If you are a MySpace user, they have no implemented a new application to keep track of Amber Alerts. The application can be added to users’ profiles to help spread the word of Amber Alerts across the country.
You simply install the Amber Alert application like any other Myspace application. Once installed an Amber Alert box will appear on your profile displaying any current alerts, or if there are none, the text "There are no active alerts" will appear.
This system covers Amber Alerts for both the United States and Canada.
Are you concerned with your children’s activities on social networking sites such as Facebook? Then Stanford University has the perfect class for you. Dubbed “Facebook for Parents”, the class aims to teach parents exactly how social networking sites work and what you can do to keep your children safe within them.
In the free Stanford class, open to all parents but designed for those with children younger than 18, Fogg and Phillips teach such subjects as "The ABC’s of Facebook," "Ten Steps To Protect Loved Ones," and "Friending, Posting and Updating: Life Skills for the Future."
"It isn’t about spying on kids. And it’s not just about safety and importance of teaching children to guard their reputation," Fogg said. "It helps you build a relationship."
If you are an educator or just want to educate yourself and your children on the hazards of child predators, KidsandStrangers.org has produced a dvd to help you and your family and friends learn about child safety. The dvd includes the following categories:
-Empowering Children: Going to School, The Playground, Home Alone, Who is a Stranger?, Early Internet Safety, Kid Escape, The “Grip, Dip & Spin” technique for breaking free from an abductor.
-Texting , Talking and Internet Predators: Actual teen experiences, 911 calls operator interviews.
-Parent Tips, Family Talk and Walk: What parents need to know and do.
Curious what other parents have to say about not only child safety but other parenting topics? How about from a male perspective? Blog Teens Today dishes out the 50 best dad blogs, and in the process leaves inks for 50 best mom blogs and best mommy blogs part II.
All of my readers know how much I love sharing link love and posting about my favorite other bloggers. All of these blogs are important because they talk about positive family values and are brave enough to share their own experiences–which we are all grateful for.
Thank you Dads for putting out great stuff, please enjoy this research.
A great post from AdventuresInParenting.org regarding your child’s safety on the internet. The whole blog post is worth a read, but this list about benefits of parents being online to understand what their children were into is a highlight:
Here are the benefits of being on the computer:
1. You might learn something. In case if you haven’t been around the World Wide Web, the computer has so much possibility. You’ll be amazed at all the useful applications of those SNS (Social Networking Sites.)
2. You might have fun. Just don’t get addicted to those games…
3. You might find some conversation starters with your child. Tired of the same old questions like “how’s school?” Don’t know how to get your kids to talk to you? Our kids say we don’t understand them. But if we can talk their computer game language, it will open up the communication channels.
You might be able to find an appropriate way to talk to your kids about the rights and wrongs of internet use. Being on those popular sites allows you to see what is influencing your child, and the type of moral decisions he is faced with on those sites. Now you’ll be better equipped to guide them to do what is right.
Do you follow your children on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc?
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children has partnered with Duracell batteries to produce a website called Power Of Parents which includes child safety tips, teaching tools, as well as a child safety handbook to aid you in having age appropriate conversations with your children about safety. Also included is a great storybook for younger children that addresses child safety on a fun level that makes learning interactive for them. The storybook, child safety handbook, and other resources can be found on PowerOfParentsOnline.com.
A great child safety resource for parents just won an award for it’s years of dedication to the cause. The Safe Kids Buckle Up campaign won a Peter K O’Rourke Special Achievement Award from the Governors Highway Safety Association for all of their work in becoming the largest child passenger safety program in the country. SafeKids.org is a great resource for parents to read about child safety regarding auto, fire, toy, and water safety. About SafeKids.org:
Safe Kids USA is a member of Safe Kids Wolrdwide, a global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of children 14 and under.
More than 450 coalitions in 16 countries bring together health and safety experts, educators, corporations, foundations, governments and volunteers to educate and protect families.
Communications powerhouse AT&T has set up a new program to help educate children on safety issues. From FoxBusiness.com:
Through the storybook adventures of iKeepSafe’s Internet safety character, Faux Paw the Techno Cat, elementary students grades 1-5 will learn about online safety, with emphasis on cyber-bullying awareness for fifth graders. D.A.R.E. officers will visit classrooms and present animated movies and books to students, then engage in educational exercises. AT&T will later join D.A.R.E. officers at community forums, where local residents and parents can learn about online safety and how they can keep their families safe online.
"Ninety percent of tweens report they have used the Internet by the time they are nine years old," said Brent Olson, AT&T assistant vice president of Public Policy. "That’s why it’s important for online safety education efforts to reach elementary-school-aged children, before they become active online users."
"It’s equally important for parents, families, and communities to understand the current challenges involved in keeping their children safe online, whether over the computer or over the cell phone — which every parent of a texter knows is quickly becoming the primary mode of communication for today’s tweens and teens," Olson added. "We are excited to join with iKeepSafe and D.A.R.E to bring these important messages to local schools and communities."
A great idea in the form of “Tweet 4 Missing Kids” is a great way to quickly spread information about missing children and Amber Alerts. Here’s how you can participate:
Every 40 seconds, somewhere in the world, a child is reported missing. Unfortunately, many of those missing will never be heard from again.
But thanks to the "magic of Twitter", the search for a missing child can begin literally around the world in just seconds, greatly increasing the chances of the child being found safe. Here’s how you can help.
1. Follow tweet4missing on Twitter to receive missing children and Amber alerts.
2. Retweet the alerts you get from tweet4missing to your followers with the hashmark #t4mk included in the tweet so it will show up in our Summize and Twemes public timelines.
3. If you hear of an Amber alert or missing child report, send a tweet about it to your followers and include, @tweet4missing. We will then forward your report to all of our followers.
4. If possible, please add tweet4missing’s Twitter, Summize, or Twemes RSS feed to your blog or website.
Do you trust your babysitter? A new study from iVillage.com indicates that some 25% of parents have had problems with babysitters in the past. Other findings include:
- 1 in 10 moms have discovered that a babysitter brought other people into their home without permission
- More than 1 in 10 mothers (12%) are not sure their babysitter could handle any sort of emergency situation involving their kids
- Nearly half (49%) of moms do not think their babysitter would be able to conduct CPR on a child in a medical crisis
- A third (33%) of mothers polled believe their babysitter would not know how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver if a youngster was choking
iVillage.com’s new site Momtourage aims to help parents connect with one another to help out with a laundry list of issues, including finding good babysitters.