The world has changed a lot since I was a teen. Sure–there are certain things that are the same. Teenage girls are still concerned about what their peers think of them and worried about what to wear. Boys and girls still flirt. People act silly and think or say things that will embarrass them in 10 years. They hang out with friends and talk about boys and teachers and their favorite stars.
But lots of things are different. TV, radio and magazines were my window into the wider world. If I wanted to know what my peers thought I had to ask them. I missed plenty of parties and outings and gossip and was never the wiser. If someone didn’t happen to tell you about something you might not know it had happened. I had friends in school, maybe friends from church or camp. . . but if I didn’t run into them physically on a regular basis they probably weren’t someone I’d ever interact with.
Kids these days are connected constantly via little computers they carry with them everywhere. At any moment they know what a large swath of their friends is doing, saying or feeling. Gossip travels like wildfire and an embarrassment or mistake can be immortalized forever and sent around the world at light speed. Kids can have “friends” from all over–folks they’ve never actually met and don’t actually know that much about. . . who might not even be who or what they are representing themselves to be.
That’s why Lynnae and I were so excited to have Lori Cunningham from The Well Connected Mom as a guest for this week’s episode of A Prioritized Life specifically to talk about keeping teens and tweens safe online. Listen in to this weeks show and learn all about the most popular apps kids are using, what to look out for, how to monitor their time online (and why you should) and ideas on how to set your teen up for cell phone success.
How to Protect Your Teens Online
Remember, you can listen directly on the A Prioritized Life blog, or you can head on over to iTunes to listen (there is a button for iTunes on the blog post or you can just search for A Prioritized Life inside of iTunes).
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Still not sure exactly what a podcast is, why you should listen and HOW to listen? I’ve got it covered in my Podcast 101 post.
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