Saturday, December 11, 2010

What to Anticipate If Your Child Comes Into Trouble Online

Are the parent of a child or teen who uses the internet? As much as we would all like to believe that are kids are protected when using the internet, there are certain situations that may, unfortunately, arise. It is important to remember that most kids use the internet to converse with their friends or to make new friends, not just to do do research for school projects. If your kid finds themselves in trouble online and comes to you, do you know what you can or must do?

As it was before stated, numerous situations can develop online that have the potential to be dangerous. One of those situations is when private information is exchanged with a stranger. Has your youngster recently given away your phone number, address, or their email address to someone who they don’t in truth know?

If so, be sure to adjust as much information as possible. This could involve changing your home phone number or your child’s cell phone number or email address. Be sure to take additional safety steps, such as always being conscious of your surrounds, locking your home and car, and you could also want to contact your local authorities. Be sure to talk to your teen about the dangers of exchanging personal information online.

In keeping with exchanging personal information online, your child may end up talking to an adult, thinking that they are another teenager or close to their age. If that is the case, your child is likely commerce with an internet predator, who can be old sufficient to be a parent or a grandparent.

If your child has made contact, on purpose or accidentally, with an adult person online, has any personal information been exchanged? If so, change that information, like your child’s email address, cell phone, or even if your home phone number. Make sure that the contact stops straight away. Contact the authorities, school officials, and make sure that all family members know. Get as much information you can about the real person behind the computer. The police could be able to assist you do so.

Many high school and junior high school students use social networking websites, like MySpace. Sadly, many also mistakenly consider that it is a good idea to try to look “cool,” online and at any cost. Your child may post pictures or videos of themselves online doing illegal activities, like smoking or drinking underage, stealing, or doing drugs.

If this is something that your teen has done, be sure to take away the pictures or videos right away. If your child’s pictures or videos have been viewed by school officials or authorities, they may be facing punishment. A lawyer should be called if your teen is arrested. If your child is suspended from school or extra curricular activities, speak to school officials. What can be done by both you, the parent, and your child?

Online harassment is another ordinary problem that kids, namely junior high school and high school students face. This harassment can be done by a complete foreigner, an online friend, or a friend right at school. When friends have a falling out or even just a simple disagreement, many turn to the internet to seek revenge, as it is easy to hide behind a computer.

If your child finds themselves a victim of online harassment, the authorities should be contacted. This is mainly important if your child does not in fact know, in person, the individual who is making threats or spreading harmful rumors. If the individual doing so is a former friend or another individual at school, there are a number of steps that you can take. If you know the teenager and their parents, consider arranging a meeting, but be careful and use your best decision. Alternatives engage contacting the authorities or the school.

As you can see, there are a number of troubling and potentially unsafe situations that your child can find themselves in online. Just make positive that you, as the parent, take steps to help and protect your child.

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Learning Opportunities in Video Games for Your Kids

Who would have ever thought that video games - a form of amusement - might improve the minds of those that play them! The reality is that among all the cool graphics, the fantastic music, and the interesting plots, educational opportunities are be plentiful - and to find them, one only needs to look at them a little closer. Video games improve strategic thinking. Rare is the video game that doesn’t require its player to make a decision two or three steps ahead of a present situation. With steady play, players quickly learn the advantage of strategic idea and they begin to apply it to actual world opportunities.

Video games improve problem solving. Even though the similar could be said regarding any game, video games have established in study after study to improve problem-solving skills. This is since most (if not all) games are centered around a trouble and then challenge the player to solve it. In just one game, a player may solve anywhere from three to a hundred or more diverse problems.

Video games advance hand and eye coordination. If you find this hard to believe, pick up a game controller and try to plan around the game. Manipulating a game controller demands the same skills that it takes to maneuver a mouse around a computer screen.

Video games facilitate quick decision-making. One quality of video games that lends to quick decision making is its unprepared condition. The element of surprise is always around the corner and it’s what makes games exciting to play. To win however, players must be able to make smart decisions within a very short sum of time.

Video games provide for the imagination. We don’t actually understand the argument against things like television, videos, and gaming where people use the lack of imagination to hold their part of the debate. Some people claim that video games take away from the mind because games supply the mind with things in its place of hopeful the mind to come up with these things on their own. Bear in mind that these are the same people who say a stack of blocks is enough to grow a child’s imagination. Of course we couldn’t differ more. The descriptions in video games only fuels the imagination and gives it a coil board to form new potential that might not have occurred otherwise.

Video games give confidence exploration. In role-playing games, players must venture off the beaten path and explore the unknown. They have to open doors without knowing what’s following them. They have to go into areas of the game without knowing the consequence. And they have to interact with characters that they’ve never met earlier than. Inside these meticulous kinds of games, the chance to gather up the courage to explorer unidentified territory isn’t just available, it’s required.

Video games enforce memorization. Another feature of video games is its strong influence on memorization. The land portrayed inside some of these games is huge, yet accessing the maps can be cumbersome and troublesome to the game. To recompense, gamers will not only memorize a large portion of the terrain, they’ll remember the tasks required to get to explicit areas.

Video games teach consequence. All computer and video games operate off of an “action - reaction” principle. Do something, and the game will react. This is a great opportunity to learn about consequence - whether this opportunity is experienced from a gamer’s point of view or a programmer’s point of view.

Video games teach patience, dedication, and endurance. No great game can be conquered in a day. In fact, some of the best and most popular games take weeks or months to finish. These are just some of the educational opportunities hidden inside video and computer games. After closer investigation, we’re sure you can find more in addition to hours of fun and amazement.