The Best Way To Monitor Teen Online Activity (COLUMN RELATED)


Aside from actual education and conversations with your kids, and having constant access to their devices, profiles and passwords (read my July column here:https://jrc-pa.pageflip.site/editions/CKJ62779#page/4 ) there probably isn't a better way of seeing what your kids are actually up to on the internet or how to keep them safe, but these things might be of some help...

 According to PC Mag (and I really like their suggestions on many things computer/software related, this is their top 2018 recommendations.

Parenting.com has ideas for how you can spy on your child as well as some texting abbreviations you should know.

Want to know where you child is? This is an app my son's friend's mom uses. I found out one day, because I texted her that I was on my way to her house to drop him off after a sleepover and she said, I know! And I was surprised to see a picture of a map, where I was and a photo of her child on the map in a little circle. It was so cute!

Want to know how to find out if your kids are sexting and more on Snap Chat, try Money.

 Books to discover:

 Screen-Smart Parenting

Some more selections...scroll to the bottom for 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens


Digital Read for the tech savvy parent: Why Are You Always On the Phone? A book which is supposed to help us understand so that we can talk about it with our kids.

Sites to visit:

 Common Sense Media is a great site for help, resources and research. (Scroll to the bottom too)

Smart Social teaches parents a lot about social media and cell phone practices.


HOW OLD KIDS ARE WHEN THEY GET THEIR FIRST PHONE AROUND THE WORLD?



Popular posts from this blog

Back to School Anxiety: Bullying

Image
Download “School Boy Being Stressed” by David Castillo Dominici via freedigitalphotos.net I recently wrote about how to help your child if they’re struggling with going back to school because they were bullied. My biggest most important tip was to listen, because I honestly could not write a ‘How-to-make-them-not-afraid’ column. Frankly I thought that was absurd. Fear is sometimes real. Anxiety is sometimes truly there, and for a good reason. Our job as parents isn’t to try to make it go away, it’s to try to find out the true source of those worrisome feelings. If you’d like to read more, click here. And if you’re child is struggling to find excitement about the new school year, don’t deny it, just accept it and move forward gently. Here’s some more on bullying: Family Matters Links: A Touching Story/Song Bullying: A thing of the past A Peace Poem By My Teenage Daughter A Deeper Insight into My Thoughts on People Who Bring Harm to Others Other Links: Stop Bul
Read more

Would You Rather?

Image
My kids like to play a game called ‘Would You Rather?’. I’ve always liked getting in on the fun because they usually freak out when it’s my turn to ask, ‘Would you rather?’. I will ask, ‘Would you rather…have to go to school for 365 days a year, or go without television forever?’  Or when I say, ‘Would you rather eat broccoli at every meal, or spinach?’. It’s fun to watch them squirm. Now here is one for parent’s. School shopping is finally coming to a halt (thank goodness) and there are a few items on the market that I want you to see (if you haven’t already gasped at them yourself). They are: JCPenney’s (recently controversial) Shirt for Girls: JCPenney And the 'Eye Candy' (yes, it says Eye Candy on it-actually ALL over it) notebook that I hear no one talking about and which is selling at Walmart: So, hear it goes…. Mom, Dad, Grandma, Antie….etc….. 'Would you rather ' have your teen (or younger) daughter wear the ‘too pretty for math’ shirt?        O
Read more

Good Customer Service At Home

Image
Over the years, my careers have mainly been customer service based. I started in a family business and then moved on up through the rungs from waitress, to hostess, to sales associate, manager and eventually the GM of a hotel. In all my years, my training taught me that you should always do your best to take your customer all the way to what they need, make them happy, and never leave them until they are done with you. I pride myself on my customer service abilities. Though the other day, I think I failed at customer service in my own home! I was getting ready to cut my daughter's hair and because of how long it had gotten (she's been growing it out for a year!) I felt this time it would be best  if instead of me spritzing it with water, she could wash and condition it real quick. She was fully clothed so I just suggested she run into the bathroom and wash her hair in the tub. She’s fourteen. I suppose I just assumed that she knew how to kneel over the tub and do it.
Read more