10 Facebook Alternatives

There are other social networking sites that are more age appropriate for your child. In fact, the rules of Facebook say that only people ages 13 and older are allowed to have a Facebook account. But to get around the rule, you simply put a fake birthday, which many tweens do.

If you really want your child on a social networking site, check out some of these others, and see if they would be better for your child than the big Facebook!

The link on the title takes you to a list by Commonsense Media that has a description of each of the 10 alternatives. Here are the names of the top 3 and there age appropriateness.

1. My Secret Circle - ages 8+

2. Yoursphere - ages 9+

3. Facechipz - ages 10+

I posted these not because I endorse them, but to let you know there are other options for kids. Parents need take time to learn the options and then make an informed, deliberate decision about what technology they want their children to be participating in.

New website provides up-to-date, peer reviewed, research on harms from pornography

In addition to scientific articles,this website features relevant news and opinions.

The prevalence of pornography in our media and our lives is drastically changing our society, for the worse. This web site is a great resource to help us individually, and as a society, acknowledge and understand the devastating effects of pornography, it's addictions, and exploitations.

Understanding the truth about porn is the first step. The next step is to take action to empower and protect your family (your schools and your community) from the harms of pornography. Visit www.azfamilycouncil.org for information and links to other helpful websites.

YouTube Safety Mode

From the YouTube Blog:

Diversity of content is one of the great things about YouTube. But we know that some of you want a more controlled experience. That's why we're announcing Safety Mode, an opt-in setting that helps screen out potentially objectionable content that you may prefer not to see or don't want others in your family to stumble across while enjoying YouTube. An example of this type of content might be a newsworthy video that contains graphic violence such as a political protest or war coverage. While no filter is 100% perfect, Safety Mode is another step in our ongoing desire to give you greater control over the content you see on the site.

Go to the blog see a demo video.

Safer Internet Day

WASHINGTON - The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) and severalmember companies will celebrate Safer Internet Day (SID) today by helping promote online safety for young people through various initiatives in several countries throughout the world. This year's theme "Think B4 U Post" aims to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.

"One in four children sent pornography, says survey"

A survey of 500 children by broadband provider, TalkTalk, reported some alarming statistics:
(as reported by Urmee Khan, Digital and Media Correspondent in Telegraph.co.uk)

• 1 in 4 children have sent or been sent inappropriate material including pornography via email
• 1 in 20 children, aged between 6 & 15, had communicated with a stranger via webcam
• 1 in 50 children have actually met a stranger they first contacted online
• over 6 out of 10 children said they lie to parents about what they have been looking at online
• over 5 out of 10 children delete the history on their browser, so their parents can't see what they have been looking at.

"The report, . . . found that many children are getting away with behaviour online that they wouldn't get away with in the real world, largely because of their parents' lack of understanding and awareness of their internet habits and of safety precaution."

Parents still need to be parents in the tech world their children live in. Do you know what your children are watching, hearing, posting, downloading online? By getting involved, you can make all the difference in your child's life!

Go to www.internetsafety101.org and click on "safety" to learn some "Rules 'n tools" you can use to help your children be safe and responsible online!