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How to talk to your child about “Sexting”?

Whenever I have heard of a situation where a child has been sending mean or lewd messages to other students the parents are always the last to know.  The last thing we want to have happen to us as parents is to learn that our child has either been sending or receiving messages with photos of themselves or others that would put them in a compromising position.  So what can we do?

As a parent we must be careful not to react in a manner that would make our child less likely to talk to us about any of these subjects, so how do we make sure that they have the real information on the impact of “sexting” with their friends?

Talking about the subject ahead of time is always the best route.  At least then we have a starting point so that in the future our child knows where we stand on the subject and they have accurate information.  One thing you may consider is when giving your child a phone with texting capabilities that we set some ground rules, not just on the amount of usage (dealing with cost) but also on what is appropriate and why.  Start by showing them this video:

We may ask them some questions as a starting point and then let them understand where we stand on the subject. Continue reading “How to talk to your child about “Sexting”?”

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Basic Rules & Pledges for Online Safety for Parents to Teach Children

Here are some guidelines for parents and discussion points as your children start getting on line and being part of the world wide web community.

  1. Without permission of your parents do not give out any personal information.
    1. address, phone number
    2. parents work address or phone number
    3. name of your school or the location of the school
  2. Teach your child that if they come across information on any websites that makes them feel uncomfortable – they are to tell you about it immediately.
    1. this is in the case that they somehow get on a site by accident or have been redirected
  3. Under no circumstances or for any reason including promises should you agree to meet someone or get together with someone that you meet online without checking first with your parents.  Then if they agree the meeting should take place in a public place and your parents should come along.
  4. Never send anyone online your photo or anything else without first checking in with your parents.
  5. Teach your child that if they receive a message that is mean or is harassing, or a picture that is uncomfortable they are to let you know right away.  Reassure your child that it is not their fault and then as the parent you may contact the authorities and or the online service.
  6. Finally set up rules for going online, such as the time of day, how much time you will be on the computer and appropriate areas for your child to visit.
  7. Have the computer that your child will be using in a public area of the house so that you are able to see what your child is doing while online.
  8. Have an understanding that if they break the rules or access areas without permission that you the consequences are as you have set them out.

Keeping your child safe is your first and most important requirement as a parent.  Talking about these rules ahead of time and on a frequent basis will show your child how important this subject is to you.  They may protest at times and say they do not like it or see it as an invasion of privacy, but in the end they will appreciate you having their best interest at heart and recognize your concern for their safety.

One of the best things you can do is sign an agreement with your child about their conduct online.  Here are age appropriate ones that you may want to use.
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Hailey & Ryan S. deliver food to Lighthouse Shelter

carrying food into Lighthouse Shelter

Ryan says:  We delivered some food to the place called the Lighthouse Shelter.  Its a place where people can go tot get food because they are hungry and they don’t have any money to buy themselves any food.  We brought them food because they said they really needed some help and so we asked what they needed and we went to Target and got some of the things.  And then my sister Hailey and I delivered the bas to the Lighthouse Shelter.  Well I hope the people can have some food now.  (6 years old.)

Hailey says:  We got to Target and mom got some food for the Lighthouse Shelter.  Some of the things we got were peanut butter, cans of vegetables, cherieos, rice and strawberries.  It made me feel happy to give to people who can’t afford money and now they can have some food to eat so hopefully they will like the food we gave to them.

I like doing this, maybe I will be able to do it alot but I want to help buy the food next time.  I am looking froward to be helpful to the Lighthouse Shelter.  It was fun!

PS.  At first I didn’t want to write this but now that I did I feel real good.

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Life Skills: Confidence Raises Self Esteem

When you think of confidence what people, words or images come to your mind?  I see a person with a smile who is working on something that they know they do very well.   I have watched my wife working in the kitchen preparing a meal, with what seems to be a thousand things happening at the same time and in the end the meal is perfect and served together.  She does it with an easy concentration and with confidence of the outcome.

When you are confident you have a special energy about yourself, you are not easily distracted from the task at hand and if an obstacle does come up, you deal with it without being flustered by the challenge.  Since we cannot be confident in everything that we have to do in a day sometimes we have to put on the face of confidence, we must have the “I Can, I Will” attitude.  How do we accomplish that?

We start with our physical self first.  Our body will stand straight and tall, look others in the eyes and walk in a manner that looks like we know where we are going and that we will not be stopped, with a strong assertive voice. Continue reading “Life Skills: Confidence Raises Self Esteem”

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Life Skill: Confidence- The Definition

Each month we define and discuss a word of character development and life skill with all of our students.

This month the word is Confidence and will be defined this way.

Young students: Confidence means: I believe in me!

Older students: Confidence means: Complete trust in ourselves or others.

Here are the worksheets for our students:

Confidence TT project confidence 5- 6 project confidence 7-12 project Confidence Teen Adult project

If you would like to see how we will deal with this subject with our students please follow our discussions here during the month of March or come in and TRY A CLASS.