Guest Bloggers WANTED!

Would you like to be a guest blogger here at The Date Safe Project, Inc?  If so, click on our “Contact Us” section and send us a message with WHY you would like to be a guest blogger, what you would like to guest blog about, and your background.  We are looking forward to sharing more individuals’ and organizations’ viewpoints alongside our own.

Blog entries can be as short as a paragraph and as long as an article (up to 1000 words typically).  You choose.  All blog entries are approved before being posted online.  Get involved today and apply! Watch people react to your words of wisdom and insight.

Written by Mike Domitrz on December 13, 2010

Kids online activities and Parent Monitoring

How many hours a month do you think pre-teens and teenagers are online? On average, most kids are spending 20 hours online. Most kids between the ages of 13 – 17 believe their parents have no clue as to what their activities are online.  imagine the freedom college brings 1st year students and their online explorations.  Here’s what they do, where they go, who they meet:

Friendships.
35% of our children ages 8-17 have made friends online 50 % of U.S. of our teens ages 13-17 claim to have made friends online 33% of children prefer spending time with their online friends rather than their offline friends

Social networking.
76% of our teens. teens ages 13-17 "constantly," "frequently" or "sometimes" visit social networking sites.

Shopping online.
35% of kids report being "very confident" or "confident" in shopping online.  Do you know where your credit card is?

Getting requests for personal information.
42% of kids ages 13-17 have received an online request for personal information.

Being approached by strangers.
16 percent of them have been approached online by a stranger; however, U.S. adults believe that just 6 percent of children have been approached online by a stranger.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?  Learn about online monitoring programs and software packages.  They can track EVERY little detail for you (from Instant Messaging to every visit online).  At the same time, you need to continually TALK with pre-teens and teenagers about the internet.  When they are at a friend’s house, your monitoring software is not going to do any good.  Educate them and empower them.

What program do you use for monitoring?  What do you like about it?  Help other parents by sharing with us here on the blog.

Written by Mike Domitrz on February 15, 2008

Parents, Cyber Bulling Among Teens is Growing IN HOMES!!

Do you know one of the fastest growing forms of teen violence is?  Cyber Bullying.  Bullies have moved from the hallways of schools directly into our childs’ lives at home.

While most people assume Cyber Bullying occurs only in social networking forums such as MySpace.com, the reality is bullying is taking place through chat rooms and instant messages. More children are harassed through this medium than any other. Check out the statistics:

Of the 1,600 kids between 10 and 15 years of age surveyed across the nation:

  1. 4% reported unwanted sexual solicitation
  2. 9% reported being harassed on social networking sites
  3. 59% more solicitations were received over instant messengers

Overall, kids were 96% more likely to be harassed in instant messages than on a social networking site.

The likelihood of a child being harassed in cyber space and offline is strikingly high. Make sure you know who your kids friends are both in the virtual world as well as the real world.

Click here to read more.

Written by Mike Domitrz on February 7, 2008

Online Child Abusers Are In Homes Everywhere, Parents.

The Internet brings a wide array of how children can be victimized. Abusers can instantly get what they want: child pornography, sexually explicit chats, and the opportunity to coerce a child into a meeting.

These abusers come right into your home and make contact with your children. The group most victimized by this behavior is girls between the ages of 12 and 14 years old.  Due to severe harassment and the realization of what has been going on, some teenagers have committed suicide. Today, many children know more about computers than their parents do. While they are smart about some aspects of technology, they are frequently naïve about the real dangers they face online.

Awareness of what is going on in your child’s life is key when it comes to their protection.  Keep an eye on their online world.  After all, the crime is happening right inside the home (a place every child should be safe).

The article in the Hickory Record (click here to read) inspired this posting.

Written by Mike Domitrz on February 6, 2008

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