The Blog of P.U.R.E. and Sue Scheff

In the summer heat, it’s easy to  understand why kids (and their parents) don't want to be outside during the middle of the day. More free time spent inside during the summer, likely means more screen time for kids.  Technology can help strengthen friendships and open a world of knowledge for our kids, but it calls for some limits during the summer months (and school year, of course).  But where to start? AT&T's Anita Williams Weinberg has some great suggestions for parents in AT&T’s new Thread magazine . Weinberg suggests parents arm themselves with some solid guidelines and use common sense to navigate the summer with teens and tech. She offers three simple rules to help kids get the most out of their screen time. 1. Be the gatekeeper : Set up parental controls that limit screen time and phone use, and designate which contacts may (or may not) be called or texted between certain hours. Most popular video game systems...

Would you know if your teen or child was being groomed by an online predator? Did you know: More than 500,000 predators are online everyday Kids 12 to 15 are susceptible to being groomed and manipulated by offenders online FBI stats show that more than 50% of victims of online sexual exploitation are 12-15 years old 89 % of all sexual advances towards our children take place in internet chat rooms and through instant messaging In (27%) of exploitation incidents, predators asked kids for sexual photographs of themselves. 4% of kids get “aggressive” sexual solicitations that included attempts to contact the kids offline How can you help protect your kids from online threats?  Communication is key.  Talk to your kids about sexual predators and potential online dangers. Use family safety settings that are built into Windows 8 , Windows 7 , and Windows Vista . Follow age limits on social networking websites. Most social networking sites require that users b...