Child Development | The Parenting Center

Using Technology to Keep Track of Your Children

One of the biggest worries parents have is keeping their children safe. The best way to do this is to know where your children are at and what they are doing at all times. Technology has made this easier than ever. There are several ways that you can use technology to keep track of your children to ensure that they stay safe.

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The easiest way for you to keep track of your children is to give them cell phones so that they can call and check-in. You can also use text messages for updates. Cell phones are a great resource for children during emergencies and they are widely available. Most parents like having the security cell phones provide. Cell phones can be expensive, but they provide a great deal of convenience and peace of mind when it comes to your children’s safety.

You can also use a cell phone to track where your children are at. All you have to do is install a geo-positioning app on their phones and then link it to your phone. The app then uses GPS technology to alert you of the location of your children on a map. This is especially useful if you have older children who can drive because you can keep tabs on their whereabouts without making them feel like you are always pestering them with questions.

You should use technology to keep your children safe. Cell phones are one of the easiest ways that you can track your children. Plus, your children will want a cell phone anyway, so it will make everyone happy.

Filed Under: Parents Should Know... Tagged With: Child Development, Mobile phone, Technology

Preparations Parents can Make for Keeping Track of Children in Crowds

Parents who have young children are in a constant state of ensuring their children are safe and accounted for, particularly while out in public. There are many situations in which a single parent is the guardian of multiple children while out in public, and this can pose a problem if environmental factors are chaotic and dense. Regrettably, situations such as this can result in children getting lost, or even abducted. Fortunately, there are some things parents can do to ensure this does not happen to them. Below are some simple to follow preparation methods parents can utilize prior to going out.

Dress Accordingly

Dress your children in bright and easily recognizable clothes if you plan on going out to a public place. This will ensure that they are easy to spot, and will not blend in. This same principle can be applied for night time outings by utilizing glow sticks that children can wear on their wrists for easy spotting.

Always Know Where Security and or Police are

Generally, in crowded places, there are some form of security and or law enforcement deployed for ensuring safety and order. Upon venturing to these places, take note of where these individuals are, should you need them in a moments notice. This will help speed up reaction time between noticing your child is missing and taking action.

Use a Stroller

For young children, employ the services of a stroller. Many people neglect the use of a stroller in crowded places due to the difficulty of maneuvering. However, it is much easier to keep track of younger children when you know they are strapped comfortably into a stroller.

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Baby transport, Child Development, Children Youth and Family

Cell Phones Help Parents Monitor Their Children

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In the fast paced and technologically driven society we live in today, it can be difficult to keep up with everything. This concept is particularly prevalent as it applies to parents who are working. Unfortunately, due to the demands of life, it can be exceedingly difficult to keep track of a child, whether while out together in a public place, or when they go out with friends. Fortunately, with the advances in innovative mobile devices, there are many options available that can assist parents in keeping track of their children.

Cell phones are by far one of the most widely used types of mobile devices; more people utilize cell phones now than ever before. Whether for text messaging, or one touch Internet access, cell phones are particularly attractive to teens and even younger children due to the vast array of tools that are available from one single device. While many parents are apprehensive in providing their children with cell phones, they can actually serve a very important benefit.

Most new cell phones being released utilize smart phone technology, providing specific operating platforms that allow for the downloading of applications and various customizable aspects through the phone settings. Due to these implementations, parents have a great deal of control over their child’s cell phones, including tracking capabilities. The tracking can remain private to the child if necessary, and provide a signal to the parent’s device indicating where the phone is at all times. This technology comes in handy if a child gets lost while out in a crowded public place, or if they go out with friends.

Filed Under: Parenting, Resources Tagged With: Child Development, Internet access, Mobile phone

Learning to Spot an Online Predator

Do you know how to spot an online predator? Does your child? There are several warning signs that you can watch out for when socializing online. The best protection is to stay out of public chat rooms and stick with socializing online only with people you have met in person. However, we all know that children do not always do what we tell them and of course they “don’t see the harm.” As a parent it is your job to give your child the information they need to understand the dangers and protect themselves if they are faced with a situation that could potentially be dangerous. Although your child may not always listen, arming them with the information is a good place to start.

So, how can you tell if you may potentially be dealing with an online predator or just a normal person? Knowing the basic warning signs to watch for can help you or your child remove yourself from a situation before it gets out of control.

Anyone who asks for age, gender, and/or full name should be blocked immediately. Is your new online friend overly friendly or tends to agree with you on everything? The goal of an online predator is to gain your trust, develop a friendship, and then move in for the kill. Does your new online friend want to meet you in person? Do not do it! This is a warning sign of an online predator. If your child is involved in an online “relationship” and your child is still quite young, you need to investigate this situation immediately. This is another warning sign that your child has been targeted by an online predator.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Child Development, Online predator

Basic Overview of Net Nanny

As a parent you want to do whatever you can to protect your children. You cannot be everywhere with your children, although you wish you could, to protect them and keep them safe from harm. This includes protecting them while they are online. Even though you cannot be with your child physically all of the time, you can be aware of what they are doing while they are online and keep tabs on their online activities. There is software available to help you do this along with providing you with parental controls to limit your child’s access to harmful internet content.

One of these software programs, in fact the most popular one, is Net Nanny. In fact, Net Nanny 6.0 has received the Gold award from TopTenREVIEWS for “best internet filter software” for five years in a row. It was also names as “editor’s choice” in PC Magazine.

Net Nanny is an internet filter system that allows you, as the parent, to control the content that enters your home. It not only blocks pornography, but it also blocks other questionable websites, questionable chat rooms, and other internet dangers. You can set it to block online gambling websites or gaming sites.

The control you have with the Net Nanny can also allow you to block your child’s ability to upload information or images on the internet and can even block your child’s ability to post on forums and blogs.

One of the features many people like about the Net Nanny is its remote management abilities. When you are away from home you still have the ability to monitor and control parental settings. Another feature that is popular with the Net Nanny is that it alerts parents of potential predators, cyberbullying, or other inappropriate behavior through online chats or other instant messaging program.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Child Development, Net Nanny

Protecting Your Child From Predators

Unfortunately in the world today there are predators lurking everywhere! They may be at the mall, at the movie theater, next door, or on the internet. You cannot be everywhere with your child all the time, but you can teach your child about things that she can do to protect herself.

At the mall or other crowded places, ensure that your child is never there alone. Discuss with your child the dangers of associating with anyone they do not know. Talk about never going anywhere with anyone they do not know personally. Meeting someone with a group of friends that day does not count as “knowing” them personally. Remind her to be aware of who she is around and who is watching her. If she ever feels uncomfortable in a situation, trust her instincts and get out of there!

Keeping your child protected in your own neighborhood is a little more difficult. Be aware of who lives in your neighborhood and if there are any registered sex offenders. Teach your children about being aware of their surroundings and let you know if anyone makes them uncomfortable.

On the internet it is a little more difficult to protect your children from predators. Internet predators are very sneaky and are able to stay hidden and anonymous. Discuss appropriate internet activities with your child. It is advisable to install parental controls and internet security software on your computer to monitor and control internet activities. This will give your child an added level of safety. However, you cannot control what your child does away from home. Therefore, it is important to talk to your child about internet safety, the dangers of internet predators, and things to watch out for.

Filed Under: Child Development Tagged With: Child Development, Internet safety

Keeping Your Child Safe in a Crowd

Taking a young child into a crowded area may cause you some anxiety and stress. It is best to avoid taking your young child into crowded areas if possible. However, if it is unavoidable there are several things you can do to ensure your child’s safety and your sanity.

First and foremost be honest with your child about safety. It may surprise you how much a 2-year-old can understand. You do not want to scare your child, but your child must understand that there are bad people in this world that might want to hurt them. Stress to your child about the importance of staying as close to mommy and daddy as possible and never, ever going anywhere with anyone they do not know.

Be prepared. Take a quick picture of your little one before you ever get to your destination. If the unthinkable happens and your child does come up missing you will most likely be too worried and stressed to remember what your child was wearing. Having a picture taken just before your outing will give you a quick reminder and a visual for security or police to help find your child.

Whenever possible dress your child in very bright clothing or something that will stand out if your child wanders away from you. If you have more than one child or you are with a group let’s say somewhere like Disneyland, it may be beneficial for everyone to dress alike. This helps you to quickly identify your group and find any wanderers faster.

Using a leash type of restraint device on very young children or keeping them in a stroller whenever you are going to be in a crowded area will help you keep track of your child better and provide your child with security.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: Child Development, Disneyland

Keeping Kids Safe This Winter

There are so many things for a parent to worry about when they send their children out of the house. Who may be out there that may try to take advantage of them? What trouble may they find to get into? Protecting children is the number one responsibility that a parent has, and that means insulating them from all risks including the most basic: the elements.

The East Coast is in the midst of what may go down in history as the worst winter ever. Cities like New York are seeing big storms dumping 6 to 12 inches of snow at a time, and that means kids need to be layered up to stay warm and safe. Rapper Shaun Jay-Z Carter grew up in Brooklyn and knows how harsh the New York winters can be. He designed his Rocawear clothing line with staying warm in mind.

Rocawear features well-insulated jackets that will help block out the cold and ward off the snow. The Puffer Jacket is perfect for bitterly cold weather and comes with a fur-lined hood. The Rocawear Wool Duffel Coat is popular, as well as several leather jackets that are great for cold weather, including one just like the coat Jay-Z wore in his Empire State of Mind video shoot.

To make sure the kids are protected in cold weather, it is important to make sure they have other winter accessories as well. Rocawear offers a full line of parachute and scottie boots that are excellent for traipsing through the snow and keeping your children’s feet warm. There are also hoodies and sweatshirts for layering underneath coats to provide an extra level of warmth. For young children, there are several jacket, tees, and jeans reasonably priced that are perfect for the kids to wear throughout the day at school.

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Child Development, Clothing, Rocawear

Protecting Your Child While Online

No matter what the age of your child you can take these simple steps to help protect your child while they are online.

Keep your computer in a public area of the house. Do not allow your child to have a computer in his room or in a private room. Having a computer out in the open makes it much more difficult for a child to enter websites that are questionable and makes them more accountable for who they are talking to, etc.
Set down rules for online activities. This can include the websites they are allowed to visit, the ones they are not allowed to visit, who they can be friends with online, situations they are to avoid, and even the amount of time they can spend online.
Enforce the rules you have set. It is not enough to simply set the rules. You must follow through on monitoring them and having consequences when they are broken. Sometimes a parent has to exercise some tough love to keep their children safe.
Monitor your child’s online activities. If the computer is in the open as suggested you can simply take note of what your child is doing as you walk by. Check browsing history frequently to note where your child has been online. Note anything suspicious, even if that happens to be an empty history when you know your child has been online. An empty history is a red flag that your child was possibly doing something online that they did not want you to be aware of and erased the history before you could check it.
Install parental controls and parental monitoring software. Using a program such as Net Nanny or WebWatcher can give you an added component of internet security and allows you as a parent to control the content, websites, and interactions that your child can have online. Many of these types of programs are now available for your child’s handheld devices such as iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. too.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Child Development, Parental Control

Become Aware of Your Child’s Online Activities

With all of the technology in the world today there are many different social avenues for our children. It can be difficult to monitor everything our children are doing to keep them safe. Do you know what your child is doing when they are online? Do you know the websites he visits? How about the online friends he has? Any idea what social networks your child is visiting or how he is using them while he is online?

It is important that you become aware of your child’s online activities. The dangers to children online are real. Children are exposed to much more at a much younger age than in the past. It is very easy for predators and pedophiles to have access to your child online. Instances of cyberbullying is getting out of control. Through the online world your child may be dealing with harassment or your child might even be the one who is bullying or harassing. The “protection” of the online world seems to bring out the worst in some people.

Completely shutting your child away from the outside world is not the answer to protecting him. As a parent there are things you can do to help reduce the risks. It is your job as a parent to instruct your child. Teach your child about online dangers. Assure your child that you will be keeping track of their online activities. Let your child know that you love them and are just watching out for their safety. Discuss appropriate internet use, expectations, and consequences for improper use or any incident of your child participating in harassment or cyberbullying.

You need to be proactive in monitoring your child’s online behavior. This can be accomplished by frequently checking browsing histories, installing and using parental controls, installing an internet filter and/or a type of parental “spy” program. Your child may see this as an invasion of their privacy; you should see this as good parenting!

Filed Under: Child Development, Parenting Tagged With: Child Development, Parent