Search Results for: blog who is your teen talking to online

How to Unplug Your Kids And Encourage Family Communication

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Want to have a better relationship with your kids and teens? Do you find it hard to get their attention when they are staring at a screen? Here are some tips for parents who want to unplug their kids and encourage communication. Limit Screen Time The goal is to place limits on when and where your child or teen can use their computer, tablet, or smartphone. The goal is not to remove those devices from your kids forever. A reasonable amount of screen time can be stimulating and sometimes even educational. Parents need to pick their battles with this one. … Continue reading →

Most Teens Hide What They Do Online

A few months ago I attended a parenting class at my church. One of the dads was expressing how it is our job to monitor our teen’s use of technology. Of course that makes sense, right? But as I pointed out, it isn’t always so easy. Let’s face it…teens usually know more about technology than we do. That means they can get around things. For instance, some parents look at the computer’s history to see which websites their children have been on. But most kids know how to clear out their history. A recent survey from McAfee found that 71% … Continue reading →

What You Need to Know About Your Texting Teen

If your teenager cannot connect with you on a relationship level or if that relationship is too stressful, painful, or difficult, there are plenty of other places your teen can connect. Even if your relationship is merely strained and not broken altogether, your teen has plenty of options for connection, validation, acceptance, and support apart from you. You are in competition for your teen’s connection. You are competing with peers and with technology because many of those other options for connection are only a cell phone or keypad away. It used to be that you punished a child by sending … Continue reading →

Keeping Kids Safe Online

When you are a single parent your child may spend more time unsupervised than you would like, it’s important to teach them basic safety. One of the big areas that you need to be concerned with is the internet. While there are many good things online, education things, there are other things that can be harmful if your child ventures in unsupervised. Everyone has heard stories of online predators and bullies, so how do we protect our kids? I think the most important thing you can do it talk with your children. Before they go online the first time it … Continue reading →

Teens Being Charged with Child Pornography

About a week ago I watched a segment on “The View” about a young girl who at the age of 13 met a man in an online chat room. The whole situation is quite disturbing. He apparently “talked” her into sending nude pictures. Not only that but he also convinced her to perform sexual acts with friends on her web cam. While I am somewhat sympathetic to the pressure she may have felt about sending pictures, I don’t feel quite the same about the acts she performed with her friends. How a person online can convince someone to do these … Continue reading →

Dangerous Websites for Teens

I saw a report a couple of weeks ago regarding dangerous websites that teens are visiting. One of them is called “Formspring,” which is actually a social media outlet that allows members to ask and respond to anonymous questions. The problem with this website is that it also promotes cyber-bullying. Vicious notes can be sent anonymously. This opens the door to all kinds of bullying like obscene language, derogatory comments and other unkind ways of interacting. I wanted to personally look more into this website but it required signing up and I wasn’t quite ready for that. However it is … Continue reading →

Be Aware of Online Dangers

In my last blog I talked about a story that was on Dr. Phil’s show this week “Ask about the Internet.” It was about a man who had been deceived by a woman he met online. Well this show had another segment that emphasized other types of online dangers. This was about a 17-year-old girl who was the victim of a false Facebook profile that was set up. Someone had created a Facebook page that was supposed to be of her which included nude photographs. Now these nude pictures weren’t really of her but the idea that others would think … Continue reading →

Who Is Your Teen Talking to Online?

Do you know who your teen is talking to online? Does your teen know who they are talking to? Recently I watched an episode of George Lopez where his son Max had made friends with a girl online. George was convinced that Max wasn’t really talking to a girl his age. On the other end, the girl who was talking to Max lived with her uncle and he wasn’t convinced that she was really talking to a boy her age. Quite frankly I understood why both had their suspicions. You don’t always know who you are talking to online. A … Continue reading →

Blogging Your Health: Pros and Cons

The other day, I was thinking long and hard about blogging your health: what to say, how much detail to give, who gets to read your posts. It’s a tricky issue, to say the least. Let’s look at some positives and negatives. The advantages of blogging your health can include: Ease. Make one post/update to your social networking site of choice and all your friends get the news at the same time. It’s quick and easy — and that’s good at a time when you may not have a lot of time and energy to devote to keeping everybody updated. … Continue reading →

Having Trouble Talking to Your Teen: Try the Car!

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How common is it to have a problem with some aspect of your teen’s behavior and be told to sit down and have a good heart-to-heart with them? And how often has it ended in a screaming match and a series of slammed doors? Well, if it wasn’t common I wouldn’t be writing this article! It is important to talk to your growing teen about difficulties you are experiencing with them. Yet even with all the best intentions, it can be very frustrating if not outright difficult to do so. But it must be done if anything is to be … Continue reading →