Sometimes I feel like Chicken Little shouting: The sky is falling, but then I turn on the news the next morning, and a chunk of the sky falls into my coffee.
As your children travel through the digital world they are also going to experience its underbelly; a dark place filled with cyberbullying, sexting, and sexual predation. Most parents believe that they should discuss this issue of digital safety with their children around the time that puberty hits. This is completely incorrect.
The discussion about digital safety needs to begin the very first time your child uses a tablet or a smartphone without mom or dad literally sitting right next to them. Children as young as 8 years old are regular consumers of pornography. Middle school students are going to prison as a result of felony sexting. Sexual predators are hanging out in the same games and apps where your children are.
Get educated, today.
* Read each chapter s Action Steps and implement them today in your own home.
* Use the Conversation Starters in each chapter to begin a dialogue with children of any age.
* Find out if your child is ready for a cell phone.
* Learn why YouTube is the biggest pornography risk in your home.
* Learn how Minecraft can be either completely safe or a harbor for sexual predators.
* Learn why children as young as 11 years old are being charged with child pornography felonies.
* Learn how to lock down your wifi signal and your child s devices.
* Learn how to keep your children safe from the 750k sexual predators who are online each day.
* Learn why the new beginning age for pornography consumption is 8 years old.
* Learn which social platforms experience the most cyberbullying.
* Educate yourself on the specific apps and social platforms that your child is probably using including specific settings and risks for: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Ask.fm, YouTube, and Gaming Consoles like Xbox and Playstation. Also included: Minecraft and game apps.
SECTION I: Understanding the Basics
**Chapter 1: The Central Issue
**Chapter 2: Parenting in Transition
**Chapter 3: Be Proactive
**Chapter 4: Web Statistics How Big Is It Really?
**Chapter 5: How Do Your Children Connect?
**Chapter 6: Understand the Two Major Points of Vulnerability
SECTION II: Direct Threats
**Chapter 7: Cyberbullying
**Chapter 8: Sexting
**Chapter 9: Sexual Predation
SECTION III: Your Child s Actual Digital Life
**Chapter 10: Understanding Social Media
**Chapter 11: Review of the Apps Your Child Is Probably Using
SECTION IV: Parental Engagement
**Chapter 12: What You Can Do Today
**Chapter 13: Recommended Resources