or activities. However, there is a dark side to the internet such as internet predators, cyber-bullying and access to pornographic and explicit materials that I am sure no parent would want their kids exposed.

Parents, must maintain a presence online as their kids navigate the world wide web. Any tween or teen, must be made to understand that although the internet is quite useful, it is also filled with dangers.
It is the parent's responsibility to teach their children the responsible way of surfing the net. What are the do's and don'ts for their child's internet activity.

Here's a quote from a Detective of a Cyber Crimes Investigations Uni:

"The Internet is an uncharted world, It's a world that parents don't know, but kids do. Parents would be shocked to see what goes on."

Her'e another quote from Father of a teen kidnapped by someone she met on the Internet:

"How it happened, God, I don't know how it happened, but it did,"
"People, y'all got to watch your children. You got to learn how to take care . . . a little better than we think we know how.""Watch your children, folks, OK? My baby was in front of me on her computer. I mean in front of me.  Not in her room," 

Parents, must be one step ahead of their children, although, many of us parents are living in their domain, where for many of us are far behind, however, there are many useful sites that are available to assist and equip parents with the knowledge of how to keep their family safe online.

The key to online family safety is that Parents Stay Informed, we need to truly consider how intrusive the internet is with our family especially our teens. The above quotes show us, how more involved we need to be as parents with our tweens and teens.

Below is a starter list for you to review and find out more about internet safety and staying informed:

Microsoft- http://www.microsoft.com/security/family-safety/default.aspx

Family Online Safety- http://www.fosi.org/

Get Net Wise- http://www.getnetwise.org/

Internet Safety Game Plan- http://www.internetsafety.com/internet-monitoring-game-plan.php