Bullies - Pre-Teens and Teens

So your teen and her friends all belong to Facebook and invite each other to be "friends" on their page. But then, something happens, and your teen receives notices that she is no longer friends with "Susan". Not only is this hard, its also VERY public - like world wide public. Then she sees posts on her other friends' Facebook pages that they are all at a party that your teen was not invited to.

Take this a step further. Someone is really out to get your teen. They write obscene or incredibly mean comments on your teen's Facebook wall or on other kids Facebook walls. They post inappropriate photos or videos about your teen on their page. The next time she walks the halls of her school, she hears snickers and rude comments because nearly all of the kids at her school are on Facebook. (Yes, this is a reality. Facebook has 26.6 million visitors per month!).

As a parent, what can you do? Well, first of all you need to familiarize yourself with the way teens are socializing these days. MySpace and Facebook, texting and chat are how they are communicating with each other. Join them so you are in the "know." Join Facebook and invite your teens friends to be your friends. Visit their Facebook pages often and read what is being said to each other. Same thing goes for your child's friends' MySpace pages. Visit them often. You will be amazed at the information you can learn about these kids. Also, there is something to be said about kids knowing that parents are watching them!

Parents have a duty to teach their kids about internet etiquette. We have been allowing our kids to plow ahead of us. But, they need to be taught how to comport themselves in cyber space just like in real life. For some great information on trumping your kids at technology, go to: Technogeekery.com show #6.

Cradle Cap

A little Head&Shoulders shampoo works great, too!

No Bratz dolls in our house

I have two boys, so the world of girls is a bit foreign to me. However, I have twin nieces. For Christmas, my sister-in-law told me that the girls wanted Bratz dolls. So, off to the toy store I went. I was absolutely appalled! I left the store, went home and called my sister-in-law again. I asked for another gift suggestion and made it quite clear that the message those Bratz dolls send to young girls is way inappropriate! I think many parents fall in to the trap of letting their children's friends determine the toys, clothing, etc. that their children have/wear. This was the excuse my sister-in-law gave me. No excuse!