Distracted Riding: Biking and Texting – A Dangerous Combination
by Sue Scheff on Aug 28, 2010
The dangers of distracted driving are well known as Oprah promoted her No Phone Zone campaign and First Coast News is sponsoring the Great Hang Up! However we rarely see the dangers of bicycling and texting or talking on your cellphone. Should we call it distracted riding?
As school has opened on the First Coast (Duval, Clay and St. Johns County) you can see many teenagers biking to school or their neighborhood bike spot. How many of them have you seen reading a text or typing one while biking with one hand on handle bars.
According to the recent Nielsen Study, Florida ranks fourth in the country for cellphone usage and it was clear in the report that teens rule when it comes to texting. Do they text while biking? Two wheel texting is more common now since school opened, while teens arrange meeting their friends and planning the social events of the day.
Start watching today, how many teens are you witnessing texting, talking and biking? When you see this, be sure to use extra caution while approaching. God forbid there is an accident, in many cases the driver of the car will be held accountable when it was the teen that drifted into the road by being distracted.
Stop, talk, repeat, talk again – you can never talk enough about the dangers of distracted biking or driving. Remember parents, be an example to your kids!
Be an educated parent, you will have safer teens!
Watch video for potential ban on texting and biking. Read more.
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Distracted Texting, Parenting, Parenting Blogs, Parenting Resources, Parenting Teens, Parenting Tips, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sue Scheff, Texting
Sue Scheff: AT&T AWARDS $250,000 TO SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS DURING NATIONAL YOUTH TRAFFIC SAFETY MONTH
by Sue Scheff on May 22, 2010
Contribution Honors Those Who Took AT&T’s Pledge to Not Text & Drive
MIAMI, May 20, 2010 – As part of National Youth Traffic Safety Month, AT&T* is honoring the more than 28,000 individuals who have already taken AT&T’s pledge to not text and drive by contributing $250,000 to safety organizations committed to distracted driving prevention.
Contributions were given to: National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), ConnectSafely, Enough is Enough, Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), iKeepSafe, Put on the Brakes, Inc., Stay Alive Just Drive and Teens in the Driver Seat.
The recipients are committed to raising awareness about the risks of texting and driving and reminding teens that text messages can – and should – wait until after driving. The Txtng & Drivng campaign message of “It Can Wait” is particularly critical during May, National Youth Traffic Safety Month, a month when many teens are hitting the roads for prom, graduation parties, summer jobs and road trips with friends.
National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), a collaborative network of national organizations and federal agencies that focus on youth safety and health, is the primary recipient of the AT&T contribution. NOYS plays a major role in the efforts around National Youth Traffic Safety Month. During May, and throughout the year, NOYS empowers youth to take action and lead through peer to peer traffic safety education and service learning.
“Our nation’s teens are the most critical audience to reach. AT&T’s contributions will help empower the recipient organizations to continue spreading the important message that ‘It Can Wait’ – no text message is worth the risk of sending or reading while behind the wheel,” said Laura Sanford, president of the AT&T Foundation. “We encourage youth, and also their parents and teachers, to take the pledge at www.facebook.com/att and visit AT&T’s online resource center www.att.com/txtngcanwait to download information about texting while driving.”
“Distracted driving is a serious issue for all drivers – especially less experienced teen drivers,” said Sandy Spavone, executive director of NOYS. “National Organizations for Youth Safety is grateful for AT&T’s support and leadership to help keep our youth safe on the road.”
Since the campaign launched in March 2010, more than 13,000 visitors to the AT&T page on Facebook have taken the pledge to not text and drive, in addition to more than 15,000 AT&T employees. AT&T continues to raise awareness about the issue of texting and driving through a multifaceted initiative to educate employees, customers and the general public about using wireless devices safely while driving.
AT&T and its employees also remain committed to this effort. AT&T recently formed a Teen Advisory Council to provide input and feedback on the “It Can Wait” campaign. The panel, which includes 10 members – all teens of AT&T employees – from New Jersey, Texas, Georgia, Illinois and California, was selected from more than 60 self-nominations submitted nationally. It meets quarterly using AT&T’s Telepresence videoconference facilities.
Since 2009, the company has revised its wireless and motor vehicle policies to more clearly and explicitly prohibit texting and driving, impacting its approximately 280,000 employees; incorporated a don’t-text-and-drive message on the plastic clings that protect handset screens on the majority of new devices sold in AT&T’s more than 2,200 stores; and will integrate campaign messaging in AT&T catalogs, in-store signage and collateral, bills, e-mails, newsletters and more.
Find More Information Online:
Web Site Links: Related Media Kits:
AT&T Web Site <http://www.att.com>
AT&T Wireless Web Site <http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/welcome/index.jsp>
AT&T Texting Can Wait <http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=2964>
AT&T Smart Limits <http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=9122>
Text Messaging <http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=2805>
Tags: ATT, Cell Phone Safety, Parenting, parenting advice, Parenting Teens, Parenting Tips, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sue Scheff, Texting and Driving
Sue Scheff: Sex, Tech and Teens
by Sue Scheff on May 07, 2010
S-E-X, this is one of the most difficult and sensitive subjects parents dread to talk to their kids about, but it is also just as critical. Now let’s compound it with technology and teens and we can create sexting!
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmo Girl have recently released the results of a new survey. Results from this new survey show that 21% of teen girls and 18% of teen boys have sent/ posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves. What is going on with teens, tech, and sex?
Tips for parents from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy include:
1. Talk to your kids about what they are doing in cyberspace. Just as you need to talk openly and honestly with your kids about real life sex and relationships, you also want to discuss online and cell phone activity. Read more.
2. Know who your kids are communicating with. Of course it’s a given that you want to know who your children are spending time with when they leave the house. Read more.
3. Consider limitations on electronic communication.The days of having to talk on the phone in the kitchen in front of the whole family are long gone, but you can still limit the time your kids spend online and on the phone. Read more.
4. Be aware of what your teens are posting publicly. Check out your teen’s MySpace, Facebook and other public online profiles from time to time. This isn’t snooping-this is information your kids are making public. Read more.
5. Set expectations. Make sure you are clear with your teen about what you consider appropriate “electronic” behavior. Read more.
More articles of interest:
Should you read your teen’s diary?
Should you read your teen’s emails and text messages?
Is honestly the best policy?
Not my kid
Nastygrams: Think before you send
In Florida, SafeFlorida.net was created to help prevent cyber crimes, educate parents, assist teens and more in the growing digital cyberspace.
Be an educated parent, you will have safer teens.
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Cyber Safety, Cyber Slander, Parenting, Parenting Teens, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sexting, Sue Scheff, Teen Issues, Texting
Sue Scheff: Texting Teens – Will they be able to communicate verbally?
by Sue Scheff on Apr 23, 2010
Today more and more teens have cell phones. Teen texting between friends has now overtaken cell phone communications – and every very other common form of interaction. According to a recent study by PEW Research:
- Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month. One in three send more than 100 texts a day (or more than 3,000 texts a month.)
- 15% of teen texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month.
- Boys send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day.
- Teen texters ages 12-13 typically send and receive 20 texts a day.
- 14-17 year-old texters typically send and receive 60 text messages a day.
- Older girls who text are the most active, with 14-17 year-old girls typically sending 100 or more messages a day or more than 3,000 texts a month.
- 22% of teen texters send and receive just one to 10 texts a day, or 30 to 300 texts a month.
Is this a time parents need to pick and choose issues of concern? Yes and no. There are many other more serious issues such as drug abuse or gang relations, however if your teen is obsessed or addicted to texting, it may be time to intervene. Give your teen limits, and be sure there is a time that the phones are simply turned off.
Having consequences in place and following through with them can help convey to your teen that you are serious. Teens need to learn how to “talk” to others outside of texting. Parents should be concerned that all the texting may alter their ability to communicate effectively.
When it is time to apply to colleges or interview for a job, will they have the verbal skills they need? At last glance, you can’t text your way into employment or into a college.
In Florida, there is a bill in legislation that will ban texting and driving. Although many know the dangers of texting and driving, many still do it. Stress to your teens, no text is worth dying over. Encourage your teens to take the pledge and join thousands of others that are putting the cell phone aside as they drive.
Be an educated parent, you will have safer and healthier teens.
Watch video and read more on Teen Cell Phone Addiction.
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Parenting, Parenting Tips, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sue Scheff, Teen Issues, Teens Texting, Texting
Sue Scheff: AT&T Kicks off – Don’t Text and Drive Campaign
by Sue Scheff on Mar 22, 2010
AT&T recently launched a new campaign to raise awareness about the risks of texting and driving and remind all wireless consumers, especially youth, that text messages can – and should – wait until after driving.
The national campaign features true stories and the text message that was sent or received before someone’s life was altered, or even ended,because of texting and driving.
Stop what you’re doing. Take out your wireless device. Read out loud the last text message you received. Would reading or responding to that text message while driving be worth causing a serious accident? When you look at it that way, there’s no text that couldn’t wait.
AT&T* is launching today a new campaign to raise awareness about the risks of texting and driving and remind all wireless consumers, especially youth, that text messages can – and should – wait until after driving.
The national campaign features true stories and the text message that was sent or received before someone’s life was altered, or even ended, because of texting and driving. By featuring real stories, the campaign will demonstrate how insignificant a text message is compared to the potentially dire consequences of reading or responding while driving.
For example, in one of the television spots, the text “Where u at?” flashes on the screen and a mother says, “This is the text my daughter was reading when she drove into oncoming traffic.” The ad also includes the message “No text is worth dying over” and the campaign’s tagline, “Txtng & Drivng … It Can Wait.”
“We explored several campaign concepts but we didn’t have our ‘aha!’ moment until we asked one of our focus groups to take out their devices and read the last text they received,” said Cathy Coughlin, senior executive vice president and global marketing officer for AT&T. “When we asked if that particular message was worth the potential risk of reading while driving at 65 mph, you could have heard a pin drop. That’s when we realized the message ‘it can wait’ was effective in educating consumers about the dangers of texting while driving.”
The new campaign will span print, radio, TV and online advertising – which will be rolled out in the coming months – as well as in-store signage, collateral and online billing. In addition, parents, high school educators and, most importantly, youth, can now visit AT&T’s online resource center www.att.com/txtngcanwait. The site includes downloadable information about texting while driving such as a parent-teen pledge; a teen-teen pledge; a poster; a brochure; safety tips; and more.
AT&T also has launched a Facebook application, which can be found at www.facebook.com/att. Friends can share this application with one another to encourage each other to take the pledge to not text and drive. AT&T will also be promoting the pledge via a “twitition” on Twitter to ask followers to rally around the cause. You can follow @ShareATT on Twitter. In addition, to honor those taking the pledge, AT&T will contribute $250,000 to one or more non-profit organizations focused on youth safety and will announce the selected non-profit organization(s) at the start of National Youth Safety Month in May.
“While our campaign is important for all drivers, we’re particularly focused on youth,” said Coughlin.
In September 2009, AT&T announced a commitment to raise awareness about the issue of texting and driving through a multifaceted initiative to educate employees, customers and the general public about using wireless devices safely while driving.
Since then, AT&T has revised its wireless and motor vehicle policies to more clearly and explicitly prohibit texting and driving, impacting its approximately 280,000 employees; incorporated a don’t-text-and-drive message on the plastic clings that protect handset screens on the majority of new devices sold in AT&T’s more than 2,200 stores; and will integrate campaign messaging in AT&T catalogs, in-store signage and collateral, bills, e-mails, newsletters and more.
By using multiple touch points, AT&T expects the campaign to reach millions.
* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T – News) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s fastest 3G network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services. AT&T offers the best wireless coverage worldwide, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verseSM and AT&T | DIRECTVSM brands. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive organizations are known for their leadership in directory publishing, advertising sales and interactive local search applications. In 2009, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.
About Philanthropy at AT&T
For over 25 years, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation have been committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its philanthropic initiatives and partnerships, AT&T supports projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; and address community needs. In 2009, nearly $155 million was contributed through corporate, employee, and AT&T Foundation-giving programs.
Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow news on Twitter at @ATTNews. On Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ATT to discover more about consumer and wireless services or at www.facebook.com/ATTSmallBiz to discover more about our small business services.
Tags: ATT, Cell Phone Safety, Parenting, parenting advice, Parenting Blogs, Parenting Tips, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sue Scheff, Teen Driving, Texting, Texting and Driving
Sue Scheff: The Consequences of Sexting
by Sue Scheff on Feb 27, 2010
Sexting is a word that years ago we would have not heard about. Today teens and tweens are not only familiar with this word, many have suffered the consequences from it.
A Thin Line debuted on MTV this month that educates and informs parents, teachers, kids and everyone about the dangers of the digital world.
What is Sexting?
Sending or forwarding nude, sexually suggestive, or explicit pics on your cell or online. For some people, it’s no big deal. But real problems can emerge when the parties involved are under 18, when people get pressured into sexting, and when sexts go viral. – A Thin Line
What are the consequences of sending or receiving one? There are many, however the most common are the feelings of humiliation, embarrassment and much worse. The person that is in the photo can potentially suffer from extreme depression and even feelings of suicide.
For the person sending them to go viral, there could be potential criminal charges. You could get arrested. Taking, sending, and possessing naked images of a minor is a federal crime. Sex offenders’ registry? Not the honor roll you were hoping for.
Parents need to take the time to sit down and talk to their kids about sexting and how it can potentially ruin lives for a long time. Review their phones or computers if you suspect that your child is participating in this activity. Remember, there comes a time when safety trumps privacy and this could be one of those times.
Be an educated parent, you will have safer teens.
Watch A Thin Line on Sexting in America. Watch the four-part series with your children.
Read more on Examiner.
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Cyber Safety, Cyberbullying, Internet Safety, Parenting, Parenting Teens, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sexting, Sue Scheff, Teen Issues, Texting
Sue Scheff: One Click Away….
by Sue Scheff on Jan 02, 2010
Have you thought about how dangerous a “click of a mouse” is? Dangerous?
As you start a new year, take the time to educate yourself on Internet safety. Learn how you can become proactive in your kids lives both online and off. Learn how that one click can either open doors that you can benefit from, or enter hallways are dark and dangerous.
You can put as many parent safety controls on your computer system. You can employ technical gadgets galore, but until you educate yourself and your kids about the dangers that can lurk online, you and your family are not 100% protected.
Yes, you can be just one click away: Be sure it is a click into safety not danger.
- Social Web Tips for Parents
- Social Web Tips for Teens
- Chat room Safety Tips - Know who your kids are mingling with online.
- Basic Online Safety Tips: Parenting 101 Cyber Safety
- Learn about Internet Predators
- Internet Things Your Children Should Never Know
- Parenting 2010: Getting Ahead of your kids technically
- SEXTING: Learn how you can prevent it
- T.A.L.K.
Did you order your FREE Cyber Safety Booklet from the FTC?
Be an educated parent, you will have safer kids!
Also on Examiner.
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Chat Room Safety, Cyber Safety, Internet Safety, Online Safety, Parenting, parenting advice, Parenting Online, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sue Scheff
Sue Scheff: Sexting – What Parents Need to Know
by Sue Scheff on Dec 28, 2009
Parenting resolutions are ones that you can’t afford to ignore or neglect after a few weeks. One of 2009′s hot and trendy topics is “sexting.” What is sexting? It is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones.
We don’t need more reminders of what sexting can cause emotionally to students. In Florida we had the sad story of cyber tragedy that ended in the suicide of 13 year-old Hope Witsell.
Here are some tips and what parents need to know and use now and in 2010. (Source: Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy):
Set time of day limits on cell phone usage: While many parents have a hard time regulating the number of texts per month and have surrendered to “unlimited texting”, you can control the hours that your teen texts. We suggest determining a time when cell phones come of the pocket or out of the bedroom and are placed in a central location on a charger along with your cell phone. Kids who are permitted to keep their cell phones in their room overnight on average get less sleep and are often times texting in the middle of the night. Make the right choice in allowing your teen to obtain uninterrupted sleep by limiting the hours that they have phone access and set rules on when texting is appropriate.
Take laptops out of your child’s bedroom: While computers and the Internet provide wonderful educational opportunities and help teens study, they also can provide 24 hour access to social networking sites, instant messaging and email at times when children are not supervised. By removing computers from the teen’s bedroom and placing them in a central location, like a family room or kitchen, teens are less likely to have inappropriate contact through the computer and are more likely to notify a parent about an unusual or disturbing message.
Keep computers and laptops in a common area: Studies have shown that teenagers are less likely to engage in risky behavior if they are accessing the Internet in a common room or area where others are likely to be present. This is even true if no one is standing over their shoulder. Just the fact that you can glance at what is on the screen is enough to make kids think twice before going to inappropriate Internet sites or having conversations with individuals who they may not know. Keeping the computer in a common area can only help your child make safe decisions.
Know your child’s username and password: While some parents and most all kids groan at the idea of allowing you access to their social networking page, email account or instant messaging, it really is important. The fact that you have access to the information, despite the fact that you may never actually look, protects kids from making bad choices. What’s more, in the unlikely event that something should happen to your child, rather than wasting valuable time while law enforcement obtains subpoenas or search warrants, you can quickly access your child’s personal Internet conversations and contacts in a matter of seconds. In nearly all cases, once law enforcement is given the access to the on line material, a missing child has been returned or someone who is targeting your child has been apprehended. It’s a small piece of information that can have remarkable results if necessary.
Talk to your child about cyberbullying: Today’s bullies are no longer the stereotypical “tough kid” in school, but can often times be a physical small child or a straight “A” student. Cyberbullying can happen around the clock due to Internet and cell phone access, which makes your home no longer “safe” from the bully. With 24-hour access to technology, bullying can continue no matter where the victim goes. Talk to your child about bullying and being bullied. If you feel your child is the target of cyberbullying notify law enforcement immediately.
Be sure to read the Five-Part series of Parenting in 2010 and how you can become better in tune with your kids technically ending with T.A.L.K.
Reminder: 2009 Parenting Tips Wrap-up - Continue to keep those lines of communication open.
Subscribe to my articles to be up-to-date with parenting and Internet safety information.
Also on Examiner.
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Cyber Safety, Parenting, Parenting Teens, Parenting Tips, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sexting, Sue Scheff, Teen Help, Texting
Sue Scheff: Texting While Driving -Cell Phone Safety
by Sue Scheff on Dec 07, 2009
Recently I was contacted by WebSafety to share some valuable and priceless information to help you keep your teens safe while driving.
WebSafety has developed a software that alerts parents before danger happens (if children are contacted by someone they don’t know [they say 700,000 predators are online everyday grooming kids, trying to find their next victims] and if your child receives ‘LMIRL’ = let’s meet in real life, you’ll get alerted in real time, if they’re being cyber bullied, stalked, or being asked to send nude pics [AKA ‘sexting’ which becomes child pornography once trafficked from friend to friend.]
With the news of the recent 13 year old suicide of Hope Witsell in Florida, which is releated to sexting and bullying, it is imperative parents keep 10 steps ahead of their kids and teens technically.
Zig Ziglar Agrees to Market Blindspot Alert`s Two Products, WebSafetyPC and CellSafety
DALLAS–(Business Wire)–Blindspot Alert, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTCBB:BSAL), a developer and marketer of software that makes cell phone usage and the Internet safer for families, today announced the association of Zig Ziglar and Ziglar, Inc. to support and promote the marketing of the Company`s two products: WebSafetyPC and CellSafety.
“My life and career have been spent in service to family values,” Zig Ziglar said from his home in Dallas, Texas, “and like many parents and grandparents, I’ve wondered how we can better protect our children from predator invasions over the Internet. Likewise, texting while driving has become a major risk for teenage drivers, increasing the likelihood of having an accident by as much as 23 times. When our family reviewed the WebSafetyPC and CellSafety products, we knew we wanted it; and we want everyone we care about to have it, too.”
President of Ziglar, Inc., Tom Ziglar says, “This really is a remarkable technology, and one that every family with a computer in their home or a person who drives while using a cell phone should have.”
The Company`s President Clifton Jolley says, “Having Zig as a proponent of the WebSafetyPC and CellSafety products is gratifying. Together we are committed to protecting children from Internet predators and from the risks associated with cell phones and driving. Like many of us, the Ziglar family has worried over the risks posed by these technologies; but until we developed the technology, Internet and cell phone usage has been a frustrating task for most parents. WebSafetyPC and CellSafety create a safety net to keep kids and adults from falling into bad habits such as texting while driving and from being contacted by cyberbullies and predators.
The Company`s two main products are:
CellSafety all but eliminates the risk of texting while driving by turning off
the texting feature at a predetermined speed. Parents also have the ability to
create “test-free zones,” such as schools, where cheating by texting is an
increasing problem. “Another great feature,” Tom Ziglar says, “is the FindMe
feature that lets me find my cell-phone-enabled children.”
WebSafetyPC provides many of the features available on CellSafety phones such as alerts for cyber bullying, sexting, and predator alerts. The president of Mothers Against Predators says of her experience, “The predator who attacked my daughter didn`t come in through a window…he came in through my computer.”
WebSafetyPC and CellSafety provide the following features as demonstrated by these two charts:
https://www.mywebsafety.com/Shared/WebSafetyProductComparisonv.1.4.pdf
https://www.mywebsafety.com/Shared/CellSafetyProductComparisonv.1.4.pdf
National Press:
http://www.mywebsafety.com/Site/video.asp?isv=3&Pin=48238&SN=ChildSafety
For more info, please see:
http://www.MyWebSafety.com/ChildSafety
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Cyber Safety, Internet Predators, Internet Safety, Parenting Teens, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sexting, Sue Scheff, Teen Driving, Teen Help, Texting, WebSafety
Sue Scheff: Cell Phone Safety Tips and Teens
by Sue Scheff on Sep 05, 2009
Like Internet safety, as parents today, we need to be eduated on cell phone safety and our kids. Here are some great tips from Connect Safely. Take the time to be an educated parent.
Source: Connect Safely
Though teens make little distinction between fixed and mobile socializing, we adults still do. So here are some basic ideas for safe socializing on phones as well as the Web that we hope will work for both generations.
Smart socializing. Use the same good sense about what you post from your phone as from a computer. Once they’re posted, text, photos, and video are tough to take back, can be copied and pasted elsewhere, and are up there pretty much forever. Think about the people in them (including you!). Reputations are at stake, and even more if nudity or sex is involved.
Bullying by phone. Because people socialize on cellphones as much as online, cyberbullying can be mobile too. Treat people on phones and the Web the way you would in person, and the risk of being bullied goes down.
Sexting: It’s the same on phones as on the Web – do not take, send, post or even store on your phone nude photos of anyone under 18. You could be charged with production, distribution, or possession of child pornography, a serious crime. You could also be subjected to jokes, bullying, blackmail, expulsion from school, loss of a job, etc. and the images can circulate forever.
The value of “presence.” If you do a lot of texting, consider the impact that being “elsewhere” might be having on the people around you. Your presence during meals, at parties, in the car, etc. is not only polite, it’s a sign of respect and appreciated.
Down time is good. Constant texting and talking can affect sleep, concentration, school, and other things that deserve your thought and focus. Real friends understand there are times you just need to turn off the phone – harassment can happen between midnight and morning too.
Social mapping. Most cellphones now have GPS technology and there are a growing number of services that allow friends to pinpoint each other’s physical location. If you use such a service, do so only with friends you know in person, and get to know the service’s privacy features!
Reprinted with permission from Connect Safely
Learn more at http://www.connectsafely.org
Tags: Cell Phone Safety, Connect Safely, Parenting, parenting advice, Parenting Blogs, Parenting Teens, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Sue Scheff, Teen Cell Phone Safety, Teen Help
