Atlantic Star Safety

Safe Teen Tips For Parents

With today's teen so electronic-savvy, and with the many media available to them, it is important that parents monitor their activity. If not able to monitor their activity 24/7, teach your teen to be a safe teen, especially when it comes to chatting and meeting people online. Here are a few tips to makes sure your teen has the foundation to be a safe teen.

Raising a Safe Teen Online

Chatting: Nowadays, with technology, it is easier to meet people online and you can be anyone you want to be. The problem, so can other people. Someone claiming to be a 14 year old girl from Ohio may actually be a 35 year old man, locked in his den down the block, preying on little girls. They key is knowing what to say and what not to say. Tell your children to never give out personal information on themselves, where they live or where they go to school. This can be dangerous, and potentially deadly.

Meeting: Tell your children NEVER meet anyone they meet online in person. This alone can be a grave mistake. There are thousands of cases with missing children, kidnapped by strangers they met online and decided to meet in person. It's tempting to meet someone online, and meeting the wrong person could cost you your life. Not that it can't happen to adults, but children -- including teens -- are trusting, or at the least, curious.

Downloading: There are a lot of inappropriate materials out there on the Web that children can get their hands on and download. You want to discourage your children from downloading -- or at least keep watch on what web sites they go to and materials they download. They may think they are old enough to handle certain images, but remember, they are kids and should not be exposed to certain things.

When raising a safe teen, you want to take everything into consideration. A safe teen is a happy teen, and a safe teen is more like to succeed.