uKnowKids Makes Parenting Easier

May 10, 2012 Leave a comment

As every mom and dad will tell you, parenting is hard, and especially, in our new digital age. Our team at uKnow.com think we can make the job a bit easier for parents and keep kids safer at the same time.

Please take 90 seconds to watch our new video, “uKnowKIds Makes Parenting Easier!”, and if you like it, please share it with your friends and family. You can learn more about uKnowkids at www.uknowkids.com.

Thanks for helping us make the world a safer place for our kids.

Filed under General

10 Ways Parents Can Prevent Cyberbullying

April 14, 2012 Leave a comment

10 Ways Parents Can Prevent CyberbullyingThe team over at uKnow.com recently posted their list of “10 Ways Parents Can Prevent Cyberbullying“. I’d love to hear your feedback and if there are other tips that should be on the table… let’s hear them.

I’d also love to hear what kids have to say about this. What can parents do to help?

If you’re interested in other internet safety and parenting tips, check out these great materials that were jointly created by uKnow.com and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Filed under Cyberbullying, General Tagged with ,

What to do with a Sext

April 6, 2012 Leave a comment

Do your kids know what to do if they open their phone to find that someone has sent them a sext message?

Forwarding nude or suggestive pictures – whether it’s meant to be sexy, funny, or mean – has become a pastime of middle and high school kids. How do you keep your kids safe if a sext appears on their phone?

Keeping a sext – even if your child didn’t ask for it or know that it was coming, even if he or she plan to delete it later – is a huge mistake. If the person in the picture is a minor, your child could be slapped with child pornography charges. Sext uKnowkids

Forwarding a sext is an even bigger mistake. Not only does it open up the person in the image to further humiliation, but it exposes your child to the double charge of possessing and distributing child pornography.

Want to keep your kids safe from scary charges like these? Tell them that the best thing to do with a sext is to hit “delete” immediately. Don’t show a friend, just get rid of it.

Of course I like to be in the know so I would want my kids to tell me after the fact. But the most important thing is to delete it – both for their sake and for the sake of the subject of the sext.

When we give our kids technology that makes sexting possible, I think supervision is really important (Note I didn’t say spying on your kids by reading their text messages while they sleep). For most parents, I would suggest investing in a Parental Intelligence System. The best ones in the market will allow you to monitor text messages in addition to social networks. Naturally I would recommend uKnowKids.com to any parent who may be looking for a smart tool to augment their parenting efforts.

Filed under General, Mobile, Sexting Tagged with , ,

Watch Your Facebook Invites

July 27, 2011 Leave a comment

Do your kids use the “invitation” feature on Facebook to spread the word about parties and events with their friends? If so, make sure they know how to use the feature properly – or they could be putting themselves at risk.

Facebook invitations are fairly simple to use, and can be sent to anyone with a Facebook account or email address. Click “events” from your home account page and fill in the date and location, upload an optional picture, and customize the privacy level of your event (public or private.) The important part is this: don’t forget to triple-check the privacy level!

Last month a German teen identified as Thessa invited friends to her 16th birthday party using Facebook, but she forgot to mark the invitation as “private.” The result? The invitation went viral, causing 1,600 people to flood her street on the day of the party – even though Thessa later realized her mistake and cancelled the event. The police were called in to handle the crowd, and Thessa (who was nowhere to be found) had a very unhappy birthday.

Thessa’s real-life faux pas was preceded by a similar occurrence last year in Australia (which luckily turned out to be a hoax.) Facebook invitations for Kate Miller’s birthday went viral and Facebook ended up closing down the event after over 60,000 people RSVP’d.

What’s fortunate is that “Kate Miller” wasn’t a real person and that Thessa wasn’t hurt because of inviting the entire Facebook world to her house. But it serves as a reminder to you and your teens to be extra-careful with privacy settings on the Internet – that “private” button is easy to miss, but it’s vital when you’re giving out personally identifying information in an invitation!

Creative Commons License
Watch Your Facebook Invites by Tim Woda is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Filed under Facebook, General, Web 2.0 Tagged with ,

Internet Addiction May Put Teens at Risk for Depression

August 7, 2010 1 Comment

Would your teen start to get the shakes after 15 minutes if you took away the computer and all their Bluetooth-enabled devices? If so, it may be time to worry about their online usage’s impact on their mental health. 

A study published on Monday by the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine suggests that teenagers who are pathologic Internet users are twice as likely to develop clinical depression.

The study involved self-reporting from 1,100 high schoolers in China on their Internet usage and prevalence of depression symptoms. Emotionally healthy teens were more likely to report symptoms of depression 9 months later if they were also addicted to the Internet.

To compound the problem, the university researchers behind the study reported that Internet addiction also leads to increased aggressive behavior, relationship problems, and even physical health problems.

The findings of the study remained constant among kids with differenteconomic statuses, ages, and genders – although teen boys were more likely than girls to report use in the first place.

Remember that this study only proves that Internet addiction and depression are likely to occur together, not which one caused the other.Maybe Internet addiction causes depression, or perhaps teens developingdepression are more likely to turn to the Internet in an effort to self-medicate.

Either way, it’s time to talk if your teen exhibits signs of Internet addiction like:

  • Isolating self from real-life family and friends
  • Withdrawing from offline interests
  • Hiding or lying about Internet use
  • Online time interferes with homework or sleep
  • Eating meals or doing other activities in front of the computer
  • Developing carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Gaining or losing weight
  • Complaining of frequent backaches or headaches
  • Having trouble focusing on offline tasks
  • Appearing anxious, moody, or restless, especially when offline

When Internet use turns into addiction, it interferes with your child’s life and therefore becomes a problem. It may also mean that there is something more going on than meets the eye. Addictive online behavior is your cue as a parent to talk to your teen.

Filed under General, Teens Tagged with , ,

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