Photo Credit: Alan Cleaver

This article is a follow up to the October 28, 2011, Kids Email blog post entitled, “Can Klout take your child’s privacy away.”  Since that article was published there have been some major changes at Klout.com regarding Privacy and we here at KidsEmail want to make sure you are up to date on this issue.

5)      Then on the “Opt Out from Klout” Page scroll down to the bottom of the page and Click on Twitter or Facebook

6)      You will have to sign in using your Twitter or Facebook username and password, then follow the instructions.

If you are already a Klout member, you will have to be signed into your account before you proceed.  Then follow Steps 1 through 4 above.  Then you will be taken to your Edit Profile Page of your Klout account.  Under the “We Value Your Privacy” paragraph, click on “Continue opting out”.  Just follow the directions.

To further protect yourself and your children, when you are on any social media site make sure that you have a private account.  If your account is private your data will not be analyzed by Klout unless you give them permission to do so. However, if you create a public account and do not want the data analyzed by Klout, go to Klout and go through the Opt out process described above.

If you find out that your child has provided information to Klout without your knowledge or consent, contact Klout by email at privacy@klout.com to have that information deleted from their records.

Also, make sure that you go over your children’s privacy controls on their Facebook account to ensure that they are set correctly.

To read the response by Klout’s CEO Joe Fernandez to Critics reported by the Social Media Today Website or The New York Times article entitled, “When Sites Drag the Unwitting Across the Web” click on the links below:

http://socialmediatoday.com/rohnjaymiller/392574/klout-ceo-joe-fernandez-responds-critics

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/technology/klouts-automatically-created-profiles-included-minors.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Have you taken steps to remove your child from Klout? Do you think the changes listed above are enough?

Tell us about your experience.

According to a study done by Dateline in 2006, law enforcement officials say that there are nearly 50,000 sexual predators online at any given moment. Doesn’t sound like a good place for your children to spend time does it? It is a pretty risky thing to send them online in today’s world, yet if the proper action is taken in obtaining knowledge about how to stay clear of unwanted material and internet relationships your children can have fun and be safe while surfing the web.

The greatest thing that a parent can do for their child in regards to keeping them safe online, is to create an environment for them to use the internet that makes it easy for them to stay away from bad sites, and bad people. Utilize internet filters and blocks so that no unwanted material can be easily obtained. Next put your computer into the family room, or in an area where everyone can see what is being viewed at all times. Be nosy when it comes to relationships your children have via the internet, especially on social networks like myspace and facebook. You should know all of your children’s passwords to their favorite sites, and check up on them regularly. Always know who your child is communicating with online and what they talk about.

Internet predators will most often talk to younger children and gain their trust before doing anything out of the ordinary. According to a study done by the FBI, they will spend large amounts of time, money, and energy to become a part of your child’s life. As parents the best way to make sure your children do not become involved with bad people, is to talk to them regularly about their friends and people they know. Pay particularly close attention to the people that they have met only online. Check up on who your child has been talking to and what about. Sexual predators will often slowly try to engage children into sexually explicit material via instant messages and especially email. That is where kidsemail.org can help.

Sharing an email with your young children is vital in keeping them safe from bad people. If you can see and control who sends your child information and what kind of information is being sent, then you are definitely doing them a huge favor in keeping them safe online. Kidsemail.org allows you to do just that. The internet is a vital thing in today’s world. It connects the us all, and it is essential for your children to know how to use it and take advantage of it. They can learn a lot and also have fun while learning to use this essential tool. Let kidsemail.org help you keep them safe.

PBS, Weekly Reader and Disney all have websites that provide education and entertainment for children. But should you let your young child look at these websites when you are not in the room.

NO!

Children always need to be supervised when surfing the web. You may vigilant about installing parental controls. You may talk to you children about not giving out personal information. But children under 12 may be too naïve to understand if they are approached online.

Try to watch what your children are doing closely as often as you can. Parental controls are great and will filter out a lot of negative content. But make sure you are there if your child has a question.

Because of my work with KidsEmail, I have Google alerts set up for keywords such as online predator, online safety, Internet safety, etc… I found it interesting that a newspaper as large as the “Dallas Morning News” published a simple list of online safety tips for parents.

I liked number 4–use parental controls. But as the recommendation stated, parents still need to talk to their children about online safety. Predators find new ways to disguise themselves every day. Sometimes they pose as a peer just to gain the child’s trust.

While KidsEmail is a great program for protecting children online, nothing replaces your role as a parent. Talk to your children about what they are doing online.

Here’s a link to the article: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/DN-fronlinebox2_19met.ART.Central.Edition1.4b761d9.html

A software designed for children of military families is being scruitnized by the Department of Defense. Read more about it here:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10408809-245.html?tag=mncol

People Magazine ditched it’s coverage of gossip this week to talk about a real problem–Internet bullying. The story focuses on a Massachusetts teen who killed herself after she was bullied online. The story has been featured in many other publications.

This should be a wake-up call to parents to monitor their children’s online activities. You can read more in People this week

It’s been on the cover of People this week and was featured on the Today Show. Parents are growing more and more concerned about Internet bullying. We are concerned about it too. That’s why were are here–to protect children from all types of dangers online.

Feel free to ask us a question about Internet bullying. We will be glad to answer it.

Raising money is challenging. And how many chocolate bars can you eat and how much wrapping paper do you need? Parents, grandparents and co-workers get tired of the same items year after year.

KidsEmail.org has a fundraiser that will not only help earn money for your organizations but educate the public about Internet Safety. More than one third of children report that they are approached by strangers online. Would your kids know what to do?

KidsEmail.org’s mission is to keep kids safe while they are surfing the net and reading their email. By selling KidsEmail.org cards, you are helping parents keep their kids away from online predators and spammers.

Here’s why you should fundraise with us. We offer the highest profit margin in the industry. You can make $7 out of every $10 you sell.

You can learn more about our fundraising program at kidsemail.org/fundraising.

Over the weekend someone left a poll on our Facebook page about “Internet Mobbing.” I was not familiar with that term and I had to look it up. Internet Mobbing is what we often call “cyberbullying.” Kids get together and pick on other kids online. While a lot of this happens on social media sites and in chatrooms, some kids get emails that are hurtful and mean.

Cyberbullying is a serious problem. Some reports indicate that there have been suicides as a result of these incidents. When talking to your kids about Internet safety, make sure you ask them if they are being bullied or harassed online too.