Never a large watcher of PBS, at least not since I watched Sesame Street growing up, I was amazed to be on the PBS site the other day and find a series, Growing Up Online, that features stories about growing up online from your children’s point of view.
Being that I work at McGruff SafeGuard, I know that bad things happen to kids online. I wish these things didn’t but I can’t stop it. But I can help you, a parent, understand what’s happening and how you can help keep your family safe.
The Growing Up Online series is a great primer for parents as a real-life introduction to what kids go through everyday. And you can watch all six chapters online. It will help you understand why the internet is so important to your kids. They view it as a continuation of their offline lives. A place they can be themselves.
If you have older children, middle school and up, I recommend watching it with them. Discuss the stories with them. Talk about what is and isn’t allowed in your family. Talk about what your kids should do in the situations that are featured. And let them know there are many other things that may happen while they are online.
When watching the series, I was amazed by how much the parents could have learned about their kids lives by simply monitoring the family’s internet use. Things like anorexia, cyberbullying, sex, underage drinking, social networking, and more. Things that if parents knew they could address and get help for. In one of the cases featured, if the parents knew their son was being cyberbullied, they could have prevented his suicide.
Feel free to watch the series and let me know if there are issues you’d like me to discuss further. And, of course comments are always welcomed.
