Internet Safety - Creating a Safe Screen Name

We must start young teaching kids how to be safe online.  

Children are starting to use the Internet at a younger age to play games.  Many of these games require that the parent set up a screen name for their child.  Parents will often use their child’s name and simple words that kids can remember and spell when they set up their child's screen name.  

Not a good idea!  This often leads to a very insecure username that can identify their child to strangers. The number one danger we want to teach kids to avoid.

Screen Name creates the online identity of the child.  Often parents emphasize the importance of coming up with a strong password. This is the OPPOSITE of what we need to focus on with our kids. Passwords can be recovered, and passwords can be changed very easily. It is your child's screen name or user ID that needs to be protected. Especially for children who use these screen names in their games and as their online persona. 

The goal is to give kids a step by step plan for coming up with a unique screen name that they can easily remember.  Just as important is to teach your child never to share the screen name..

Kids across the country enrolled in Discovery Kids Puterbugs Program are learning how to be safe using technology.   Creating a safe screen name is just one of many lessons they will be learning

Put down that Book - Pick up Technology

Have you ever told your child NOT to read a book or he can only read no more than 25 minutes a day?  Yet same remarks are being placed on kids using technology.

How about all those expert?  I haven’t been able to find one study that shows that kids who sit to read books are anti-social, can’t communicate with peers, less creative and will lead to childhood obesity.   Sounds absurd!  Yet it would be true, if kids found reading a book as engaging as using technology.

What is more isolating than watching a child sitting by himself reading a book?  How many times have you ever heard a kid telling another kid to get this great book?  Rarely!  I know moms this summer are not limiting their child’s reading time, but they are trying all kinds of bribes to get their kids to read. 

Yet they have the tool right at their fingertips.

Parents will hand their kids computers, tablets, smart phones for the purpose of playing games.  Then we have all these “experts” chiming in on how bad technology is for our kids, yet when used properly it is the best learning tool we have.

It doesn’t have to be a struggle to get your child to read.  Your kid is part of the digital generation and will read what is interesting.    Using technology is fun and kids really are naturally inquisitive.   Check out Shark Week on Discovery Website - http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/shark-week/.  Have your child watch the videos and read about sharks. Yes! Watch the videos and listen to the audio.  Really amazing what is at our fingertips and how much we can learn.  Reading and Listening Comprehension are literacy skills kids need to be successful learners.  For younger children, be sure to practice at www.discoverykids.com/puterbugs for the most innovative Shark Week learning experience for your kids! 
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Kids are putting down their book, but picking up technology.   Just as we nag our kids to read a book, when you hand over technology to your kid, do it with a purpose.  A quote from a child from one of our computer classes, “This is almost like learning.”  

Teach our Kids to Think

I heard that Suri Cruise will be attending a private school that costs about  $40,000 a year.  It made me stop to wonder about my own grandkids and other children: Will they be able to compete with kids whose parents who spend this much money on their child's school?  Then I realized, it was always that way.  People send their kids to exclusive private schools for many reasons:  for security from paparazzi and other crazy people, for a better education, or to meet and mingle with the “right” network of people. 

Most of us are not in this league -- so what can the rest of us do?  Teach our kids to THINK!
And expose them to the healthy uses of technology – not to play games but to use it as a tool for learning new things, creative expression, and solving problems.  

Technology levels the playing field.

When you hand over your computer to your young child for the first time, watch how he is mesmerized by it. It is such an engaging tool with such potential to unlock your child's genius, but only if used properly.  Teach your child to respect it: Show your child how to tap on the keys. When showing your child how to use the mouse, have him put his hand on top of yours.  He will think he is in control of the mouse. This is so empowering.

Bring up paint program. Have your child create and explore using the different graphic tools. Be specific when talking about your child’s creative picture such as, " I love how you painted the sky green."  Watch your child beam. He will want to continue to create new things and share it with you. 

Let's say your child wants to print his picture. Don’t just tell him, "click here," pointing to the printer icon.  Instead, ask your child, “What do you think you should click?”  If he doesn’t see the printer icon, give clues until he finds it for himself.   Even though it is so much easier to just do it for him, you are teaching your child to THINK and that he can solve problems.

After it is printed, display it, share it with grandma - make a big deal out of your child's creation.  Sounds so simple, yet it is critical for young children to believe he can do anything if he tries.

You are building the foundation for your child  to be a creative thinker.  No matter what he does in the future, there is no doubt he will be using technology and will need to be able to THINK critically and use creative solutions to solve problems.   

You have the power to give your child the skills she'll need to compete in the world tomorrow, not matter how much you spend on her education.