Facebook has brought more people in than anyone has before. Their popularity and fame has grown more than any other website before them. With so many people, and participants their privacy rules are notoriously lax. The privacy policies are difficult for many to understand and even for those that do make sense of it, the constant changes are giving many a harder time than most would expect.

With all of these changes and ‘updates’ some are raising concern about the younger generation’s use of the website. With so many pieces of information readily available, what assurances do parents have that their children’s privacy is being watched out for? While not many will argue that the parents are in charge of what their kids view online, others do argue that a website should still watch out for it’s users.

While younger kids aren’t supposed to be able to log in to the website, they do and have. While many are finding afterwards that any problems that arise from that sharing (and often, over sharing) won’t be dealt with due to what seems like a brick wall from the website.

Making sure your children understand what is, and isn’t appropriate to post (publically or not) and who they should and shouldn’t add can make a difference in the risks they face online. Look up information about the dangers, and what your children can do to avoid them.

Social networking isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and while many may think it’s just some good fun others are concerned about kids being groomed by online predators. It isn’t enough to just wring your hands in worry, and being proactive can save a lot of problems down the road (or sadly, sooner).

• Don’t assume that just because a game is for kids, that kids are safe. Online predators will and have posed as younger kids online, and even social online games for kids have their share of predators as well.
• Do talk to your children about what they do online.
• Do encourage your child to tell you if someone is making them uncomfortable.
• Don’t stay in the mindset that you simply don’t understand technology.
• Do explain to your child what to look out for and to pay attention to their uneasy feelings.

While technology and social media are good things to be a part of, it is important to make sure your child is safe online. Teaching them what to look out for and encourage them to tell you (or report to the website admin) about anything that is worrying is important.

Do you have any online safety tips? Share them in the comments!

Image by InsideSouthAfrica via Flickr

Booster seats, when compared even to last year, have been showing improvements in leaps and bounds. Booster seats have long been a source of worry for many due to safety concerns and improper, or hard to adjust safety features.

Booster seats are recommended for use with children from age 4 through 8 years old, and many have been fairly low in safety ratings. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recommends using booster seats to protect children in the event of a car crash, as they aren’t quite big enough in that range to sit normally yet are too large for a more traditional car seat. Many parents have avoided using them due to difficult installation and use.

However, in the last year the safety of the seats has been dramatically improved, and many companies have been looking into ways to further improve the safety features and make them easier for parents to use. Already, there has been success. The straps of the newer models are much easier to adjust than that of their predecessors.

When looking into buying a booster seat, be sure to check it’s safety rating and it may be a good idea to also look into user reviews to help you find a model that will work best for you and your children. You can also check out this post on Wallet Pop for 8 to avoid completely.

A quick look at any news website can reveal that the state of the school systems are at times problematic. With one school facing no discipline for spying and others having their hands in bullying, it can be a cause for concern.

That concern is obviously far greater if it is your child being bullied.

So, what can be done if it isn’t the other children but instead a teacher, or the system itself that is posing the problem?

• Talk to those that are the problem. Talking calmly and rationally may be able to help, it may not be 100% the teacher’s (or whomever else) fault, and there are many chances that things can be misinterpreted when a parent hears it second hand.
• Don’t be afraid to go over someone’s head. Find the ‘higher up’ in charge of those that are the cause for concern. Write out a calmly worded letter and if you are worried about them receiving it, send it certified.
• If the problem is severe enough, contact the appropriate authorities. While there is a chance that if can have the same outcome as the spying incident, it is still better than doing nothing.

While it isn’t often that the above is needed, when the case of the school being the issue it is difficult to find a solution. If possible, switching schools may be the only choice. With understaffing, and budgeting problems there are many more people recently that are finding that it’s not always the other children that are the cause of schooling anxiety.

With so many going through a heat wave right now, you would normally expect people to be keeping their cool indoors.  Understandably however, many are finding relief at shore side and other cooler indoor climates.

Keeping children safe in this hot weather isn’t hard, and while most know the tips below they still bear repeating:

Stay Hydrated: Drink plenty of water!  As temperatures rise, drinking enough water to replenish out bodies (especially the growing bodies of children) becomes much more important.

Never leave a child in the car: There is never a quick enough trip to leave a child in a car alone.  Aside from the kidnapping or even you being arrested risks associated with ‘just a quick trip inside’ there are many other dangers when a child in inside a car alone, especially in the heat.

Sunscreen: Finding the right SPF (doctors typically advice something in the 15 through 30 range) and applying it consistently and after a child gets out of water or after strenuous activity can make a huge difference.  Just one serious sunburn can pose many problems for someone later in life.

Always be vigilant, especially near water: Water is a serious risk for children.  Keeping an undistracted eye on them when you are anywhere near a body of water (including toddler pools) can be the difference between a tragedy and safety.