Our next guest blog post on digital parenting and distracted driving comes from Dr. Barbara Bergin in Austin, Texas. Read on to learn her approach on how to get teens to stop texting while driving.

I’m pretty sure my kids have texted while driving. I know they make phone calls while driving. I’m sure they don’t drink and drive. These are my worst fears for them while they’re driving. When I was a kid my parents told me not to pick up hitch hikers! That was the worst thing I could do when driving in the early 70s. I was a newly hatched driver before seat belts were required and before all the negative publicity came out about drinking and driving. People did that all the time! And then, without thinking twice, they threw their bottles out the window along with their fast food bags!

 I had a couple of philosophies regarding child rearing, and I went back to them over and over again when I raised my kids. The first was to recognize that all I could do with my kids was to ask them to do the right thing. I couldn’t force them to do it. Sure I could punish them for not doing the right thing, but I couldn’t really force them to do anything…and remain a good parent. So I resorted to my own forms of asking.

Parenting kids in this modern age comes with challenges that our own parents never had to face. The advent of the internet presents modern parents and their children with unlimited opportunities, both good and bad. One of the main challenges that you face as a modern parent is keeping your child safe online. That makes knowledgeable digital parenting one of the most important components of being a responsible parent these days. The tween and teen years have always been fraught with angst, raw emotion, and social upheaval; it's just a natural part of making the transition from child to adult, but the internet has created a new level of trouble for this already fragile time. 

As part of our digital parenting and Distracted Driving Awareness Month blog series, we are featuring a post by Next Step Academy, the online school for life skills.  They are offering a free distracted driving course that everyone should take! Read on to learn more and learn some shocking statistics. Free Distracted Driving Course

You may remember that feeling when you first sat behind the wheel of a car – nerves take over, senses heighten, and we wonder how we will ever figure it all out. Driving demands a lot from the person behind the wheel, and it can be overwhelming to any first-timer.

A new driver must immediately figure out how to maintain focus and control, and in the beginning, it can seem impossible that we might ever be able to do anything other than grip the wheel; but at some point, we get comfortable. We forget the fear that once gripped us when we first gripped that wheel, and foolishly, we add tasks to our drive in addition to keeping our eyes on the road and our hands perfectly positioned at “10 and 2.”

Beth Gentrup at Norfolk Junior High in Nebraska is providing seventh-graders Social Network training wheels in the form of an elective course called "Becoming a Cyber Ninja." The course teaches about a wide variety of topics meant to protect online users and promote proper online behavior.  This means addressing topics like cyberbullying, stalking, identity theft, and uses of personal information.

Did you know that April was Distracted Driving Awareness month?  In an effort to bring you information about the latest digital dangers and trends, we have created an infographic that outlines the problem of distracted driving throughout the United States and then provides solutions that we gathered from industry leaders, experts and doctors.

Our latest guest blog post on digital parenting comes from the team at UPS Road Code, which is pairing with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and doing wonderful things to help combat texting and driving among new drivers. In honor of Distracted Driving Awareness Month, read on to learn more about these programs and solutions. 

Boys & Girls Clubs of America and UPS Foundation Drive Change

With National UPS Road Code Program

 While great strides have been made in recent years to prevent distracted driving deaths among teenagers, the United States still has a long way to go to completely eradicate the problem.  In a world constantly connected through texting, social media updates and gaming applications, teens are constantly engaged with their phones, even while driving. According to a study by the Governors Highway Safety Association, deaths of drivers ages 16 and 17 increased by 19 percent in the first six months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011. The association attributed this increase to texting and talking while driving, as well as the use of mobile applications which can slow driving reaction times by 38 percent.

In an ongoing effort to combat the ever-growing issue of distracted driving, The UPS Foundation, which governs corporate citizenship and UPS’s philanthropic programs, offers UPS Road Code, a national program to teach safe driving techniques to teens. The Foundation teamed up with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and established the program on a small scale in 2009 in local Clubs across 10 cities. Continuing to drive change across the country, the highly successful UPS Road Code program is currently available in 52 Boys & Girls Clubs throughout 36 U.S. cities and reaches 5,200 teenagers nationwide.

Having your kids “constantly connected” is not a new thing. When I was a teenager we had the same addiction to music as modern teens have with social media. My parents used to refer this unconscious state as “plugged in”, which described me as; headphones in and music up so loud that I couldn’t hear the outside world. At the time I loved music so much that I would listen to it all the time, as loud as could, frequently blaring it from my second floor speaker system so loud the entire neighborhood could hear it. I’m fairly certain my thought process at that time was as follows: This music is really good (which it wasn't), but this music is really really good turned up all the way, and because if Ilike it so much, everyone else should hear it too, right? [Cranks volume knob all the way to the right]

How many Internet-enabled devices are in your home right now? The average two-person family owns seven connected devices. Families of three or more own an average of 10. Between tablets, laptops, smart phones, gaming systems, and music players, your family may have as many as 15 or 16.

While it relieves parents to know their children can connect with them and get help whenever and wherever they need it, the proliferation of devices is changing the face of “digital parenting”. Just a few years ago when the average number of household devices was much lower, it was easier to keep tabs on those few devices that your child had access to. Now that it is hard to even keep track of what devices your child is evening using, the days of “parental control” seem to be behind us.

Did you know that the month of April is Distracted Driving Awareness month? Distracted driving can range from anything to eating and drinking, talking to passengers and grooming, but most frequently happens in the form of using a cell phone or GPS while behind the wheel. As part of our ongoing mission to inform you of the latest digital dangers, we asked doctors, leaders, CEO's and experts in distracted driving awareness if they would contribute to our blog with a guest post on this extremely important issue that is facing connected kids who get behind the wheel. Our first blog post comes from Matthew Smith, a second-generation director of Longacre Leadership, the incredible summer program for teens that teaches leadership, decision-making and responsibility with a MiniCamp for tweens. 

We have released our newest eBook, and this one is most definitely worth a read! Do you need some help laying down the law when it comes to digital safety rules in your household?  Are you looking for some useful tips to keep your family safe on all of their gadgets?  Then our eBook "15 Digital Safety Rules Every Household Should Follow" is perfect for you! Here are just a few of the 15 rules that we think every digital parent should enforce:

Growing up is hard. Everyone acknowledges the difficulty we have as adolescents in social environments, especially school. The internet has opened the doors to a new level of pain for many individuals, known as bullying and cyberbullying.

Prior to the creation of the internet a bully was the kid that would pick fights and generally demean others. It was done to be hurtful, with no justification. The age of the internet and texting has given rise to a new type of bully, the process if known as cyberbullying and is just as harmful, if not more so, than those school yard bullies of old. 

Cyberbullying is generally accepted to be the deliberate and repeated actions of an individual or group with the use of communication technology to hurt another person. This can be in the form of harassment, threats, malicious comments, and much more.

As more and more states enact tougher measures to prevent and punish cyberbullying -- like Delaware’s recent anti-cyberbullying law, many lessons can be learned from other states having difficulties with enforcing and reporting bullying occurrences.

For example, The Albany Times-Union uncovered several problems with the effectiveness of the New York school systems. Last year, New York’s “The Dignity for All Students Act” increased bullying penalties for incidents on school grounds. Its anti-cyberbullying provisions won’t take effect until July.

The troublesome enforcement aspects under its existing compliance system could magnify when the anti-cyberbullying legislation goes into effect. Here’s some of what the reporters discovered:

Home Safety

1. We all understand the importance of home security, but we also know it can be pricey. Rehna from Ardor NY Real Estate gives us five inexpensive ways to boost your home’s security.

2. Metzae at Dandy Gadget has an interesting article on how smart-home technology is changing the face of home security.

3. We’ve discussed how to burglar-proof your doors, and the Homes and House blog echoes these sentiments, recommending super-sturdy composite doors for security.

4. Tammy, from A Mom and Her Blog, talks about the benefits of wireless home security systems.

5. Powers Heating & Air has a different take on staying safe at home, doling out sage advice on three all-too-common home safety hazards.

Instagram is an application that can be downloaded to several different smartphones and cellular devices. This application is a photo sharing one in which users can take pictures, add special effects, and then share them on several different social media sites with just the click of a button. The photo is then placed out there into the network of friends the users have, both those that have the application themselves and those who do not, resulting in a sharing of moments and memories quickly. The program, however, does not come without dangers. As with any social media sharing entity, the quick expression and release of information is both exciting and dangerous. It is for that reason that parents need to understand the risks and be instagram monitoring vigilantes, especially when it comes to their children that use the application.

Prying Eyes

One of the reasons that Instagram monitoring needs to be taken seriously is because, as with any social media site,

The Internet is an amazing thing. It is a way to connect individuals from around the world, together without ever having to leave the comfort of home. It can be used to gather information that was never accessible so readily and provides for a way to discuss aspects of life with old and new friends. With this power and greatness, though, come many risks, especially when it comes to children. All individuals, including children and teenagers, are susceptible to cyber harassment, stalking, and potential addictions as the result of Internet usage. The following explains more. 

Cyber Bullying Crime and Harassment

Every generation has its list of potentially dangerous activities targeting adolescents and teenagers. While experimenting with drugs and online dating are some of the major trends these days, there's another pattern that's catapulted to the top of disturbing behavior among today's youth. Sexting, or text messaging, is extremely popular for individuals mainly between the ages of 9 and 18.  Parents should be aware of this new form of engagement and how to protect their children from its negative aftermath. Sexting refers to sending sexually suggestive messages, photographs, and signage to others via text messages on mobile devices or other multimedia tools. The items sent by users are typically nude pictures and erotic words or phrases. The purpose is to flirt with romantic prospects, invite dating experiences, and increase social status among youth circles. Many pre-teens and teenagers get involved due to boredom or peer pressure. 

Sexting Consequences 

Although it may seem harmless to some young people, there's several severe drawbacks to sexting. For one, individuals must live with the permanence of their activity.