3 April 2009
LMK Gives Parents a Primer
Posted by admin under: safety .
The joint Microsoft/GSUSA online education initiative called LMK (Let Me Know) has another newsletter outand this one discusses all the common ideas and terms surrounding texting and instant messaging. There is even an in-depth article about “sexting” although some of the subtle messages are a little troubling.
First, if your teen in involved in a sexting incident, seek legal advice quickly. In some cases the same laws used to convict hardened child molesters are being used to convict minors who send these images.
This is good advice, but it sounds more like trying to tell you how to keep your kid from getting in trouble than anything else.
Second, be vigilant and realistic. Teens may be starring in more videos than last Halloween’s costume competition. And it’s not just girls. Boys are sending pictures, too.
I’m not sure what being realistic means. It sounds like don’t get mad because everyone is doing it.
Most of all, let them know you care and are paying attention. Our recent studies show that teens have a “didn’t ask, so I didn’t tell” approach. If you want to know what they are doing online, you have to ask. Do a “tech spot check” regularly for any stored images on their mobile devices, and include laptops, the family desktops, portable/flash drives, media cards and discs. Keep up-to-date with their social network profiles and online accounts, including instant messaging profiles.
This part I agree wholeheartedly with and I even wrote about it in a previous post, but as irony would have it, I can’t find it. Anyway, we let our kids know we’ll check up on them and then we do so at various times. It has headed off exploration down dangerous avenues and at least one friend banned online by dad. The LMK issue is good in that it helps parents understand their daughters and gives the girls the opportunity to share their expertise with everyone. Give it a click.
- Let Them Know Pix Trix
- New Girl Scouts CyberBullying Prevention Partnership with Microsoft
- More Girl Scouts Twitter Accounts
- Parents of Autistic Girl Scouts Struggle to Find a Troop
- Knife Control Spreading in Massachusetts?
