There are so many controversies about kids and social media.

This is what people have said. 

  Parents can get sued by social media platforms if their kids are caught on a platform they're not old enough to be on.

  Social media platforms are nothing but trouble for kids. 

  Kids shouldn't be on social media. 

  I don’t need to monitor my child’s devices. They’re responsible and know what to not do.

  As long as my child’s account is private, they’ll be ok. 

But the thing is, most parents don't know enough about the dangers and safety measures they should implement to keep their kids safe online.

That’s why before you give your child a device that allows them to get on social media, YOU MUST educate yourself first. 

To give you an idea about why you should seek out education about social media dangers, here are some stats. 

According to the Pew Research Center studies, the...

Being a good digital citizen means that an online user has the knowledge and skills necessary to use digital tech for communication, participation in society, and the creation and consumption of digital content.

Before we allow children to use the internet, it is our responsibility to educate them to be savvy online users so that they don’t become part of the problem. We see a lot of cyberbullying, invasion of privacy, and a lot of oversharing of private information online that puts children and others in danger.

Here is a list of examples highlighting the traits and behaviors of a good digital citizen:

1. Respecting Others: Treat others online with kindness, empathy, and respect, just as you would in face-to-face interactions.
2. Practicing Responsible Posting: Be mindful of the content you share online, considering the potential impact on others and the reputation of yourself and others involved.
3. Protecting Privacy: Respecting the privacy of others by not sharing personal...

One of the most pervasive ways that people hurt others is through gossiping, which is a form of social bullying. It is usually done in person or online.

Social bullying is when one tarnishes the reputation and character of another person. Usually, this includes gossiping, telling others not to engage with the victim for any reason, sabotaging the victim's relationships in one way or another, and other methods.

TEACH KIDS NOT TO BE AN AUDIENCE FOR GOSSIP.

When kids refuse to listen to gossip, people stop gossiping. The gossiper might even feel embarrassed that they tried to initiate, as well as those engaging in it. By teaching kids to refuse to be a listener, they send the message that gossip is not important to them and maybe even that it's distasteful.

In case you were not aware, kids are often more influenced by their peers' disapproval than by their parent's perspective.

Kids may engage in gossip for several reasons, including:

• Showing power: Since kids like the idea of having...

When my kids were around 10 years old, they started asking for a smartphone. Specifically, for an iPhone. 

They did what all kids do. They were consistent with asking. 

My older daughter even wrote me a letter stating all of the reasons why she NEEDED to have one. 

She made promises and tried to convince me that she would be the happiest child in the world if she had a phone. 

I said NO. 

My intent was to keep them off social media and overall off the internet as much and as long as possible. But, their schools kept gearing them to use online tools for them to do their homework and projects. 

That frustrated me and it didn’t help me. 

But I persisted and continued to educate myself in case I was being unreasonable. 

As they got older they earned the privilege to use it. But, it was not without a lot of discussions and even a contract. That contract included an agreement about how to use it, what to report, and that they would...

I’m going to make this short because I know many of you are celebrating Easter, Ramadan Karim, or Kosher and Happy Passover. 

However you are spending this week, I hope that you have an amazing time and that you’re spending it with people whose good energy refuels you. 

One thing I’d like to invite you to think about today is how much energy you’ve spent on the things and people you really care about. 

April is the beginning of the second quarter for many people who have goals that they want to accomplish before the end of June. 

So, if your goal is personal, professional, or both, take time to analyze and make necessary adjustments to your plan if needed so that you can get closer to your goal. 

Don’t forget to allow your cheerleaders to celebrate every win with you and most of all when you’re feeling burnt out, step away for a bit and then keep going. 

Lastly, include your children in your planning session so...

If you have been carrying pain caused by someone that you just can't get yourself to forgive, keep reading.

I have been reading about forgiveness in Jen Sincero’s book, “You Are a Badass”, which prompted me to think about my own hardship trying to forgive people who have deeply hurt me. 

I don’t think there is a single person in the world that can say they’ve never been hurt by someone at an emotional level. The impacts of the pain we feel vary and some are so painful that it alters the way we navigate the world and how we behave with others. 

For example, I’ve been hurt by being betrayed by some of the people I thought would never do that to me. So, for years, I didn’t allow myself to trust people. I would go as far as 80, maybe 90 percent, but no more. 

It was a way of protecting myself and to be honest, it was out of fear. I’d always heard that forgiving was for ourselves, not for the other person. 

The thing is...

My eldest child was born the same year that the iPhone was released for the first time. It was such a hit! And while a lot of people thought it would turn out to be a dying fad, here we are with people addicted so much to their devices that they can’t stand in lines without looking at their phones or go to the restroom without swiping through Tik Toks or Instagram reels.

It’s crazy to think that most of our youth today don’t know a world without smart devices. 

A survey conducted in 2017 by Common Sense Media showed that by age 11, a majority (53%) of kids had their own smartphone, and by 12 more than two-thirds (69%) had one.

This means that kids are becoming exposed to a lot of information sooner than they’re ready for it to include pornography. 

As a matter of fact, the average child in the U.S. accidentally finds porn between the age of 7 and 8. 

1 in 10 parents knows the code to their child’s device and 50 percent of kids admit to...

What were your beliefs about a bully when you were in school? I’ll be honest. Until I began doing research on bullying, I thought that kids who were bullies didn’t weren’t being parented well.

I know! Judgy!

I thought that they were just acting like either their parents or perhaps an older sibling or family member. A lot of people still think of bullies this way and you know, society overall tends to be very judgy about parents and kids.

I thought that bullies were just bad kids who loved making people like me miserable. 

But, no one ever had a conversation with me about bullying or bullies at all. 

The truth is that kids who bully are just kids who have not been taught how to deal with their emotions. Now, I’m not going to tell you that all kids who bully decide to target people for the same reason. 

There are many motivators for bullies to do what they do. But right now, I want to talk about what you should do if your child is a...

How much do you know about cyberbullying?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “cyberbullying” was first used in 1998 and is defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person. In other words, cyberbullying is the act of bullying anywhere online. Our use of the web leaves digital footprints that can be tracked by people who know how to follow a footprint. 

That’s why you might have heard of some celebrities getting canceled for having posted terrible things during the early age of the internet.

With time and the advancement of technology, cyberbullying has increased, but the protection laws for cyberbullying (as well as other forms of bullying) have not caught up with it. 

Cyberbullying is bullying online. The acts are repeated and aimed at shaming, slurring, angering, humiliating, or causing any negative distress to another person. Like bullying, cyberbullying has not been federally defined in...