LG, Texting and My Kids

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and LG Text Ed

It’s been said that the online safety talk is the new sex talk. Just as difficult and just as complicated.  One of the reasons may be that we – the parents – make it more difficult than it needs to be by putting it off until our children have started to form their own (often erroneous) impressions of the facts, whether of life or simply cell phone use.

To help spread the word about the need to encourage parents to raise the issues of online and cell phone safety with their kids early and often, Blogher has requested that I interview my kids about cell phones, online safety, sexting and texting. And you, my faithful readers, are key in this initiative.

See these two kids? They are my two oldest. Nik and Allegra. Nik is 18 (appearing in his work uniform, yay!) and Allegra is close to 16 (although not close enough for her, and she's dressed for the Homecoming dance). For the purposes of this interview, I'll query either one or both. I'm going to give you the option to pick. That is, you can question one or both of them.

What would you like to ask my kids about teenagers, texting, sexting and the very real concept that online safety is just a fallacy?

Because this topic is so important for our kids and their futures, BlogHer really wants to get the conversation about texting, sexting and safety going – both with our kids and among parents. Blogher will match LG’s donation of .50 to dosomething.org for every comment on this post, so please give me your suggestions on questions for my kids. Dosomething.org will get a $1.00 for each and every one.So comment early, frequently and OFTEN! Dosomething.org is a tremendously wonderful organization with the motto: Using the power of online to get teens to do good stuff offline.

Have you seen Jane Lynch's great videos? Don’t miss Jane as she deftly doles out some tough love - with her uncompromising style - to parents who are woefully uninformed about the potentially risky ways teens are using mobile phones.

Check out this great LG/Text Ed page, chock a block full of information on the topic of teens and texting.

Check out the round up page to see the other bloggers.

Comments

[Wendy]

I guess my biggest question is, do kids really understand the dangers, or do they just give lip service to us old people who try to talk to them about it. I have tried and tried to discuss online safety with my 14 year old and all I get is "I know mom."

[KG]

Is it fair for your parents to check up on your cell phone texting etc now & then if they are footing the bill?

[Katie]

I'd interview both Nik and Allegra. I'm curious to know what sort of information they'd share with a "stranger" (this could be the Facebook profile available for everyone to see, the friend of a friend of a friend, etc) online? I'm frequently amazed by the pictures that I am able to view on Facebook by people in my general network (but people that I do not know at all).

[addy]

Do either one of them ever feel "the danger" of the predators on the internet? On facebook or through random texts they receive?

[KG]

What percentage of people do they know text while driving? Any ideas how to best discourage this habit in teens?

[KG]

Do your kids freely give out/post real names and/or numbers without a second thought? Or do they carefully consider what information they share with others online?

[Emily C]

I'm really curious as to what they and their friends think about kids who don't have cell phones. Is a teen doomed to no friends? Do they even care if their friends have phones?

[KG]

Do your kids remain skeptical of things others reveal about themselves on the internet? How likely are they to believe someones purported age/sex/occupation?

[Lindsey]

Do they have a plan for if their phone is stolen/misplaced, and gets into the hands of someone they wouldn't want looking at it's contents? Life can be cruel in HS, and phones become the new diary of sorts... Just thinking of the possibilities now gives me the creeps.

[A Simple Twist of Faith]

Do any of your friends NOT have cell phones? How any hours a day to you spend on your phone?

[belstaff chaquetas]

I follow you VIA GFC and I love your blog!