This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post by Sue Scheff.

"Young Users see Facebook Dead and Buried" and "Facebook's So Uncool" are just two recent headlines alleging that kids are leaving the social media site in droves.

Do we really believe teens are abandoning Facebook?

It is true that Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Whatsapp are popular with the kids today, but let's face it, none of them have the functionality of Facebook.

When you compare the other social media platforms, none of them offer the layers of information and capability to create event invitations, groups and lists, among other unique features. While some of the alternate platforms offer a few of these features, Facebook offers diversity and depth the others don't.

ICYMI (in case you missed it) there was breaking news on the Snapchat front this week. Here is an article from the Washington Post detailing exactly what happened.

Snapchat users are waking up to troubling news: Thanks to a gap in the service's security, the phone numbers and usernames for as many as 4.6 million accounts have been downloaded by a Web site calling itself SnapchatDB.info.

The age of information has paved the way for several technological advancements, but none of the ground-breaking changes have been more impactful than the resulting birth of the new league of connected kids. Today's connected kids seemingly enter into the world with the ability to operate technology, which is proven by babies swiping tablets. Even so, the most connected of the connected kids should have special areas that are designed just for them. This area must be conducive to learning and should supplement the information that is learned through the classroom curriculum. As a digital parent, if you are concerned about creating a learning environment for your young Einstein, the following educational websites are specifically designed for the connected kids in your life. 

Suessville 

While your child learns reading, writing, and arithmetic in elementary or middle school, Suessville offers your child valuable lessons about life. Since the 1950s, Dr. Suess has been finding ways to deliver valuable life lessons through memorable stories and characters, such as:

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas teaches children the value of materialism 

• The Lorax teaches your children the importance of taking care of the environment even when industry moves in and takes over. 

This article was originally published on the Huffington Post by Linda Esposito.

"What are your recommendations for balancing technology use with socializing face-to-face?" This question was directed to a panel of psychologists at our recent high school PTA meeting. A universal parenting dilemma in our social media landscape, if ever one existed post-1999.

This is from one of our favorite Internet safety blogs, The Sue Scheff Blog, and is written by Erin Steiner.

Should you be worried? As a digital parent, the short answer is yes.

For those who haven’t heard, Facebook recently updated its privacy policy for teenage users of the system. Now there is no such thing as “too young to learn about online reputation management.”

Until last week, Facebook automatically made the profiles of users aged 13-17 private and only viewable to friends and friends of friends. Now their profiles are automatically public. That’s right. You’re newly-minted 13-year-old can broadcast his thoughts to the whole world with just the push of a button.

In today's world, if it isn't digital, it isn't going to last. We live in a high-tech, fast paced world where everyone is trying to make normal day-to-day tasks more convenient and less stressful. With children as young as six playing with iPhones, iPads and other electronic devices, companies are coming out with new and improved ways to manage your life by utilizing your gadgets!

As a digital parent, don't punish your child for spending too much time on electronic devices -- instead, take advantage of these products by urging connected kids to start using apps that help them with their homework and can increase their grades! App developers have been hard at work over the past decade trying to keep up with the constantly changing technology market. Every day, new applications are released for electronic devices that are designed to simplify your life and help you prioritize what matters. Connected kids who are hooked to their electronics can start to use their devices to help with school and homework- transforming their phone or tablet into a portable tutor and making digtial parenting easier.

Apps designed to help connected kids with their homework are becoming popular across all platforms. These apps are typically subject specific and are a great way for your child to learn outside of the classroom. Admit it parents. Sometimes, we don't have all the answers! With homework help apps, students can take their education more seriously and benefit from a wealth of knowledge- all at their fingertips.

Best Apps for Homework Help

As a parent, how often do you wish that your child had come with an instruction book? Parenting isn’t an easy job. It can involve challenges at any age and leave parents looking for advice and answers for many questions about raising their children.  In the past, many parents relied on their parents, friends and family to help them. However, in the age of digital parenting, parents face many issues that their parents never had to cope with. One of the best resources available to parents today is Pinterest. With an ever growing compilation of boards with information for parents on such topics as bullying, education, digital safety, and more, Pinterest can be a priceless source for digital parenting.  To get you started, here are ten awesome boards for parents on Pinterest. 

1. Parenting Advice - PTPA – with over 75 pins on topics ranging from self-esteem to bullying, this board has advice for parents with kids from birth to teens. They have collected pins from around the web to help parents deal with topics such as divorce, temper-tantrums, and discipline. They also have some interesting pins for dads as well as moms from experts in many fields. 

This article was orginally published in Chicago Parent by Shannan Younger. Read on to learn about how monitoring tweens online is crucial in the digital age.

When my child was an infant, the countless sleepless nights exhausted me. Keeping up with the endless motion of a toddler wore me out. And the birthday party circuit of elementary school sucked a lot of time and energy.

Now that my child is a tween, I'm finding that new challenges exhaust me. Chief among them is keeping up with all the website and social media options available to tweens and teens today.

The number of ways that they can communicate with others, who they may or may not know and who may or may not be kind, good, law-abiding citizens, is mind-boggling. A lot of these platforms can be scary. What scares me most of all, though, are the parents who don't even try to learn about them, or who try but give up too easily.

When our kids are little, parents do not turn on the television and plop them in front of it with the thought, "I have no idea what station this is on or what this show is about and it may be wildly inappropriate but, eh, whatever, they can handle it."

This article was originally published by the New York Times, Somini Sengupta.

For years, a school principal’s job was to make sure students were not creating a ruckus in the hallways or smoking in the bathroom. Vigilance ended at the schoolhouse gates.

This article was orginally posted on the Huffington Post by Michael Gregg, COO of Superior Solutions.

If you think you're hip to your children's online social habits because you know all about Facebook and Twitter, you've got it all wrong. Tweens and teens are increasingly leaving these sites in favor of new apps that offer richer features and a safe haven from watchful parents.

The cell phone debate goes on in millions of homes across the country. When a child is ready for a phone is perhaps the biggest discussion in families about cell phones. With children asking for and receiving phones at younger and younger ages many parents question exactly what they need to do before they give their child a cell phone. Cell phone monitoring, cell phone models and even when your child is ready, should all factor into the decision.

1. 1. The Magic Age of Maturity

Many parents wonder when the right time to give a child a cell phone is. There is no magic age. Your child’s maturity must factor into the decision. There are 12 year old children who are mature enough to handle a cell phone, and there are 15 year old children who are not mature enough to handle a cell phone. Consider your child, their personality, and their responsibility level before unlocking the keys to a cell phone. You may also consider your own lifestyle in this decision. For example if you work and your child is home alone, a cell phone is probably necessary sooner than if you were home to meet your child after school. You must also consider your child’s personal needs as well. While a normal 8 year old may not need a phone, a child with a medical condition may need one earlier.

Making poor decisions and underestimating their consequences are the hallmarks of being a teenager. Today, teenagers are faced with so many decisions to make every day, it can seem unbelievable that any of them make it into their twenties unscathed.

Getting into trouble while navigating the dating world is nothing new for teenagers, either. However, what is new are all the different ways to communicate: talking on the phone, text messaging, email, facebook, twitter, the list goes on. With all of these avenues of communication available, it was only a matter of time before teens found themselves in trouble because of it.

Sexting is a fairly new term that is used to describe a number of activities. Mainly, it refers to exchanging sexually suggestive or explicit text messages and email, but it also is used to describe exchanging photos or other sexual material, and also forwarding or otherwise sharing the information received with someone else.

What the studies are showing

Researchers at the University of Utah's Department of Psychology conducted an survey of 606 teenagers aged 14 to 18. Twenty percent of the teens admitted to sending a sexual image of themselves using a cell phone. Almost 40 percent said they had received one, and worse, more than 25 percent of those students admitted to sharing the sext with their friends.

If you have turned on the news lately than you have no doubt heard about the tragic trend known as bullycide. Bullycide is the unfortunate link between suicide and bullying, and the young teenagers' names associated with it are all too fresh in our minds.

Tragically, one thing we keep hearing over and over again is that the parent's had no idea what was happening to their children online. So these teens were dealing with merciless cyberbullying with seemingly no one to turn to. 

For the month of October, during National Bullying Prevention Month, we are posting interviews we conducted with some of the most influential people in the cyberbullying prevention space. The next in the series involves Akilah C. Thompson, Founder and President of ACT Inspires Inc. and Generations Inspired Inc.

uKK: What is the nature of your expertise on cyberbullying?

AT: As an inspirational speaker, I work with teenagers as well as college students and have learned a lot about cyberbullying directly from them and conducting research on the subject to find solutions.  I am also actively involved on social media and have witnessed the impacts of bullying over the Internet. I was a bully myself growing up due to low self esteem and strive to assist young people with tools to be confident in all areas of their lives to avoid being victims of bullying. I have facilitated trainings, workshops, open forums and seminars that focus on cyberbullying, bulling and the proper use of social media.

uKK: What do you believe is the number one thing that can be done to draw attention to and prevent this trend?

AT: There are several things that can be done but I believe the first thing is to hold social media sites accountable for facilitating cyberbullying.

DoSomething.org reports students who are cyberbullied have up to nine times higher chances of suicide. Cyberbullying comes in many forms: stalking, harassment and identity theft are three common forms. Self-esteem problems, unwillingness to go to school, and engaging in bullying behavior of their own are signs that your child might be a victim of cyberbullying. If your child has plunging grades and doesn't want to hang out with their friends, it's time to take a look into what's going on in his or her life.

This article was originally published in the Huffington Post by Caroline Knorr, Common Sense Media parenting editor.

With the statistics piling up, it has become increasingly clear that the cruelties inflicted by cyberbullying have become a devastating reality for many tweens and teens.

While bullying is nothing new, when it takes place in the digital world, the public humiliation can shatter young lives. Photos, cruel comments, taunts and threats travel in an instant, and can be seen, revisited, reposted, linked to and shared by a huge audience.

We're all responsible for making the digital world a decent place. Below are some of the top concerns we've heard from parents trying to make sense of kids' online behavior.

This article was originally published in the Huffington Post by Kathleen Miles.

California teens get an online "eraser button" under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday.  The law makes California the first state to require websites to allow people younger than 18 to remove their own postings on that website, and to clearly inform minors how to do so.

For the month of October, during National Bullying Prevention Month, we are posting interviews we conducted with some of the most influential people in the cyberbullying prevention space. The next in the series involves Tom Jacobs, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem/Commissioner (Arizona) (1985 to 2008) and founder of askthejudge.info.