How To Set Up Facebook and Online Accounts Safely for Your Child
Do you understand the details of how to set up Facebook safely for your child? What cyber safety settings are important? Where do you find them among all the settings options available? How would a potential scammer or predator find your child's details? Join Leonie Smith, the Cyber Safety Lady, in our free webinar on 15th May to learn about safety on Facebook and other online accounts that your child may be using. Read full article
Useful Legal Information for Children and Teens Online
Lawstuff Australia, in partnership with the Children's Legal Services of Legal Aid NSW, have developed a series of fact sheets to provide children with information on what types of activities are against the law when using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Information on sexting, copyright infringement, defamation and privacy are included. A great resource for your teens, and hopefully for them to share around on Facebook. Read full article
Teens on Facebook - Where Does Supervision Stop and Privacy Start?
‘Shutting the gate after the horse has bolted’ parenting - I don’t know about you, but I’m often guilty of it. I’d been meaning to put an Internet filter on my 11 year old son, Joe’s computer for ages. Joe is on the autism spectrum and approaching puberty so I knew it was only a matter of time before he became curious about sex. "I must do it," I probably said half a dozen times, "but tomorrow." ... As parents we are charged with protecting our kids from danger, but when they become teenagers it can be difficult to know which line to tread. Teenagers expect, and indeed are entitled to, some independence. Read full article
Laptop Shooting - Shaming, Naming and Parenting
...And this week a laptop shooting dad decided to use YouTube and Facebook to punish and humiliate his ungrateful 15 year old daughter for her disrespectful comments about him and his wife, and about all the chores she was expected to do ... I want to briefly comment on two things: Humiliation or shaming of children .... and mainstream and influential media commentators' comments ... Read full article
Nothing is All Bad - and other Lessons from a Veteran School Mum
I am writing this post a day before my eldest son’s Higher School Certificate results are released. I’m still living in blissful ignorance but we’re expecting results in the disappointing to disastrous range. That’s okay. Yes really okay. My son and I sat down the other day and worked out a contingency plan in case we’re faced with the disaster scenario. He, however, is dreading telling others his results, and now wishes he’d worked harder. That’s a lesson he had to learn. What have I learned this year? Here are a few random thoughts. Read full article
Do You Know How to Keep Your Children Safe Online?
You can help guide your children to enjoy the best of the online world by becoming aware of how they use the internet, understanding the types of risks they face and learning strategies to manage these risks. The more you know about cyber safety, the more empowered you will be to protect your kids when they go online ... While social networking sites do offer many positive benefits to children, these do not come without associated risks. Discussing safe practices with your children for safe online social networking is crucial. Read full article
Babies on Facebook - from Womb to Wall
So now it’s okay for unborn children to be on Facebook. I’ve only just got used to the idea that my 8-year-old might soon want her own account, and now it seems I’ve already missed the boat by 8 years and 9 months. Okay, the real story is that Facebook users can now list their unborn child on their profile. Previously they had to create a profile for their unborn baby, which meant they were breaking Facebook rules (users have to be at least 13 years of age). Read full article
Facebook and Twitter Social Skills - a Video
We post so much here about social skills and also about social networking sites like Facebook, this video just had to be shared. Watch it with your teenagers who will LOL and ROFL with you - it's actually a viral ad. campaign for an opera but trust us, it's worth a watch. Extremely funny if you have every used Facebook and Twitter. Read full article
Facebook is Not a Safe Playground for Children
Children as young as 8 years old are seeing psychologists. Their parents say they are suffering anxiety as a result of being on Facebook; anxious about what friends are posting about them. I say parents need to remember that Facebook firstly is not allowed for children under 13, and importantly, it's not a safe place for children. Read full article
Teenagers on the Internet: Parents Need to Be Involved
So the research is in and it tells us that social networking can be a positive influence on teenagers’ lives ... Valkenburg and Peters, from the University of Amsterdam reviewed ten years of research into Internet use by teenagers and concluded that social networking sites increased positive internet use amongst healthy teenagers and enhanced their social functioning. Read full article
