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Awareness Of Internet Protection Helps Prevent Cyber Crimes

May 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Many countries do not have definite cyber laws to protect online users. Even if there are laws with increasing cyber crimes they are either outdated or does not cover all types of crimes. Internet protection guidelines should be created and awareness of the same should be spread among online users. This will help online users from frauds and other crimes. Every one is aware about the basic protection of filters and anti virus software’s, but there are many cyber crimes reported every day. The most common ones are theft of personal information, hacking secured information, phishing scams, and cyber stalking. There are also other serious crimes as cyber terrorism, child pornography and cyber bullying.

As there are no clear cut laws regarding these crimes in many countries, such cyber crimes are increasing every day. Creating awareness of these offenses and protecting online users has become critical. This is more so with children as more and more children are using internet for fun. Internet protection guidelines have become vital especially as crimes concerning children are increasing. Schools and other educational institutes have to actively participate in creating awareness on the importance of internet protection and safe surfing.  When at home make sure you are only going to reputable sites as resources or for entertainment when you are playing poker online.  This will help to increase the protection of yourself and your computer.

Many online users are not aware of phishing scams and other frauds. Creating awareness among them about these crimes is important and to prevent such future scams, reporting such scams is even more crucial. Many countries do not have a separate cyber crime division which hinders the process of reporting such scams and preventing such frauds. Other institutions such as banks and credit card companies should also promote and create awareness among their customers regarding internet protection especially while using internet banking.

Filed Under: Internet, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Understanding the Motivations of a Bully

May 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Bullying on IRFE in March 5, 2007, the first c... 

Image via Wikipedia

 

If your child is being bullied online or at school, it helps to understand what causes bullies to behave the way they do. People are not born as bullies; they are conditioned to aggressive behaviors due to the circumstances of life. Understanding the motivations of bullies will help you assist your child to cope effectively with situations where he or she is being treated unfairly.

The Making of a Bully

Many children learn bullying behaviors from their own parents. The way that adults speak to one another and to the child affects that child’s impressions and conclusions about how people should communicate. When a child sees his parents fighting and controlling one another, he internalizes this behavior and resorts to it himself when feeling powerless or in need of control.

Bullying Behaviors

Bullying manifests itself in many ways. Mocking and shunning another person are common bullying behaviors for getting the upper hand in situations. The bully typically comes across as confident and in control and, in reality, he may be quite insecure or concerned about his own image. Putting down another person is a way of feeling better about himself.

Coping With the Bully

When parenting a child who is being victimized by a bully, it’s important to explain that the behaviors are due to weakness and not strength. A confident and conscientious person does not waste time mistreating others. Encourage your child to focus on personal strengths and to avoid situations that create close contact with bullies. Spending time online and at school with the friendly kids is the best way to create a buffer against bullying behavior.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Parenting, Protection Tagged With: , ,

Cyber Bullying On The Rise Among Children

March 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Research suggests that cyber bullying is on the rise and there are not many laws to protect such incidents. But what is more troubling is cyber bullying is becoming common among school and college children. Not only boys are involved in such acts but sadly many girls are also involved in cyber bullying. Though the term “cyber bullying” might be new to many people, however, many people are going through it without knowing what it exactly is. Cyber bullying is an act of sending continuous threats or hate message or humiliating messages through emails or text messages. The person can also post such information on public forums and other websites to humiliate, hurt and embarrass the victim.

Victim might block such emails as there are filters available in email to block their id. However, cyber bullies can also resort to public forums and other websites where the contents are not checked.  Usually these are done by rival gang or people who want to cause hurt and humiliation to the other person.  A relationship or friendship gone wrong can trigger such reaction. As it involves young children, the issue becomes complicated. Sharing of personal information and other gory details in the public forum had also lead to cases where the victim commits suicide. Cyber bullying needs to be taken more seriously and laws should be brought to prevent such incidents. However, this is not easy as the news of such information posted spreads like wild fire among youngsters and the damage is already done before any action can be taken. Educational institutes can bring out policies on such crimes and strict action on such people can help reduce such incidents.

Filed Under: Cyper-Bullying, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Parents Should Teach Their Children On The Importance Of Privacy While Using Internet

March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Internet has become a major source of entertainment for children. With social networking websites, chat rooms and games available at free of cost, many children are turning to internet as their favorite pass time. This in one way is good as they get good information and increase their knowledge. However, the flip side is that they need to know how to guard their privacy. Internet can also be dangerous for children and parents need to monitor their usage. Parents need to know what websites the children are surfing, who are their friends in the chat and how much time they spend on the net.

Parents should teach their children on the importance of privacy while using internet. There are many cyber crimes in which children are allured and asked for private information by criminals. Children chatting with strangers are a cause for concern as many criminals try to meet these children in private places without the knowledge of the parents. Parents need to set guidelines and take strict disciplinary action if these are not followed. Parents have to make sure that the child understands it’s for their own safety.

Some of the measures to guard privacy are: never give home or school or college address, phone number, personal information as where their parents work, preferably use nickname in chat and not the original name. Most importantly never go and meet strangers alone in any place even if it’s a public place. Another important guideline is never share photograph or use video chat with unknown persons.  Instilling these guidelines in children will help them to be careful and enable them to guard their privacy.

Filed Under: Cyper-Bullying, Parenting Tagged With: , , ,

Changing Lifestyle And Bad Parenting Methods Affects Child’s Future

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

With both the parents working and concentrating on their careers, children are usually left in the care of day care centers. With more and more families across all countries opting for nuclear family, the support of grandparents is also reducing. This leaves the child alone and many children yearn for parents love and attention. With both parents working they are unable to spend time with their children and instill good habits in them.

Another way a child’s confidence can be easily broken is bad parenting methods. Bad parenting methods contribute to psychological problems in a child. It is a major driver for many children going astray.  Bad parenting methods can lead to child’s insecurity, not having confidence and depression. It also makes a child adamant and difficult to handle. Or it can have a reverse effect and the child feels lonely and afraid of their parents. Another bad parenting method which parents use to keep the child happy is pampering them as they do not have time for them. Parents buy whatever the child asks to keep the child from disturbing them. This is mainly because parents do not have the time to install good manners or time for disciplining their children. Pampering the child develops a selfish attitude in them. This attitude carries with them through adulthood and creates problems for people surrounding them.

Some of the most common bad parenting methods are: criticizing the child in front of others, not spending time with the child to install good manners and assure them of their love, physical or verbal abuse in the name of disciplining process, use of bad language, not encouraging the child to develop their talents and expecting too much from a child beyond their age. Bad parenting usually starts with parents not following what they preach to their children.

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Studies Show That Good Parenting Helps In The Overall Development Of The Child

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Studies suggest that good parenting methods help in the overall development of the child. Good parenting is a major contributor for the success achieved by a child. It enables the child to feel secure, happy and be optimistic to face their future. There are many good books and information available for parents in the internet to learn the art of parenting. As parenting is not an easy process its advisable to learn from others who have brought up their children in a right manner.
There are no hard and fast rules for parenting as each child is unique and it takes time and effort on the part of parents to bring them up in a healthy way. But some of the key points which are critical for good parenting are: spending time with the child, encouraging the child, having an open communication and be a good friend to the child. This helps in building the trust with the child and increases the security of the child. In case of any issues the children are comfortable and confident to approach their parents.

Outdoor activities and holidays help to build the bond between family members.  As each stage of childhood brings new challenges, parents should be open to adopt different methods of disciplining.  Good parenting requires a lot of disciplining but it should be done in a positive way. The best way to address any issue is to be a role model to your child. As your child imitates you and looks up to you for everything, being a role model helps the child to learn good habits from you. Overall, parenting is an on-the-job training and each day brings new challenges to resolve. It can be exciting if parents take time and effort to groom their children in the right way.

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Growing Pains and First Computers for Kids

February 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The times have definitely changed since the days when most of us were children. Computers are now the rule rather than the exception and kids are relying on technology and computer usage and skills for school and social interaction more today than ever before. This leaves the family computer the most sought after and fought over piece of equipment in the house. This is why more and more families are making the investment in a second PC for the home.

With this additional computer though come additional concerns and worries – especially with the potential dangers involved in allowing children to spend time online. The first thing you need to consider when purchasing a computer for your children is that even though the price tags have gone down significantly, computers are still investments that need to be protected.

In addition to buyer protection plans that extend the warranties of computers you should also consider investing in tools to protect against viruses like PC Tools antivirus program, clean registries, and monitor the activity of your children while online. The combination of these three things can greatly improve the safety of your children while online as well as the life of your computer.

Keep these things in mind as well to make the process as painless as possible for everyone involved.

1) Set ground rules for computer time and acceptable usage.

2) Monitor the activity of your children when online.

3) Keep the computer in a central location so that children do not have unsupervised time online.

4) Pay attention to the behavior of your children while surfing the Internet. Specifically look for signs of distress.

5) Block sites you feel are not appropriate for your children.

These are small things that will make your child’s first computer experience a pleasant one for the entire family.

Filed Under: Internet, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

What to Do if Your Child is Bullied

February 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

One of the scariest things to hear as a parent is that your child is being bullied. Your parental instincts kick into full gear when this is the case. More than likely it is not anything you have to worry about, simply children being children. However, it is not something to take lightly and you need to be active about seeing what is going on with your child.

If the bullying is happening at school, you should take the opportunity to visit the school and see what is happening. In many schools there are two way mirrors where you can observe the class without anyone knowing you are there. This is good because the actions of the class would likely be different if there was a parent watching then if they class was not being observed.

You will likely want to talk to the teacher and possibly administrators. You do not want this bully to get away with hurting your child or other children. Many times bullies can be reformed, and hopefully this is the case.

If the bullying is not at school you may have a harder time getting it under control. In these cases you will likely have to meet with the other child’s parents and talk about what you can do to nip these behaviors in the bud.

Make sure your child knows it is not their fault they are being bullied and also give them some strategies to help deal with it in case it happens in the future. You do not want your child to get hurt, but you also don’t want them to get in trouble by fighting, even if they are defending themselves.

In dramatic cases you may have to request that your child or the other child is moved out of the classroom or other setting. This may be the easiest way to resolve these situations. If this is possible you may be able to end the bullying with a minimum of confrontation.

Filed Under: Cyper-Bullying, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

Picking on the Gay Kid

January 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

One of the most notable forms of bullying today is that of homosexual children.  It is an orientation that is still considered to be changeable, deviant behavior.  Even though the wider medical community accepts it as a genetic orientation, it’s still an easy, guilt free target for bullies of all ages and backgrounds.

That means that gay kids get as much emotional assault from adults as the kids around them.  Maybe even their own parents are abusive because of their homosexuality.  These children live in constant worry, isolation, and even fear.  Most hold in the secret and develop some form of neurosis because of it.  Depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and destructive behaviors are common.  Add a bully or two to the mix and the outcome is painfully played out.

The nation has had several high profile gay student suicides in  recent years.  That, along with hate crimes that go as far as murder, make the bullying of gay children one of the most shamefully ignored issues in the greater social fabric.  Most people don’t think any form of bullying is right, but they may not actively speak out against bullying a gay or lesbian child.  There’s some bizarre idea that these children are making well informed choices to be something that they know will put them at risk of abuse.  It simply makes no sense.

Celebrities have always been the voice of the oppressed, and in recent months, more and more are speaking out to turn the national attention to it’s own shameful complacence.  The message that “it gets better,” and that all of us are valuable, beautiful people has been a welcomed campaign by those who have suffered through bullying as well as witnessed it being done to people they care about; especially children.  If more religious organizations would take a public stance against the situation, we would see real progress.

Filed Under: Cyper-Bullying, Parenting Tagged With:

Kids Who Try to Get Bullied

January 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Some kids just seem to have a death wish.  Maybe they announce in a very conservative school setting that they are gay.  Or maybe they announce that they don’t believe in God.  It seems crazy for any child to put himself in that kind of hostile situation, but there are kids who try to get bullied.  How bizarre does that seem?  If you have normal kids, it’s very strange, but for a child who is full of self loathing, a barrage of slurs or a punch in the stomach has a benefit.

If in fact, the child is gay, and he’s been told he’s a terrible person by his religious affiliation or his parents, he’s going to act like he’s unacceptable.  Tell an emotionally damaged child he is going to hell, and he might go find it while he’s still living.  When announcing these secrets that will marginalize the child, he probably isn’t mature enough to really understand what the consequences could be.  It’s possible he’s making a broadcast for help or kindred spirits.  It shouldn’t be surprising when the hateful assaults begin.

Adults who witness this kind of phenomenon have a responsibility to protect and support the ostracized kid.  Offer reassurance, friendship and support.  Spend time just talking and listening to the child. The school counselor should be involved in working with the family and even suggesting professional help.  For whatever reason, the kid needs attention.  It’s important that it be good and supportive attention.  Any known bullying needs to be stopped immediately.  If this really is a path to self destruction, also look out for signs of possible suicide.

Do not allow a child like this to become alienated.  Whether they believe it or not, they are worth saving.  Like the ad campaign says, “it gets better.”  Adults who care should constantly deliver that message.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: ,
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