Helping Families Cross The Digital Divide
One of the most popular articles on our site is our Back to School list of 6 tips for helping your children deal with tech temptations. That list helps you, the parent, ensure that they remain focused and on task, starting out the school year strong. This time around, we have a list for your children so sit back, digest the info and then present it to them! It will help them keep the drama to a minimum this school year. [Read more...]
Information about one of the largest rings of online sexual predators was recently unsealed, providing the kind of fodder that news organizations and internet alarmists thrive on. This paragraph taken from a Department of Justice press release, “Operation Delego, an ongoing investigation that was launched in December 2009, targeted the 72 charged defendants and more than 500 additional individuals around the world for their participation in Dreamboard – a private, members-only, online bulletin board that was created and operated to promote pedophilia and encourage the sexual abuse of very young children, in an environment designed to avoid law enforcement detection.” Still pretty scary, even to the level-headed, no?
As Digital Shepherds endeavors to hit the brick and mortars (‘net slang for actual, offline locations) and educate as many parents as possible about the interwebz, our aim is ALWAYS to steer clear of alarmist rhetoric and just give the facts. I have my own bias in areas, but I really strive to simply present fact based information and let mom and dad decide for themselves what they will implement in their own homes. That said, I still talk to them about teaching their children about “online stranger danger” and the need for that is even more apparent in light of the incident outlined above. What may not be as apparent is that our middle school age children need to know that these rings and many others like them exist. But if this one was focused on children 12 and under, why tell middle schoolers? (Warning: blurred image of the type which can be found on the non-pedophile sites we’re talking about in this post) [Read more...]
Recently, I was asked to consult for a local district PTSA Legislation Committee on matters involving families/students and technology. The first piece of legislation we are taking a look at is CA Senate Bill 919 which makes “sexting” an offense which carries the penalty of suspension from school, or expulsion, statewide. Though the bill has been passed by the California State Senate, it still needs to be approved in the Assembly and must be signed into law by Gov. Brown. At first glance, I have a couple issues with the bill: [Read more...]
Recently, along with four other dads who blog, I was invited to be a spokesperson for a product I’ve actually been using since for about a decade. The product is a piece of software which happens to be included, or available as an option on many of the cellphones you already own… TeleNav, aka, AT&T Navigator, aka Sprint Navigation. I’ve been writing about it and sharing my experiences over at DadsTalking.com and then came up with the idea to share it with you over here at Digital Shepherds. Why? Not because I’m being paid as a spokesperson. Let’s get that out of the way up front! It’s because I think it has a use for your new drivers. Your teens just getting behind the wheel as a newer licensee. Read on and decide if TeleNav can help give you more peace of mind!
My first thought as I took on this project, the TeleNav Navigators In Chief Dad panel, was to show other parents how awesome a product TeleNav is. I did this by introducing how I’ve already been using it for some time, here. This past week, it occurred to me, as I’m currently looking at Driver’s Ed. for my own daughter, that TeleNav would be a great product for new drivers. Why? Read on to find out. [Read more...]
Last year, Facebook made available to users in North America a new technology which is supposed to make it easier for people to be tagged in photos… facial recognition software. When I checked, the feature was available (it was still disabled for many users at that time) so I deactivated it, but this week the feature went live for many Facebook users. Live for many users, without notice.
I almost wrote that title as “What does Cyberbullying, Australia and California have in common?” It sounded too much like the start of a bad joke but the content of this post is no laughing matter. According to the Brisbane Times in Australia, two pre-teen girls who were “accused of hacking into a classmate’s Facebook page and posting sexually explicit photos and messages have been charged with cyberstalking and first-degree computer trespassing.” So, how does that effect California half way across the world? Read on to find out. [Read more...]
As many of our readers may know, Osama Bin Laden was recently killed during military action by the United States. What many of our readers may not know is that major news events like his death provide a wealth of opportunities for scammers and hackers to infect computers. According to Marian Merritt with Norton, within 3 hours of his death, hackers were already busy infecting computers across the internet with fake links to pictures and videos of his death which were disseminated via email, fake web links and social networking sites like Facebook. Matter of fact, even on my daughter’s own Facebook page the reach of these scams was very visible as some of her own classmates had already fallen victim to the nefarious links (click to enlarge image above).
So, what can we as parents do to ensure that, in this day and age, where major news events like Bin Laden’s death, the Royal Wedding and even Lindsay Lohan’s ongoing drama create opportunities for hackers to ply their trade? I’ve put together a list of best practices to follow to keep you and your children safe. [Read more...]
The Happy Meal is almost as American as apple pie. I still remember how excited I was as a kid to see that meal box (many with puzzles and fun games on them) and how I couldn’t wait to rip into those golden fries, burger and eventually make my way to the toy… sweet satisfaction! And THAT response, those memories are exactly what the folks at the golden arches were counting on. Creating a bond with the brand based on those iconic boxes with prizes inside in the hopes they had you as a lifelong customer. Unfortunately for them, my mom cooked fresh food the vast majority of the time and I rarely eat Mickey D’s as an adult (which isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy other fast food more than I should). In today’s online world, the guys at the golden arches want to create those same emotional ties but they’re now doing it in a manner which is much more subtle and utilizing an age-old tactic dating back to the fabled Trojan Horse. [Read more...]
Photo credit: flickr: ApplesBasic
“Locker room talk.” Undoubtedly, we’ve all heard the phrase, commonly referring to conversations held by men in the privacy of a sports or gym locker room of some sort and often characterized by coarse, sexist, sexual or explicit discourse of some sort. For many decades in our culture, the men’s locker room has been seen as the sanctuary for “hallowed” conversations about female conquests, guy talk and most any other subject having to do with men’s “true feelings/thoughts” about the fairer sex. But, that was then. [Read more...]
Yesterday Facebook debuted it’s revamped family safety center, giving parents of some of the 600 million users who are in the 13-17 age group greater resources for navigating the world of social networking, Facebook style. If you’re a regular reader here at Digital Shepherds online, you may already be familiar with many of the tips Facebook shares with parents in a special section of the family safety center aimed at, you, the parent. If your child has been through our Tech-Connected Teen assembly then they’re definitely knowledgeable of many of the things that the family center discusses in the section aimed at teens.
Putting the information online in one place is definitely a great step in the right direction and Facebook stepping up to meet the ever-evolving landscape of the social interwebz is absolutely necessary for a site with so many children on it. There are still things I don’t like about some of the products the site has, like Places (you can read my take on that here), but that’s why it is so important for parents who allow their children to have a Facebook page to be aware of what’s going on on that site and how their children are using it. Facebook is like a town… it’s an online community and just like in your own towns, you wouldn’t just allow your young children to roam freely unchecked and Facebook isn’t the place to allow it either.
Make some time to sit down and look at the expanded social reporting features (translation=features on posts, comments and “apps” which allow users to “report” inflammatory, offensive and cyberbullying behaviors), the section for parents, teens and educators (they even have a section for law enforcement). As always, above and beyond what Facebook has stated in their family safety center (particularly for young users):
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