SAFE KIDS ONLINE

Cyber bullying, online predators, porn sites, sexting, texting while driving - the media seems to be full of stories about these issues and the devastation they are wreaking in our children's lives. Many lives are being destroyed in both a physical and emotional sense and as parents, many of us have felt powerless to prevent it. Parents everywhere have felt lost because we do not understand or comprehend it and simply pray that our own children are not being subjected to these threats.

• 4 in 10 kids have been bullied online
• 1 in 5 kids "admit" to sexting
• 7 in 10 kids have received pornography
• 2 X more kids are killed while texting and driving than drinking
• 1 in 5 kids have been sexually solicited online

Police and child protection agencies suspect that these statistics are low and schools report a significant increase in the number of students who are suffering from depression and anxiety and attribute much of it to these problems. You and I used to pass written notes; today kids are texting from one side of the classroom to the other and the teachers are teaching to thin air. As parents, we have seen, firsthand, how our kids use their cellphones at the dinner table, while in restaurants, while doing homework or during family discussions

- is it any different at school do you suppose? 

The internet may very well be the greatest creation since the wheel but if we allow the dark underbelly of society to take control and ruin even one more life, then we all lose. Parents, teachers, grandparents - all of us have a vested interest in protecting children from the ravages of this insidious  tide of danger that lurks behind the anonymity of a computer screen. 

Banning or attempting to control access to the internet, creating laws that ban texting in vehicles, disallowing our kids from using their phones or social networks for porn or sexual curiosity, instructing them not to text with strangers - forget it - it does not work. Remember your own teen years when your parents forbade you from smoking, drinking, marijuana, underage sex - how did that work out? So, we know some of the problems but what can we do about it? There is a way for parents to regain some control and help their children to deal with these issues.

Find out more here.

If you think that you have "good" kids and therefore they are not subjected to these dangers, then pull your head out of the sand and think again. This is not about good kids or bad kids, this is about ALL kids. Check your TV listings and find a show on NBC - Dateline and check the episodes called "To Catch a Predator." This can happen to any child and you must know that even your child, might not tell their parents because they are afraid or because they simply are not sophisticated enough to recognize the danger.

You can prevent this from happening and take back your parental control and responsibility by going here.