I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for BGCA. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
When I was a teen, AOL was a new thing. The internet was still a relatively unknown place, and it wasn’t as scary as it is now. My friends would come over to my house for a slumber party and we would spend the entire evening asking people “A/S/L?” and giggling with each other. We were 14 and innocent.
The place the internet has become now, is a very scary place, and kids much younger than 14 are on social media, sharing personal information, photos and talking with super creeps and they don’t even know it.
There was no such thing as “CyberBullying” when I was growing up. I didn’t have to worry about being shamed for posting something, and then being called names by hundreds of anonymous strangers. I can’t even imagine that stress and fear it can put on a kid.
Boys & Girls Club of America have teamed up with Sprint to help spread the word on having a safe online experience. Their #CyberTribe is full of expert teens who know all the ins and outs of being #CyberSafe and they want to help you teach you and your kids how to safely navigate the internet.
The website is full of really great resources for newbies to the world of Internet Safety, to seasoned veterans. My 8 year old loves to play online games, like Club Penguin. I always make sure to ask her what’s going on and let her know if she has any questions or if someone is acting strange, to let me know so we can talk about it, or report people to the proper authorities.
It’s a very difficult thing to talk to your kids about what’s going on out there, but that’s what good parents do. We need to educate our kids to keep them safe and smart about what’s out there. It’s a much scarier time than when we were growing up and it’s a much different online an experience than what we had. You may think that passwords and looking over their shoulders are going to cut it, but kids are way smarter than we give them credit for, and much sneakier than we know.
Talk to your kids about their online safety. Teach them that once things are online, they are out there forever and you can’t trust a stranger with personal information or pictures, no matter how cute or nice or funny they are. It’s very possible that no one is exactly who they seem to be.
Take the online quiz to test your Cyber Safety skills and see how you compare!
Make sure to swing by the Cyber Tribe and ask them your Cyber Safe questions!
Let’s educate our kids and keep them safe!
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