It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?

Many of you may remember this line, from long ago, that ten o'clock newscasts often started by saying.  In this day and time we keep a better watch on our kids to know where they are physically at all times.  In today's world a better question might be, "Do you know where your child is online and what they are doing?"

Do you know how active your children are in some of these social media apps/sites or online gaming?  Here are a few social media apps/sites that are big right now with many students:  Snapchat, Vine, FaceTime/Skype, Instagram, Kick, YouTube, Tumblr, www.ask.fm, Twitter, & Facebook.  Do you know what each of these are?  "Do you know where your children are" within these sites?  Have you used words like netizenship (digital citizenship) or netiquette with your children?  These are very important words for them to understand as early as third grade.

This year during gifted, we will be discussing your child's "Digital Dossier".  What they put out on the internet can never be permanently erased.  What 'fingerprints' are they leaving? Do they realize many colleges and future employers now go to many of the sites listed above as a ‘reference’ of possibly students/employees? These are all great discussions to be having at home.  There are many great websites out there to help you as parents navigate through helping your child grow up globally.  Most of us didn't have to deal with this until we were in high school, yet many are on line now at ten years old.  Don't be afraid of all that is out there.  So many amazing learning opportunities are now available.  But BE AWARE!

Here are a few websites/apps you might want to check out to help with this:

http://www.aplatformforgood.org/parents/resources  Great place to start

http://www.getnetwise.org/

http://www.childnet.com/resources

http://www.bewebaware.ca  (Canadian resource but still great)

http://www.getgamesmart.com/  Deals specifically with on line gaming issues

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/digital-citizenship

http://www.slideshare.net/robslides/digital-citizenship-in-the-family from UK but great info to think about

http://tinyurl.com/oke2ps7 A parent app on netizenship

As parents... (From http://learn-the-ropes.wikispaces.com )
1. Keep current with the technology your child uses. New things pop up every day.
2. Keep communicating about everything your child does with technology.
3. Keep checking. Help your child understand that the Internet is a public forum so they can safely navigate their online relationships and reputation.

We hope this post helps you as parents as your gifted children go global!