Digital Parenting and Safety Blog

Now that most kids carry their video-enabled cell phones around everywhere with them, everybody is a cameraman. This can be a good thing – we’ve all heard stories about a thief who was caught because a bystander just happened to catch the robbery on his cell phone. But it can also be a source for trouble when fight videos start getting posted online.

Clips of two teens punching, kicking, and pulling each others' hair are surprisingly easy to find online, most of them posted by other kids who stood by and recorded the fight on their cell phones.

Why do they post these videos? They may have a grudge against somebody in the fight. Or, more commonly, they just want to get their 15 minutes of fame for posting an exclusive video. Sad but true, kids feel important by association if they can show the world something interesting that they were privy to – even a fist fight.

Video sharing sites like YouTube usually have prohibitions against pornographic material or nudity, but not against videos featuring fights between tweens or teens. Even if the videos are ultimately taken down, they can still receive hundreds (or thousands) of views before being flagged.

Of course, teens fighting to solve a problem isn’t new. In my youth, one kid would tell another “I’ll see you in the parking lot after school,” word would spread, and by the end of the day a crowd of maybe ten kids would witness the fight (if both parties even showed up), and that would be it. But when the fight goes viral and people can watch and re-watch the video online, it becomes that much more humiliating for the loser and that much more empowering for the winner.

Talk to your kids about sensitivity. Don’t ever post a video that embarrasses someone. Fight videos just encourage more fights, so teach your child – and teach them early – not to post or watch this kind of material online.

Jenny Evans is a mother of three and a freelance writer specializing in parenting, childhood, and family issues.

As the word "sexting" began to gradually make its way into every parent’s vocabulary, we worried that racy images of our kids could get passed on to other kids and embarrass our child. But now a new buzzword – sextortion – is proving how dangerous the practice of sexting really can be.

Sextortion is shorthand for online sexual extortion. When someone posts or sends suggestive photos or video of themselves through an online medium, it can be accessed by Internet-savvy strangers. The strangers can then threaten to make the content public, or show it to their families, unless the individual makes more explicit content and sends it to the blackmailer. Some recent cases of sextortion:

• In April, a 24-year-old from Alabama extorted illicit pictures from over 50 young women by harassing them over Facebook and MySpace.

• In June, a 31-year-old Californian hacked into 200 private computers looking for nude photos, which he then used to blackmail 44 minors into posing for explicit videos.

• In a pending case, a 19-year-old from Maryland is accused of extorting sexual pictures and video from a 17-year-old Indiana teen on at least two occasions after he coaxed her and her friends to “flash” him via webcam in an Internet chat room.

Teens are often so scared that they simply comply with the blackmailer’s requests, hoping it will make the problem go away. Unfortunately, teens often avoid asking parents or other adults for help like the plague – especially if it means they must first confess how the trouble began in the first place.

Chances are that your teenagers, like most kids their age, think they’re invincible. Having the sexting talk is almost more awkward than having the sex talk with your kids, but it’s absolutely necessary that kids understand the possible consequences of sexting.

Whether we’re talking about text lingo, friending people online or the pictures our kids post online, the best tool to minimize risky behavior online is our active involvement.  Most children, teens included, say that their parents are the strongest influence over the decisions they make.

But even kids that have active parents make mistakes and sometimes we have to protect our kids from other people.  Therefore it is important that you are at least familiar with some of the text lingo terms that would indicate your child could be headed for trouble.  Here is a small sample:



We regularly hear from parents that said they simply couldn’t remember the thousands of text lingo terms currently being used by kids.  Our service automatically translates text lingo into a language parents can understand and then our advance parental intelligence system will notify you if inappropriate, dangerous or suspicious behaviors or people are identified in your child’s digital world. We would love your feedback on the service so take a moment to create an account and tell us what you think.

This post originally appeared on www.timwoda.com

Tim Woda is a passionate advocate for protecting children from today’s scariest digital dangers – cyberbullying, sexting and predators.