6 Tips for Keeping Teens Safe On Social Media

More than 60 percent of teenagers in the United States have at least one social media account, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 

And, while being online is a good way to keep in touch with friends, it's important for you to be proactive about your children's internet safety.

Unfortunately, there are people who can and will use your child's personal information to steal identities, bully them or begin an inappropriate relationship.

Help protect your children from online dangers by following these safety tips:

1. Keep your children’s profile private so that only family and people you know can see photos, important dates, and other information.        

2. Make sure your children aren’t posting personal details, including phone numbers, home address, and the name of their school or Social Security number.

3. Only allow them to publish photos and videos that don't jeopardize their safety or their integrity.

4. Make sure they choose a strong password that can't be guessed and update that password every three months.

5. Never allow your children to accept friend requests from people they don’t know.

6. Keep an open dialogue with your children. Tell them to let you know if they've received private messages from a stranger or from someone at school who is teasing, harassing, or threatening them. Those could be signs of cyber-bullying or even a sexual predator.

Do you have any other tips you would like to add? Leave them below.

  

A Simple and Quick Way to Protect School Children

The simplest and quickest way to protect children from being murdered while in school is to discontinue having schools as a gun free zone. To attempt to eliminate certain types of firearms violates the Second Amendment even more than has already occurred.

Moreover, to do that to someone who has been diagnosed with a mental illness not only denies that person's Second Amendment right to self-defense, but also does not distinguish between the types of mental illnesses.

Type of Mental Illness Should be Specified
All types of mental illnesses should not be associated with the type of person who may commit a mass murder. The person who committed the mass murder at the Parkland, Florida school appears to be a sociopath, a person who has a type of Antipersonality Disorder. This person tend to be deceptive and can be and is often rational in the planning and follow-through of his terrible acts. This type of personality disorder is often difficult to diagnose and treat. In contrast, an individual who is experiencing depression or anxiety and is on a mood stabilizer for such conditions is unlikely to be acting to acquire a weapon and planning a mass murder.

Safety of the School Children is not the Responsibility of the President
Let’s be clear, the safety of school children is the responsibility of state governments, local governments, and the school boards. Not the President of the United States nor Congress has this responsibility. For example, in Chicago those high schools in the inner-city neighborhoods with a high level of gang activity have uniformed Chicago police officers stationed where the youngsters enter and leave the schools.

Chicago Police Officers in the Chicago Public Schools
The Chicago Board of Education contracts with the Chicago Police Department to have officers stationed at the schools. The police cars are parked outside of the schools and near the school doors in full view of the public. The police officers are stationed inside of the schools where they can observe each student who comes into the school. This has been a successful standing policy of the Chicago Public Schools for decades.

In addition to the police officers being stationed in the schools, there are clearly identified civilian patrols in the blocks surrounding the schools who watch the comings and goings of the students. There is no need to be talking about having teachers, counselors, or any other school officials being armed. I hope that other state and local officials as well as the school boards across the country will consider looking at the Chicago model and consider implementing this type of protection for the children under their care.

Only Benefit the President can Provide
Finally, the only benefit that the federal government can provide is for the President to issue an Executive Order for the Department of Education to redirect funds from useless and irrelevant programs and to make those funds available to the states for the sole purpose of improving the safety of the children for whom they have the responsibility.