Just like many children out there, yours probably have some sort of gaming console. But what kind of games are appropriate for your child’s age level? There are many child safety concerns when it comes to video games, and PCmag.com gives us a great handy list to check and make sure the rating on the back of the latest game matches what is appropriate for your child.
-Early Childhood ("EC"): Ages 3 and older
-Everyone ("E"): Ages 6 and older
-Everyone 10 Plus ("E10+"): Ages 10 and older
-Teen ("T"): Ages 13 and older
-Mature ("M"): Ages 17 and older
-Adults Only (Adults Only): Ages 18 and older only
A New Jersey community has opted into the “A Child Is Missing Alert Program”, which was created to help quickly spread the word about missing children. The Cape May County Herald explains exactly how the system works:
ACIM uses a three prong program, a telephone data base, GEO mapping system and satellite imagery System.
When a child or elderly person has been reported missing in Lower Township, police will call ACIM and provide pertinent information about the individual such as description, clothes worn and time and location last seen. ACIM Technicians will pull up the location provided with a computerized satellite mapping system.
Then a customized phone alert message is recorded and phoned to the area where the person was last seen. ACIM can place up to 1000 calls in 60 seconds. Call recipients are to call police with any information they have about the missing person. Answering machines will record calls so that residents will receive the alert when they return home. The program is available 24/7, 365 days a year.
Moments after the police department contacts ACIM, the technician punches up an aerial view of the region complete with street names, local landmarks, type of terrain, business listings, types of restaurants, schools, water hazards, parks, bus and train stations. The technician is then able to grasp the distance, scale, and proximity of the last known sighting of the missing person. All of this information can prove invaluable when evaluating a missing child or elderly person’s scenario.
Are you constantly worried about product recalls on your child’s toys and other things your child uses on a daily basis? Parents.com has recently launched a Toy and Product Recall Finder that allows you to enter a product name, brand or model number of any of your child’s items to ensure that it hasn’t been recalled. This is a great resource for parents and child caregivers and a very easy way to make sure your child is always safe.
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.
As we gear up for Halloween next week, do you have all of the necessary items to keep your children safe as they trick or treat? Child safety company Instant Amber has laid out a great checklist of things to consider as you are getting your kids ready for another Halloween. Here are a few of the highlights:
Before Leaving:
- Gather a flashlight and fresh batteries.
- Map a potential route and communicate it to all involved.
- Make sure costumes and accessories properly fit and are comfortable.
- Give a cell phone to the oldest child to carry with him/her.
Check out the complete list for more great tips.
The Amber Alert system covers a lot of ground when it comes to letting the public know a child is missing, but what about avenues it doesn’t cover? Nate Ritter, a web designer and programmer, decided to add another link to the chain and with a little bit of skill was able to implement a missing children feed through popular social networking site Twitter. Nate explains how it all got started:
What was your motivation for starting this project?
Nate Ritter: Living in California my wife and I are used to seeing traffic warnings and alerts about missing or endangered children displayed above the highways.
After the California wildfires in October 2007 and seeing how Twitter could easily get information to people’s cell phones, I thought it would be great to have these kind of messages sent to the public. It would help notify those people who aren’t on the highways, and could probably be faster too.
I was also motivated because my mom’s sister went missing quite a few years ago and hasn’t been seen since. The technology at that time wasn’t anything like it is now, but there’s still some missing pieces even today. I just wanted to connect those pieces because I saw the opportunity to help people.
To read the rest of Nate’s interview, check out this site.
Did you know that the federal government has set up a site to help kids in all age groups find information and activities? Set up and maintained by the Federal Citizen Information Center, Kids.gov is a great resource for kids of all ages on a myriad of topics.
Kids.gov is organized into three audiences: Grades K-5, Grades 6-8, and Educators. Each audience tab is divided into educational subjects like Arts, Math, and History. Within each subject, the websites are grouped as either government sites (Federal, state, military) or other resources (commercial, non-profit, educational). The sites listed under the other resources category are maintained by other public and private organizations.
If you were ever looking for generic information to help your kids navigate their way across the web, Kids.gov would be the perfect jumping point. They even have stuff for adults too so that you can keep up with all of the information your child is reading about.
We all remember McGruff the Crime Dog from our childhood, but did you know that McGruff has a website to teach your children some safety tips? At McGruff.org your children can play games, get advice, download activity sheets, even read McGruff’s blog. McGruff.org is run by the National Crime Prevention Council.
NCPC has a variety of informational resources and products to help parents protect their children. Two resources that can help parents keep their children safe online are McGruff SafeGuard (the result of a new partnership between NCPC and Parents on Patrol) and McGruff Kid Safe Web Browser (the result of a new partnership between NCPC and the Children’s Educational Network).
And who can forget McGruff’s infamous catch phrase? "Take a bite out of crime!"