I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
As a mother of two children, their safety is always on my mind and my #1 priority always. This includes Internet Safety. With so many websites so easily to access, it is really scary thinking about some of the risks our children can face on a daily basis. I am a child of the 80’s, so the only social media I grew up with was riding bikes with my friends and always playing outside. I never had a cell phone and never had access to a computer at a young age, except the ones in my school. I loved to play outside and would stay outside for hours. Raising children now is completely different. My children do not want to spend a lot of time outside like I used to. Just getting my kids to let go of the iPad or to stop playing the computer is a chore somedays, even with limiting them to how much time they can access technology. As my children are getting older they are getting more curious about sites that I use on a daily basis, such as Facebook and Instagram. My children who are 6.5 & 3.5 do not have an account online with any social networking sites, but I feel they will be wanting to explore these sites soon, especially my oldest. She sees me on Facebook chatting with my friends and is starting to ask questions about my social networking sites.
This got me thinking about what I can do to keep my children safe on the Internet.
How can I know they will be safe accessing so many social media websites?
What can I do to protect them?
So many questions in my head and I finally found a website to put answer all of my questions. I hope the below information can help you as well!
Every day new social platforms emerge and no sooner do we hear about it, our kids already have multiple followers! But as they zip from website to website often we worry for their safety with the actions and information they are providing. How do you help your child to be Cyber Safe and how can you use the resources that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America have provided? If you have never checked out BGCA’s site I strongly urge you to do so! So many great resources for Internet safety. They offer quizzes to take about Cyber safety, a question & answer section, cyber safety stats, and more! It is also BGCA’s third annual Cyber Safe Futures Campaign!
Here is the link to access BGCA website: http://www.bgca.org/cybersafe/pages/ default.aspx.
If you submit questions to the BGCA Cyber Ambassadors through the website regarding cyber bullying, social networking, online privacy, mobile smarts & other cyber related issues, you will be entered to win one of three iPad minis and $500 to your BGCA club of choice.
June is internet Safety Awareness Month.
• Sprint and BGCA invite parents to ask questions about cyber related concerns.
• BGCA has a panel of teen boys & girls from all over the world as ambassadors to answer from a teen perspective, any parent questions you may have.
• There answers will help parents feel more comfortable and to help avoid any issues that may come up for their children and teens online.
• BGCA is committed to keeping kids safe, and that also means keeping kids safe online.
• Today’s youth is more tech savvy than us parents and they do not realize what risks some websites can pose.
• By utilizing resources and learning more about cyber safety, you can help kids have a cyber safe future.
Please see these additional resources for reference:
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bgca.clubs?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BGCA_Clubs
