Posts Tagged ‘Parenting’

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When Do Kids Begin Forming Memories?

May 13, 2011

I stumbled across a fascinating article about when children begin forming memories:

New research challenges the notion that very young children do not form memories, finding that they do but that the memories often fade over time.

Most adults remember little before their third or fourth birthdays, and the thinking has been that prior to this age children do not have the cognitive or language skills to process and store events as memories.

But psychology professor Carole Peterson, PhD, and colleagues from Canada’s Memorial University of Newfoundland confirmed in earlier research that this is not the case and that even very young children can recall past events.

Now they report that young children’s earliest memories tend to change over time, being replaced with “newer” earliest memories until around age 10. As this happens, memories occurring in the preschool years tend to be lost.

“As young children get older their first memories tend to get later and later, but around age 10 their memories crystallize,” Peterson tells WebMD.

Checking Children’s Memories

In an effort to better understand how children form memories, the researchers asked 140 kids between the ages of 4 and 13 to describe their earliest memories and then asked them to do the same thing two years later.

On both occasions, the children were also asked to estimate their age at the time of each memory, and parents were questioned to confirm that the events happened.

The researchers found that children between the ages of 4 and 7 during the first interview showed very little overlap between the memories they recalled as “first memories” during the first question session and those they remembered two years later.

“Even when we repeated what they had told us two years before, many of the younger children would tell us that it didn’t happen to them,” Peterson says.

Conversely, a third of the children who were age 10 to 13 during the first interview described the same earliest memory during the second interview. More than half of the memories they recalled were the same at both interviews.

The researchers are now studying why children remember certain events and not others.

Peterson says traumatic or highly stressful events made up only a small percentage of the earliest memories reported by children in the study.

Cultural Differences Influence Early Memory

Earlier research suggests that culture plays a big part in early memory.

When Peterson and colleagues compared early memories in groups of Canadian and Chinese children, they found that the Chinese children’s earliest memories tended to be a year or more later than the earliest memories of Canadian children.

Emory University child memory researcher Robyn Fivush, PhD, found the same thing in a study comparing Chinese and American children.

Fivush tells WebMD that Western children tend to have stronger early memories because their dialog with parents and other adults tends to be more autobiographical.

The first lasting memory I have is from when I was 4 years-old, which seems to be consistent with these findings. When was your first lasting memory?

Click on the link to read Experts Push for Kids to Start Driving at 12

Click on the link to read Study Reveals Children Aren’t Selfish After All

Click on the link to read Catering for Four-Year Old Transgendered Children

Click on the link to read What Happened to Honesty and Integrity?

Click on the link to read Kids Need Meaningful Relationships More than Mobile Phones


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Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »

Should a Teacher Intervene When a Fight Erupts?

May 12, 2011

What is a teacher to do when a fight erupts in their classroom?  That is the question doing the rounds at the moment, thanks to the case of a Dallas teacher who responded to a fist fight in his classroom by doing absolutely nothing.

Video of a student punching another student in a local classroom has sparked a debate about student safety. More precisely, should teachers get involved to break up fights?

The Dallas Independent School District said it is still investigating a fight that apparently happened this past Thursday at Seagoville High School. The district believes YouTube video of the incident likely tells only part of the story.

The video shows 17-year-old Michael Milczanowksi getting punched over and over during geometry class. His teacher stands by watching as he appears to take several blows to the head.

While it may seem the teacher could have intervened, a teacher’s union president said that is not what teachers are told to do.

“In today’s society which is a violent society, you do not touch the student. That should be left up to the administration,” said Rena Honea of Alliance-AFT. “I believe that that is for the safety of number one the students, but for the individual teacher as well.”

The district said it has no policy on how teachers should handle student fights because every situation is different.

“The altercation on the video shot at Seagoville High School is clearly inappropriate. The district has zero tolerance for violence in the classroom and has responded accordingly,” DISD said in a statement.

DISD said the student who threw the punches in the video has faced disciplinary action and could face assault charges. But the district would not comment on if the teacher was disciplined because “it’s a personnel matter.”

The video of the fight can be viewed by following this link.

The teacher has been supported by both school and union based on the fact that teachers are not covered for injuries incurred from breaking up a fight.  Why not?  Why can’t a teacher in today’s age have insurance cover for injuries, both incidental and reckless, at the hands of students?

And just because he may have the right to refrain from breaking up a fight, how is it excusable for him to sit back and watch as his student is being punched by a classmate?  Why wasn’t the teacher instructing someone to call for help?  Where is the urgency?  Why doesn’t he react in any way?

What is the point of calling yourself a safe and secure environment for children if you are not compelled to actively and decisively do everything in your power to ensure that your students are safe?

It’s time for insurance companies to remove the stumbling block that deters teachers from breaking up fights.  It’s time for schools to improve their culture and hand out severe consequences for bullies and bullying behaviour.  And it’s time for teachers to do what they can to curb bullying and protect victims.

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Posted in Bullying | 4 Comments »

National Testing Leads to Bad Teaching

May 10, 2011

Today school students all around Australia are going to be sitting the dreaded NAPLAN tests – a National test covering language, literacy and numeracy.  A test many children don’t take all that seriously, leaving their teachers to explain disappointing results and unmet expectations.  The students will often sit for the test without ever finding out how they went afterwards.  Why should they?  For all they know, this test is nothing more than a hurdle requirement that seems to stress the teacher out far more than themselves.

And that’s where these tests fail.  The pressure placed on the teacher forces them to teach to the test.  Weeks out from the NAPLAN date, teachers forgo their best laid plans, and instead force their students to undergo countless practice tests and mindboggingly boring skills sessions.  The students don’t know what hit them!  All of a sudden, they are bombarded with these tedious, non-interactive lessons, where the teacher often loses his/her temper in a state of panic and utter desperation.

“Guys, if you don’t listen, you wont know what to do come NAPLAN time.”

This argument is futile.  They know that if they don’t understand how to answer a question, all they have to do is leave it out, or better yet, guess.  No need to lose sleep over it!

For teachers, these tests are becoming even more important, now that test results are connected with teacher bonuses:

TEACHERS are continuing to “teach to” national literacy and numeracy tests, despite warnings from education authorities.

The first of three days of NAPLAN testing begins for year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students across the country today.

But educators warned the pressure being put on schools to perform well was having unintended consequences.

And the weight placed on NAPLAN results will increase today when the Government links them to financial bonuses for the country’s best teachers.

Today’s Budget is expected to commit $425 million to provide bonuses of up to $8100 to the top 10 per cent of teachers.

Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Frank Sal said that some schools were already under pressure to post high NAPLAN scores, even before they were linked to teacher bonuses.

While many schools have been doing practice exams to prepare for this week’s tests, parents have been told they can do nothing to boost their children’s performance.

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority chair Prof Barry McGaw said regular learning was the best preparation for students: “NAPLAN is not a test students can prepare for, because it is not a test of content.”

Gone are the days where good teaching meant innovative and engaging lessons.  Gone are the days when teachers were valued for new, fresh approaches to developing skills and nurturing the collective sel-esteem of the class.  No, nowadays teaching is about meticulously preparing for a test that comes every 2 years in a student’s life and ultimately doesn’t truly capture what they know and what they are truly capable of.

These lessons can be monotonous, lack opportunities for critical discussion and go against the grain of authentic teaching, but as long as you persist, there may be a bonus in it for you.

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Posted in Naplan | 5 Comments »

YouTube: The WikiLeaks of Education

May 9, 2011

YouTube is doing to schools what WikiLeaks has done to governments.  It is threatening to blow the lid on the kind of events that used to remain hush-hush.  Yet again, a damaging YouTube clip has surfaced, that exposes the violence in our schoolyard.  No longer can we pretend it doesn’t exist:

Click on the link below to watch the video.

School fight club.

DRAMATIC footage of a punch-up between students at a Melbourne high school will be investigated.

The clip, posted on YouTube, shows two Hampton Park Secondary College students trading blows while being egged on by up to 20 onlookers.

One combatant suffers a bloodied nose, while spectators call “Knock out, knock out”.

Acting principal Sue Glenn said she was shocked by the footage, and would investigate and punish those involved.

“I was completely unaware of this incident or video. However on now seeing it, I am totally appalled,” she said.

“This is not the behaviour we accept at Hampton Park Secondary, which has 1300 students who are well behaved and great kids.

“I will be taking this matter extremely seriously and definitely investigating this incident and then taking the appropriate action.”

Ms Glenn said the two students involved in the fight were no longer at the school, but the involvement of all onlookers would be investigated.

Students are heard calling “Go crazy at him” and “Do it, do it” as blood drips from the nose of one of the fighters.

At least two people filmed the fight last year. It was put on YouTube in January.

Education Minister Martin Dixon said the internet posting of schoolyard fights and bullying was a concern.

“We still have a real issue out there in our schools and we still need to be doing more in terms of educating our children and teachers and parents,” he said.

Mr Dixon said the Government had committed $14.5 million to anti-bullying programs in schools in this week’s Budget.

He said social media had made tackling bullying and schoolyard violence all the more difficult.

“It’s a complex problem, and when we see it manifested in these sorts of videos, it just shows there’s a large degree of misunderstanding (about the consequences),” Mr Dixon said.

“It shows an abject ignorance to what bullying and violence is doing to victims.”

Where do I start?

Firstly, here is another case of a Principal unaware of a major fight in the very schoolyard they preside over.  Where are the teachers?  Who is supervising?  How did this big crowd and the attention this fight would have garnered, go completely under the radar of the authorities?  How was a child with what looks like a broken or at least badly bloodied nose, able to hide his injuries?  And don’t tell me this was the first incident of such a nature.  Those onlookers seem like they have seen it all before.

And what about the minister who shows concern, not for the violence at school, but instead to the filming and public dissemination of the violence:

Education Minister Martin Dixon said the internet posting of schoolyard fights and bullying was a concern.

It sounds like a case of ,” I am not too bothered by schoolyard fights, just as long as they don’t go viral.”

I am very happy to hear that the onlookers are going to get punished for their involvement and I think that filming acts of violence is abhorrent.  However, now that the clip has been broadcast, it is important to use it as an impetus for positive change.

The following is my advice to schools:

Hampton Park Secondary School is now going to have to make swift and decisive changes to its procedures.  It is going to have to improve its quality of supervision, enforce stronger consequences for taking part in acts of violence in the schoolyard and punish passive onlookers.  Take note of what they do, and employ their new policies in your school instead of waiting for something like this to make your school look bad.

As uncomfortable as it is to be exposed in the way that WikiLeaks and schoolyard YouTube clips have been able to do so well, it does teach all involved a very important message.

It’s high time you started lifting your game!


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Posted in Bullying, Education Policy | 2 Comments »

Children’s Books Deemed Sexist

May 6, 2011

It turn out the classic children’s books I have grown up reading have “enforced gender equality.”  Books I appreciated as a child have been among those labeled sexist for featuring a male hero instead of a female one, according to a recent study:

A large-scale study of children’s books published between 1900 and 2000 revealed that they were almost twice as likely to feature a male central character than a female one.

The gender bias was even worse when it came to books with animal characters – often favoured by publishers as ‘gender neutral’ with male animal heroes featuring in three times more books than female animal heroines.

And female characters were even overlooked when it came to star billing – kids’ books were twice as likely to include a male character’s name in their title as a female name.

Researchers from Florida State University, USA, also discovered that while books printed during the 1990s came close to equal representation of male and female human characters, animal characters were twice as likely to be male as female.

In a conclusion that will baffle fans of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, researchers said their findings indicated a ‘symbolic annihilation of women’.

They warned that the role of kids’ fiction as a ‘dominant blueprint of shared cultural values, meanings and expectations’ could send a message that ‘women and girls occupy a less important role in society than men or boys.’

Evidence of this inequality was noted in how readers ‘interpret even gender neutral characters as male’ and in the way mums ‘frequently label gender-neutral animal characters as male when reading with their children.’

And in books where the characters are animals – such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Fantastic Mr Fox and Winnie-the-Pooh – leading and positive female roles are scarcer.

The likes of Jemima Puddle-Duck and Mrs Tiggy-Winkle had key roles in just 7.5 per cent of children’s books. Male rabbits, bears, owls, dogs, foxes and toads were more prevalent – they were the lead characters in 23 per cent of books.

The study, results of which are published in Gender and Society journal, looked at almost 6,000 children’s books published between 1900 and 2000.

Books were chosen from three different sources, including those which had won the prestigious Caldecott Medal, awarded annually to American kids’ fiction.

Study author Professor Janice McCabe, professor of sociology at Florida State University said: “We looked at a full century of books.

“One thing that surprised us is that females’ representations did not consistently improve from 1900 to 2000; in the mid part of the century it was actually more unequal. Books became more male dominated.”

And on the problem of animal characters, Prof McCabe added: “Together with research on reader interpretations, our findings regarding imbalanced representations among animal characters suggests that these characters could be particularly powerful, and potentially overlooked, conduits for gendered messages.

“The persistent pattern of disparity among animal characters may even reveal a subtle kind of symbolic annihilation of women disguised through animal imagery.”

The study found that the imbalance has worsened since the turn of the 20th century, when the split was even.

In the early 1900s there was a move away from books about fairytales based on heroines such as Cinderella. But there were numerous strong female characters. Nancy was the captain of the Amazon in Swallows and Amazons, and What Katy Did was a major series. Male characters such as Harry Potter and Alex Rider now dominate.

I have no issue with the general findings, and I fon;t think too many would be suprised that there is a disparity between central male and female characters in children’s story.  What I do have a problem is with two statements:
As a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz in all forms, I find it absolutely mind-boggling that the researchers have called it a ‘symbolic annihilation of women’.  Talk about over analysis!  I find this label deeply offensive.

And then there’s this bold statement –“The persistent pattern of disparity among animal characters may even reveal a subtle kind of symbolic annihilation of women disguised through animal imagery.”

Annihilation?  Is that the best word they could come up with for books that didn’t pass the gender test, but surely passed the good intentions test?  Is it not possible that while these classic books are a sign of the times when it comes to gender disparity, they are also largely brilliantly written and conceived stories that were written to entertain and engross children rather than to symbolically annihilate women?

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Posted in Literacy | Leave a Comment »

Our Kids Must Be More Active

May 4, 2011

I am not that old, yet I know that my experiences growing up in many ways are worlds apart from the current experiences of our youth.  When I was growing up we used to regularly ride our bike, play sporting games outside and sign up for after-school swimming or gymnastics classes.

I’m afraid those days are long gone:

One in six children cannot swim,  a survey has revealed.

It also found one in ten had not learnt to ride a bicycle and  almost a quarter had never run 400 metres.

The study found British children were more than twice as likely to spend their free time watching television (79 per cent) than playing sport (34 per cent).

Children were also more likely to surf the internet (56 per cent), chat on social-networking websites (45 per cent) and play video games (43 per cent) than take part in sports.

The study of 1,500 children aged six to 15 reveals a generation turning its back on sport.

‘This is another sad reflection on children today,’ said Tam Fry of the Child Growth Foundation.

A study found British children were more than twice as likely to spend their free time watching television

‘We have a generation of children being fed the wrong food, which makes them fat, and fewer and fewer get the exercise they need to burn it off. It becomes a vicious cycle.

‘We need to teach children from a young age that they have to exercise and take part in sport to stay a healthy weight.’

He added that there are often not enough places for children to play and ride their bikes because there are so many cars on the road.

The survey, which reveals a generation turning their backs on sport, was described as ‘staggering’ by the head of the British Triathlon.

Even for those who could swim and ride bikes, just a third (34 per cent) had swum the length of a pool and half (46 per cent) had ridden their bikes in the past week.

In contrast, nearly three quarters (73 per cent) had found the time to play a video game in the past week.

A further 15 per cent of the children polled said they had never played sport with their parents.

The study was commissioned as part of a series of mini-triathlon events being held this summer by Tata Steel in areas including steel regions such as Scunthorpe, Corby, Teesside, Rotherham, Swansea and Shotton in North Wales.

A third of those questioned (33 per cent) said they did not own a bike, compared with three quarters (77 per cent) who owned a games console.

Remember when the fad at school would fluctuate between down ball, 4 square, hop scotch, hula hooping and elastics?  Most girls growing up now would never have associated elastic with a game.  I find this so sad.  The future ramifications of bringing up a generation of couch potatoes is quite frightening.

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Posted in Child Development, Childhood Obesity, Nutrition | 2 Comments »

Encouraging Kids to Use Social Media is Not the Way to Go

May 2, 2011

My experiences in teaching has taught me that while we try to empower our kids to act responsibly at all times, reality suggests that the message doesn’t always filter through.  Sometimes, as unfair or overbearing as it sounds, it is simply naive to suggest that children can act with the responsibility and maturity required to warrant the rights and privileges of older individuals.

Facebook is a two-edged sword.  It has its benefits.  But even adults can’t ignore that there are risks to privacy involved.  The call to bring down the age restrictions of Facebook users from 13, to accommodate Primary students lacks foresight and ultimately makes little sense.  Sure you can teach them about privacy settings and warn them about cyber-bullying and cyber-safety, but sadly, there will always be frequent cases of misuse and bullying should the current restrictions be softened.

Soraya Darabi, social media correspondent for ABC America, disagrees:

PRIMARY school students should be receiving lessons in how to make the most of social media and how to protect themselves from its dangers and pitfalls, says a US specialist.

Soraya Darabi, social media correspondent for ABC America, says platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and a raft of newer sites have taken social media to a point where kids need to know how to control what they post online.

“We’re reaching the point where schools should be teaching best practice for social media, right from primary school age, and the importance of protecting their images and information online,” says Darabi.

“They need to know, for instance, that if they are using Twitter they should only be conveying information they are happy to have recorded in the Library of Congress for all time, because that is what’s happening.”

Four years ago, at the age of 23, Darabi helped The New York Times move into social media and she has more than 400,000 followers on Twitter. She says she uses a variety of sites to secure online privacy.

“You must have a few networks that are sacred. For me, anyone can follow me on Twitter. I only accept people as friends on Facebook if I have personally met them. And there’s a site called Path that I reserve for my closest 50 friends, and where I feel safer posting more personal stuff.

“My personality has changed so much online. I still post some personal things. I’m still playful on Twitter, but nowhere near as much as I used to be.

“There’s this whole thing with the personal-professional hybrid that social media is that we’re all still getting used to,” she says. Darabi is reticent about the future of social media; a five-year horizon is far too distant, she says.

Do you honestly think ten-year olds would uniformly accept only the friend requests from people they have met?  What is the point of a Primary aged child having a Twitter account anyway?  I have absolutely no issues in teaching the importance of privacy settings and alerting my students to cyber safety practices.  This is something I currently do.   But what is gained from lessons that “make the most of social media?”

Whilst it is essential to enlighten our children of the issues that arise from improper social media use, there is simply no good reason for Primary students having their own Facebook and Twitter accounts.

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Cyber Safety, Social Media | 4 Comments »

A Continuation of My Previous Post

April 29, 2011

As a continuation of my previous post about the unfair attention given to a teacher who doubled as a writer of adult fiction, I felt it was worthwhile concentrating on the role of parents in education.  There is no doubt that parents are an essential stakeholder in the education process.  Teachers are accountable to parents in the same way they are to other stakeholders.  However, there are times when parents can become too obtrusive. The hysteria that abounded concerning this poor teacher was completely unwarranted and unfair.

Below I have some recommendations for issues parents should feel free to take up with their child’s teacher:

–  Why is my child not progressing?

–  Why is my child not able to understand the set homework?

–  How is my child managing socially?

–  What steps and consequences did you implement when my child was being bullied?

These are questions and issues which parents might be best not focussing on:

1.  What the teacher does in his/her private time

2. How come my child isn’t up to the standard of child ‘x’?

3.  Can you please comment on the teaching skills of a colleague?

4.  Why has my child not received an award or certificate this year?

Whilst parents are encouraged to raise concerns with teachers, it is important to remember that teachers are human, usually fair and often try their best.  To make the education process run smoothly the teacher needs the trust and support of the parents.  In turn, the parents need to be kept up to date with what their child is doing and how they are coping.

To conclude, I wish to thank my readers for their constructive criticism of my previous post.  I was rightly pulled up on some of my opinions and have changed my position accordingly.  I strongly recommend that you visit the blogs of those that so eloquently argued for the poor teacher’s right to privacy and tolerance.  Their blogs reflect the insight and wisdom of their comments.  I am so fortunate to have such clear-minded and compassionate readers.  Thank You!

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Posted in Dealing with Parents | 1 Comment »

Should Teachers be Dismissed for Leading Double Lives?

April 29, 2011

Whilst I don’t think it’s ideal for a teacher to be involved in the racy novel-writing industry, I’m not sure that the crime befits anything more than a ban on writing future novels.  A teacher caught involved in such activities hasn’t broken laws but they have somewhat tarnished their reputation.  Still, is it really worth more than a slap on the wrist?

Parental complaints have led Midd-West School District officials to investigate a veteran high school teacher who writes erotic romance novels under a pen name.

The teacher, Judy Buranich, of Selinsgrove, has taught at Midd-West for 33 years. Under the pen name Judy Mays, she has been writing novels for a number of those years. Her books include liaisons involving werewolves, aliens and vampires and can be found in the Romance section at Waldenbooks.

Buranich declined to comment about the controversy Wednesday.

On her website, she refers to herself as “a mild-mannered tenth grade English teacher in a small public high school.”

Wesley Knapp, superintendent of the Midd-West School District, said he has received a few complaints, but it was after The Daily Item approached him on April 18 to ask about the connection. Until then, he said, “I didn’t know anything about it.”

Knapp said he has told those making complaints “that we’d look into it.”

He declined to discuss the matter further.

“When it’s a personnel matter, I can’t comment,” he said.

Deanna Stepp, mother of a district student, said: “We are not questioning Mrs. Buranich’s teaching credentials. We are not even questioning her ability as a writer … . What we’re questioning is that the two jobs are not compatible with one another.”

Another parent, Wendy Apple, said she had Buranich as an English teacher in high school.

“I thought she was a top-of-the-line teacher,” Apple said.

But the erotica, she said, “is unethical, totally unacceptable. Period. It just sort of sickens and saddens me to know everybody’s sort of looking at this like, hey, this is OK.”

Apple has received comments and messages on her Facebook page, she said, from people who are attacking her for speaking out.

Apple said she heard the rumor from several students, and started during her own research. Although most of Buranich’s defenders are saying it’s not an issue because she does the writing on her own time, Apple said, “then how did these kids find out? These kids knew what kind of writer she was.”

As a result of her speaking out, which she had contemplated for about a month, Apple said her son, who has Buranich as a teacher, has received backlash at school as well.

“I wholeheartedly believe that more parents are looking at things the same way we are,” Apple said.

Writing as Mays on Facebook on April 22, Buranich said, “The world is full of idiots.”

She also referred to support she has gotten.

“I have a lot of people supporting me, including students and ex-students,” she wrote.

She wrote that she hopes the expose will make the sales of her books go up, and already has.

Meanwhile, a Facebook page titled “Support Judy Mays (Mrs. Buranich)” hit 88 likes by Wednesday afternoon.

Cindy Wagner, manager, at Waldenbooks, said the novels are under the category of “Romance,” not “Erotica” at the bookstore. She said the books are already tagged when they arrive, and she simply places them on the shelves according to those tags.

So should teachers be allowed to lead a double life?  At what point would they be taking it too far?  Do you think that the parents of Ms. Buranich have what to complain about?  Do you agree that she should be advised to quit writing these novels while she is still teaching?

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Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

Monitoring Your Child’s Facebook

April 28, 2011

It’s never ideal to secretly review your child’s activities, but sometimes it’s an imperative that cannot be avoided.  Rather than recommend that parents use this new innovation that allows them to oversee their child’s Facebook page without being classified as their friend, I think it’s important to alert parents and teachers of its existence.

INTERNET security firm Check Point overnight launched software that lets parents watch over offspring on Facebook without being “friends” at the online social network.

ZoneAlarm SocialGuard alerts parents to signs of trouble in a child’s Facebook account without them being privy to all posts, comments, pictures, videos or other digital content shared between friends at the website.

The program scans Facebook profiles, communications and “friend” requests and uses algorithms to identify potential bullying, sexual overtures, or talk of drugs, violence or suicide.

SocialGuard software runs unseen in the background, flagging suspicious activity and sending alerts to parents, according to its Redwood City, California-based creators.

“It’s about protecting your kids from the social threats out there, while still respecting their privacy and fostering open communication,” said Check Point vice president of consumer sales Bari Abdul.

“We are offering Facebook users a simple way to embrace social networking safely,” he continued.

SocialGuard is crafted to detect hacked accounts, malicious links, online predators, and cyber-bullies, according to Check Point.

The software also checks to determine whether people contacting children online are being deceptive about their ages or if a stranger is trying to become a Facebook “friend.”

“Parents are increasingly concerned, and rightfully so, about the dramatically increasing trend of criminals, predators and bullies targeting children over social networks,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

“SocialGuard provides a strong suite of tools that can effectively protect children from these types of social threats that are keeping parents awake at night.”

Check Point cited a survey indicating that 38 percent of teenagers have ignored requests from parents to be friends on Facebook, and that 16 percent of children have only done so as a condition of using the social network.

SocialGuard was available online at zonealarm.com for $US2 ($1.85) monthly or $US20 annually.

Spying on kids is the very last resort.  You would hope that children are able to use social media responsibly.  Unfortunately, too often that is not the case.  Therefore, for safety reasons, it is important that parents are aware of safeguards like this one.

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Posted in Cyber Safety, Parenting | 3 Comments »

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