Keep in mind most of the social media realm is truly adult swim, the minimum age to engage in social networks for this industry is 13, and many parents are allowing children to access networks at much younger ages. And there is no doubt that monitoring your child’s friend network is challenging in a dynamic environment where it is easy for kids to gain access to social media apps without parental oversight, and at the same time it is so important that you are able to impart your wisdom about with which networks your child engages, when (age-appropriate) and who they choose to allow in their own social network.

Social media introduces another dimension of freedom and risk for children that require parental guidance, yet the perception is that cyber communications are private. Children can easily be offended when parents become involved. And this is a problem because if the child is offended, he or she can choose to create alternative social media profiles in order to keep their on-line life a secret from you.

TheFish103.9 CyberParenting Topics Tuesdays

The best way to help our children feel secure and to withstand the pressure of the network giving rise to youth issues, (anxiety/sleeplessness, cyberbullying, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual exploitation), is to help them discover a sense of purpose.

Below are some summer projects to engage your children.

In the process of completing these projects with them, you are also bonding over things that truly impact the heart and mind and …

Helicopter parents monitor and advocate in all details of their children’s lives well into young adulthood.  So when Lenore Skenazy wrote in her column (for the New York Sun) that she let her 9-year-old son travel home by himself on the subway in New York, she sparked a controversy that led to her creation of the website “Free Range Kids” and a book by the same title released last Spring. (Note this blog …