Microsoft Safer Online Teen Challenge

Every parent worries about their children both online and off.

Who are they talking to online?  Are they chatting with strangers?  What information are they sharing?  Does your teen or child know the boundaries?

Let’s face it, you can never be safe enough or secure enough–there is always something new to learn!

Encourage your teens to participate in The Safer Online Teen Challenge by Microsoft!

The Challenge is an interactive contest where teens can teach others how to manage their digital lifestyle by creating a song, video, skit or other original work. It’s a perfect way for teens to put their own spin on how they navigate digital safety.

Here’s how it works:

• Teens ages 13 to 18 (where applicable), select an online safety topic from either the Microsoft Safety & Security Center or the “Resources” tab of the Safer Online by Microsoft Facebook page.
• They create their work of art (using one of Microsoft’s five categories: skit/presentation, video, story/cartoon, song, survey) and submit their entry by April 12 on the Challenge website.
• Then, Microsoft’s Safer Online Facebook fans will vote to select the winners of each category. Microsoft will post the winning entries on their website and the winners will receive prizes like tablets, gaming systems and more.

Follow the Microsoft Safety Team on Twitter.

30 Blogs About Keeping Kids Safe Online

Should you allow your child to watch the news or go on Facebook?  At what point is it okay and healthy for your child to learn about current events?  Could the media your kids watch be the cause of mass violence?  When it comes to kids’ exposure to the media, these questions are all ones that need to be considered.

In the following 30 blog entries, the bloggers go into some depth about studies and recommendations regarding the relationship between your kids and media exposure, and explore the possible pros and cons of your kids’ involvement with media.

Studies
Scientists play an active role in helping parents learn about how media affects kid’s health.  If you are looking for answers of your own, review these five blog posts to see what their studies revealed.

• Recently Added Studies on Children, Media, and Health
• Resources: Talking and Teaching About the Shooting in Newtown, Conn.
• More Homegrown Content Needed for Canadian Kids: Study
• New Gentile Study on Media Violence and Kids Could Have Applications on School Bullying
• Study: Media Literacy Education Helps Protect Children from the Harmful Effects of Media Messages

Use
How are kids using media these days?  You might be surprised when you read a bit more about it.  These five blog entries will shed some light on media use in kids.

• Teachers Say Media-Use is Harming Kids’ Performance
• 3 Tips to Schedule and Monitor Media Use for Your Kids
• Kids and Social Media: Cloud Resources to Consider
• Children’s Media Usage Skyrockets During Past Year [Study]
• Is Media Use Slowing Down Kids Intellectually?

Recommendations
What can parents do about how much time their kids spend using media?  How much time is appropriate?  These answers and more can be found on the following five blog posts.

• How to Negotiate Screen Time with Kids
• Setting Limits on Screen Time: Start Your Preschooler on a Healthy Track
• The Surefire Way to Limit Your Kids’ Screentime
• Setting Screen Time Limits for Kids, Age by Age
• 53 Ways to Beat Social Media Burnout

Pros
Here are five blog articles that have noted some benefits of kids using social media and blogging.  If you have concerns, you might want to read through the benefits that have been laid out by these bloggers.

• The Benefits of Social Media
• Parents See Benefits to Kids in Social Media
• Family Grapples With Kids’ Tech Time
• New Report: Social Media and Kids: Some Benefits, Some Worries
• The Benefits of Blogging for Kids

Cons
These five blog posts provide some details about why social media may be bad for kids, and outline some of the reasons that their usage is considered risky behavior. Once you’ve read these you can weigh the good with the bad and make your own decisions about media use.

• Debate: Is Social Media Good or Bad For Our Kids? Interesting Facebook Stats
• Some Blame Our Culture for Teaching Kids to be Violent
• Could the Media be at Fault for Creating Mass Shooters? Popular Figure Says Yes
• A Reason to Monitor Your Kids Social Media Use and Promote National Anti-Bully Month
• Are Kids Growing Up Too Fast?

Violence
Social media, news stories and violent video games have all been tied to violent acts by kids.  See what is being said about these events in these five blog entries.  The more information you have the better choices about media use you can make.

• Social Media ‘Stoking’ NI Violence
• Misogyny, Violence Highlighted in Online Video Game, Social Media Threats
• Violence and Technology
• Hickenlooper:  ‘Level of Violence in Media’ and ‘Video Games’ May Be Why Assault Weapons are Used in Mass Shootings
• Media Violence and Debating Effects & Influences

Sources: National Nannies

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Community Empowerment Series Session One! Stacey Honowitz Celebrity Speaker! Tickets On Sale Now!

St. Augustine, Fla.— St. Johns County is privileged to be featuring celebrity parenting experts that will be speaking on topics that will empower us to continue to have one of the best counties in Florida. The three forums will be held in February, March and April and will feature some of the leading experts in the field of parenting, cyber bullying, online predators, and much more.
Tickets for the three events can be purchased online at www.communityempowermentseries.com.

Parents are encouraged to bring their children, and grandparents, school counselors, educators and anyone that wants to make our community a safer place for kids should attend the series.

“Education is knowledge and power that help us to keep our kids safe,” said Sue Scheff, a local author and parent advocate. “Having three of the best speakers coming to St. Johns County is an honor and opportunity for everyone.”

The purpose of the Community Empowerment Series is to strengthen our community and enrich our parents, teachers and everyone working with our children to be safer and kinder- both online and off. This series is providing parents with how-to’s on some of the most important issues facing children today.

The three part series will be held at the IMAX Theatre in World Golf Village. Stacey Honowitz, who has been featured on Good Morning America, Larry King Live, and Dateline NBC, will be speaking on February 2^nd about the media and sex cases, along with how to talk to young kids about private parts. Session two will take place on March 9^th and will feature Dr. Michele Borba speaking on peer pressure, bullying and cyber-stalking. Dr. Borba has authored dozens of books and has made appearances on Dr. Phil, The View, The Doctors, FOX News and many more. Theresa Payton will lead session three on April 27^th and will talk about internet safety. Payton is a former White House Chief Information Officer and has a weekly segment on North Carolina’s WBTV about protecting your cyberturf.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza will be presenting Stacey Honowitz on February 2nd.

The Community Empowerment Series is being sponsored by The St. Augustine Record and First Coast News and supported by the St. Johns Sheriff’s Department.

For more sponsorship information and more information visit www.communityempowermentseries.com.

WAKE UP: Holidays are here, Secure your Prescriptions before Welcoming Guests

Tis the season of giving, but as you invite family and friends into your home for holiday festivities, beware – for some, it is also the season for taking. According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, most teens initially get prescription pills from family and friends, including straight from home medicine cabinets.  And it’s not just teens.  

Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in the United States. Deaths from prescription drug overdoses have become the second leading cause of accidental deaths nationwide, and the leading cause in as many as 15 states.

“Prescription pill abusers are no different than those that are addicted to illicit drugs like meth or heroin.  They will go to great lengths to get their fix. I can’t stress enough the importance of safeguarding your medications,” says Lora Brown, MD, a Pain Management Physician and Medical Director for WAKE UP!, a community educational campaign created to combat the increase in prescription drug abuse among teenagers.

Brown says that you should always safeguard your medicine, but it’s especially important during the holidays when friends, family, neighbors and sometimes strangers are invited into our homes.  Don’t discuss what medications you are taking with anyone but your medical or mental health team, and keep the medications in a secure place at all times. Often these medications are stolen from medicine cabinets and nightstands. Addicts have been known to break into homes where they suspect they can find meds, as well as assault someone who is in possession of the prescription medication they desire.

About WAKE UP!:

WAKE UP! is a community educational campaign established by The Pain Truth, a Florida 501(c)(3), to combat the increase in prescription drug abuse among teenagers. It is designed to use science, not scare tactics, to educate teenagers of the effects and dangers of prescription drugs. The program uses a school “takeover” approach to reach thousands of students and their families with an extended program designed to teach not preach about the dangers of abusing and misusing prescription drugs. This program is unique in many ways. One of the most important aspects is sustainability through a school-based CORE of students and educators that remain present and active long after the original campaign is complete. 

Follow them on Twitter and use hashtag #WAKEUP

Hating Homework? 10 Ways to Help Make Homework Fun

Do you have a smart child that can pass tests but is failing classes since they don't finish their homework assignments? 

This is very common.

The last thing that kids want to do when they get home from school is homework, and sometimes it can seem near impossible to get them to settle down to study when all they want to do is play and blow off steam. But what if you could make doing homework fun for your kids?

Check out these ways to make the ordeal a little less painful for you and your kids.

1. Start a homework blog – You might as well take advantage of the power of the Internet. Tell the kids that you will record their feelings and ideas about homework on the blog after they get it done. You can decide whether you want to update the blog daily or weekly with new entries. Allow the kids to get creative about entries, but remember to follow proper Internet etiquette.
2. Make it practical – In the early grades it’s fairly simple to make things like math pretty practical by showing the kids how the subject is used in everyday life. For many kids, just making the connection between what they are learning in school and how it applies to real life makes them more interested in their subjects.
3. Teach your kids how to compete internally – The world is full of competition, but not everyone knows how to compete with themselves. If you can teach your child how to compete internally, always trying to do a little better than they did the last time, that self competition can cause your child to want to excel for the sake of excelling. Teaching kids to compete with themselves also helps in warding off peer pressure when they reach their teen years.
4. Rewards – There are pros and cons about giving rewards, but the right kinds of rewards won’t necessarily cause your child to achieve for the wrong reasons. Sometimes just a hug with a few well chosen words is enough. Avoid rewarding your kids with food, especially sweets, as this will set up an unhealthy association between food and rewards for them and can lead to eating problems down the road.
5. Use music as a way to help with learning – Some subjects can be pretty boring, but if you add a tune to some of the things they need to learn, kids will learn the material better and have fun doing it. For example, you can use the “Birthday Song” to memorize the multiplication tables.
6. Turn homework into a game – Create a game to help with homework. Each correct problem is worth a point and the points add up to different levels. Try to get to the highest level to win a token. Tokens can be redeemed for something special. You decide what that is.
7. Help with homework in a positive, proactive manner – Sit down with your child on occasion and help them with the harder homework. Showing your interested in their work can make it more engaging for them. You may not want to do this every time they sit down to do homework, though, because that will take away the novelty of it.
8. Get the kids to read – Believe it or not, one way to make homework more fun is to get your kids to read. If you get them interested in reading and seeking knowledge while they’re young, it will instill in them the desire to continue to learn.
9. Change the location – Just for fun, let the kids do homework in a different place; for example let them do homework outside, if the weather permits, or let them choose a different place to work.
10. Let your kid be the teacher – Have your kids teach you the things they are learning. Have them show you how to solve the problems and ask them questions as if you are the student. This will help them retain the information and understand it better.

With some creativity you can find many ways to make homework fun for your kids. Taking an interest in what they are doing will help immensely. Your participation can cause your kids to be more engaged and more likely to finish their homework and projects.

Source: Nanny.net

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Teens and Smartphones: Is your teenager ready for a Smartphone?

The holidays are here and many tweens and teens are asking for cell phones and Smartphones.  But are they ready for the responsibility of having one?

• Do children really need Smartphones?
• Can Smartphones be beneficial to their learning alongside school?
• Are Smartphones a fashion statement?
• Is it fair if all families cannot afford them?  Peer pressure to those that can’t have them?

Pew Internet tells us 77% of US 12-to-17-year-olds now have cellphones and 23% Smartphones, so if your 12-year-old tells you “everybody has a cellphone,” s/he’s less and less far off the mark. But when to get a kid his or her first cellphone is very individual too, based on how s/he handles technology, people, and responsibility!

Cons: Smartphones can be used to bully other children through advanced messaging features which are available on smartphones and also apps which can be downloaded.
Pros:  Parents can track their child to make sure they are safe while they are out playing with friends or going to school.

An excellent article was recently written: Five things to do before giving your teenager a Smartphone – definitely worth the time to read if you are considering purchasing a phone for your child this holiday season.

Cellphone Safety Tips from Connect Safely:

Cellphones are increasingly full-blown handheld computers, and everything that can be done on the Web via computer – photo-sharing, Web browsing, game playing, tune-swapping, real-time text chat, and (oh yeah) talking – can be done on a phone. Here are some basic ideas for keeping mobile phone use safe and constructive: 

Smart socializing. Use the same good sense about what you post from your phone as from a computer. Once they’re posted, text, photos, and video are tough to take back, can be copied and pasted elsewhere, and are up there pretty much forever. Think about the people in them (including you!). Reputations are at stake – even more so if racy photos are involved. Just best not to go there.
Phones are personal. Letting other people use your phone when you’re not around is like letting them have the password to your social network profile. They can impersonate you. Which means they can play tricks on you that could really become a problem. It’s a very good idea to lock your phone when you’re not using it.
Bullying by phone. Because people socialize on cellphones as much as online, cyberbullying can be mobile too. Treat people on phones and the Web the way you would in person, and the risk of being bullied goes down. Be aware, too, of people randomly taking pictures at parties, in locker rooms, etc. – you may not want to be tagged in their social-network photo albums!
Sexting: The vast majority of kids – 99% – are smart and don’t take, send, or post or even store nude photos of themselves or peers on their phones. People who do so can be charged with production, distribution, or possession of child pornography, a serious crime. They can also be subjected to jokes, bullying, blackmail, expulsion from school, loss of a job, etc. and the images can circulate forever. Just don’t go there.
The value of “presence.” If you do a lot of texting, consider the impact that being “elsewhere” might be having on the people around you. Your presence during meals, at parties, in the car, etc. is not only polite, it’s a sign of respect and appreciated.
Down time is good. Constant texting and talking can affect sleep, concentration, school, and other things that deserve your thought and focus. You need your sleep and real friends understand there are times you just need to turn off the phone – harassment can happen between midnight and morning too.
Social mapping. Most cellphones now have GPS technology and there are a growing number of services that allow friends to pinpoint each other’s physical location. If you use such a service, do so only with friends you know in person, and get to know the service’s privacy features!
No texting while driving! Research shows that texting while driving can significantly increase the risk of a crash or near-crash situation. Silence your phone in the car, pull over if you need to use it, and of course follow your state’s hands-free laws for mobile phones in cars.

Community Empowerment Series (CES)

Education is knowledge and power that help us to keep our kids safe.

St. Johns County, Duval, Clay, Putnam, Nassau and Flagler all welcome three renown experts to World Golf Village.

Presented by St. Johns County Education Foundation and Communities in Schools, The Community Empowerment Series will cover topics that parents, educators and everyone that are involved in today's youth are concerned about.

View slideshow: Three Celebrity Experts Coming to Our Area!

• Sexual predators, and how to talk to your kids about private parts and stranger danger.
• The social jungle that kids are facing today. From peer pressure to bullying and cyberbullying.
• Importance of digital safety and the critical topic of teaching our kids and especially teens today about how to protect themselves from identity theft.

For these three topics we have brought in the country's leading experts. You may have seen them on your TV and also read their books!

Session one: Stacey Honowitz, who has served twenty years in the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit of the State Attorney’s Office, will be speaking about sex crimes in Florida and the sentences that they carry. She will also be addressing how to talk to your young kids about private parts.

Session two: Dr. Michele Borba is one of the most popular parenting experts in our country and the bullying prevention expert. She will have a workshop on the Social Jungle our kids are dealing with today, from peer pressure to bullying. Her speaking topics will include friends, cliques, relational aggression, cyberbullies, bullies and peer pressure. Watch the video on the sidebar.

Session three: Theresa Payton will discuss the importance of digital safety, identity theft with kids, and technology in today’s world as it concerns our children. There will also be deep discussion on how to create, maintain and protect a healthy digital identity for all family members, adults and children alike.

All three of these speakers are nationally recognized in their field and have been on many media outlets. We are honored they are coming to our community to help empower us with knowledge to keep our kids safe and our families educated in a society that is ever changing.

Tickets are free and limited to the first 300.
If you are a business or individual that would like to sponsor or be a vendor at these events, please visit our "Getting Involved" page. There are opportunities for everyone!

Don't miss these exciting educational and fun events! 

Visit www.communityempowermentseries.com for more information on the dates, times and all the details!

Pass this on to your friends, family, and neighbors!

It Your Teen Ready to Babysit?

Babysitting is a time-honored tradition among teenagers looking for a way to earn some extra money while selecting their own schedules, rather than being forced to adhere to one made each week by a manager.

If your teen has recently approached you with a desire to begin her career as a babysitter, there are some things you’ll need to take into consideration when determining whether she’s mature and responsible enough to be charged with the very important task of caring for dependent children.
Before giving your teen the green light to start searching for babysitting clients, you should consider the following points.

• How Much Experience Does She Have? – If you have younger children that your teenager has been in charge of caring for, how did she handle that responsibility? In the case of only children, it’s important to consider any prior experience she’s had with children; if her contact with little ones has been limited, it might be wise to help her spend some time in a supervised childcare setting, such as volunteering in the nursery of your place of worship, before allowing her to strike out on her own.
• Has She Been CPR and First Aid Certified? – Regardless of age and experience level, any childcare provider will need to obtain CPR and first aid certification in order to be as prepared as possible in the event of an emergency. While these certifications aren’t required by law, most parents will not consider your teen mature enough or competent enough to care for their children without them.
• What are the Laws in Your Area? – State and local laws regarding the age requirements of a babysitter and restrictions on the number of children that a teenager can legally be responsible for can vary significantly from one location to another. Be sure that your teen is old enough to be legally eligible to act as a childcare provider before granting your permission to look for clients.
• Does She Understand the Dangers of Food Allergies? – Severe food allergies have the very real potential of causing death if a child is exposed to something he’s allergic to, meaning your teen needs to have a clear and realistic understanding of food allergies and sensitivities and how dangerous they can be.
• Is She Able to Care for a Child with Special Needs? – Before your teen accepts a job caring for a child with special needs, it’s important for you to evaluate her ability to do so competently, and you should discuss the matter with her thoroughly to determine whether or not she’s up to the task of providing top-notch care for a special needs kid.
• Is She Usually Punctual and Dependable? – A teen that’s dependable and makes an effort to be on time in other areas of her life will likely extend those character traits to her new career as a babysitter, just as those who are less dependable may begin to slack off in time.
• Does She Have any Marked Behavioral Problems? – Putting a troubled teen in charge of children in a situation with no adult supervision is just asking for trouble, so it’s important that you’re honest with yourself about her behavior before allowing her to do so. Breaking house rules on the job can put your child and her charges in danger, and is a strong possibility if she has a history of behavioral issues or acting out.
• How Developed are Her Time Management Skills? – Taking on a job, even an irregularly scheduled one, can interfere with your teen’s academic performance and extracurricular activities if she’s still developing her time management skills. Kids that struggle to maintain their current schedules may not be mature enough to add more responsibilities to it.
• Does She Know Her Way Around the Kitchen? – Part of caring for children is feeding them, something your teen may not be mature or experienced enough to do if she’s not familiar with basic meal preparation. Taking the time to work with your daughter to develop these skills will serve her well in the future, as well as helping her to overcome an obstacle on the path to employment, so consider a brief round of lessons in kitchen basics and safety before sending her on her first babysitting assignment.
• Trust Your Instincts – In the end, no one knows your child and her abilities as well as you do. Even if she’s dependable, reasonably experienced in the kitchen, and CPR certified, you may still have the nagging feeling that she simply isn’t ready for the huge responsibility of keeping a child safe. In such cases, it’s imperative that you trust your instincts.

Many community centers offer babysitting classes for interested teenagers, which can be an informative and exciting way for your child to hone her skills and obtain the training she needs to be a more prepared, experienced sitter. Consider enrolling her in one of these courses if she’s beginning to express an interest in babysitting in order to make the transition from unemployed teen to seasoned sitter easier for her.

Source: Find a Babysitter

The American Red Cross offers a Babysitting Workshop for Teens. Check the local office for times and locations.