In today's day and age, bullying is not only done in person, but via the Internet as well. Physical altercations are just as harmful to a child as verbal ones, and a greater deal of harm can be done online, where there is a large network available for these bullying teens to put down their victims. They aren't just picking on them at school in front of a few others, but they are writing horrible things to them or about them on the Internet, spreading like wildfire, doing damage to the bullied child's reputation and psyche.

It seems like children are getting cell phones at younger and younger ages today.  As a parent, you're probably asking yourself, "Is my child ready for their first phone?"  While only you can answer that question for your child, there are a few things to keep in mind when making this all-important decision. 

 I am the mother of three little boys, ages six, four and ten months old.  My two older children each have their own tablets, know how to unlock Daddy’s iPad, often ask me to text their friend’s mothers for a play date, and know how to Skype.  It amazes me that children at such young ages are so proficient in technology, although I shouldn’t be that surprised since they are constantly surrounded by it, both at home and in school.

When I was their age, I was playing with Barbie Dolls, dressing up, and relying on the world of pretend to entertain myself.  Kids are definitely growing up faster these days and it is really scary as a parent.  I see eleven year olds with Facebook pages and I wonder, don’t these kids see each other at school everyday?  Do they sit in the lunchroom and text each other even though they sit next to each other?  Are we allowing technology to take over our children’s lives?

Many parents who took precautions to make sure that their children under 13 didn’t have a Facebook account failed to realize that Instagram was also a social networking site.  At first, Instagram just seemed like a photo-sharing app and some parents were even excited that their kids were taking an interest in photography.  Soon, they realized that, just like Facebook, Instagram gives you the ability to post comments on photos.  And that was where the downward spiral began, with kids posting nasty comments about each other and feeling left out when others posted photos of themselves doing things together.

But this wasn’t all.  Like Facebook, Instagram is full of unsavory individuals trying to contact others without knowing them.  There have been instances reported of kids being contacted by pedophiles trying to get their hands on photos of young girls.  They mask themselves as some type of legitimate business like a radio station running a contest, knowing that this is sure to lure young people.

In a world that is now run almost exclusively by computers,  cyberbullying has become a very real threat in the lives of our children and teenagers.  In fact, statistics show that among a population of 13 to 17 year olds, more than 43% have experienced some form of cyberbullying within the last year alone.  That statistic is staggering.  Cyberbullying takes on many forms, and each one is harmful to a child, causing anxiety, depression and sometimes even suicide.

Gossip

Gossip takes on a new definition when it's done online.  When we were kids, gossiping was mostly harmless.  And even though it spread quickly when one of your friends had a juicy tale to tell you, it's nowhere near how quickly gossip spreads online.  In just a few clicks of the mouse, information gets transferred from one person to another, causing an incredible amount of harm.  Through the use of social networks, any information is easily announced to world via a Facebook wall post.  Internet gossip can devastate a child.  

This Military Appreciation Month guest post comes from one of our favorite Military Mommy Bloggers, Lori, over at Air Force Wife Life. Check out her blog and read below about why she loves Zoodles, the kid-safe internet browser. 

Why I love Zoodles

Currently I’m living overseas in the Middle East with my husband and our two extremely cute and extremely curious children. I’m writing this because I’d like to share with you a service that I recently stumbled upon. I’m so very glad that I did!

Here is a festive guest post from our friend Raven over at Ms. MommyHH6 for our Military Appreciation Month. Read on for fun ideas for children and then go visit her blog!

Magical Ideas to Make this Christmas Special (at the last minute)

It’s Christmas time!!!   My entire family is “tech” lovers and there are so many great ideas for gifts this year.  There are also some great ideas to keep the magic of Santa alive for younger children!

With Snapchat making the headlines a lot the past few weeks, uKnowKids thought it would be very helpful to decode this app for you and show you exactly why using this app as a means to send nude or semi-nude pictures is a bad, bad idea.  And why sharing intimate photos in general is never a good idea.

Snapchat is a unique app that lets users take and then send pictures to a contact with a self-destructing timer on them.  When the timer runs out (1-10 seconds max), the picture is gone forever.  Many tweens and teens think this feature provides security and are using this app as a means to send intimate pictures---
but this is a very, very bad idea.  Download our infographic now to find out why. 

Here is a guest post about Twitter from Chelsea, over at Diamonds, Dogtags and Diapers. Read on to see how she uses twitter for many aspects of her life, and visit her blog when you are done!

Digital Besties -- Tweeing as a professional, parent and friend

To tweet or not to tweet? Hashtags (#) have invaded our favorite television shows and even places where they don’t belong – like Facebook and text messages.

Parents know that there are certain things we have to teach our children to handle responsibly before we set them free.  Most children progress from tricycle to training wheels to big kid bike under parental supervision.  It’s only after they’ve learned to ride safely, wear a helmet, and obey the rules of the road that we set them free to ride around the neighborhood.  Getting that first driver’s license is an important rite of passage for most teens, but few parents would hand over the car keys to a brand new driver and allow him or her to hit Route 66 for a cross-country road trip.  New freedoms are first exercised within boundaries.  Cars and bicycles are one thing, but what about teaching your child to navigate social media?  Do you have Facebook training wheels?

Let’s just assume for the moment that your child is at least 13 and not one of the 7.5 million Facebook users under the age of 13.  There are good reasons for your child to use Facebook and other forms of social media.  Here’s the big one:  in today’s world, this is how adults communicate.  We teach our children how to answer the phone, eat with good table manners, and speak to adults politely.  We need to teach them how to appropriately navigate social media as well.  Facebook’s user controls don’t always make that easy, however.  One out of five adult users don’t utilize Facebook’s privacy settings.  Does your child?  If you child was one of the one million minors who experienced abuse, threats, or harassment last year, would he or she know how to handle it?  Would you know that it had happened? 

Here is another guest blog post from one of our favorite military mommy bloggers, Samantha, from Hooah and Hiccups as part of our Military Appreciation Month. Throughout the month, look for more guest posts on our blog, our eBook becoming available Dec. 12th and our TroopSwap deal going live in the next couple of days. 

How Skype got me through my husband's deployment

When my husband deployed to Afghanistan, I didn’t know how I was going to cope with not seeing him everyday, let alone for weeks and months at a time.

We are pleased to share with you our very first guest blog post for Military Appreciation Month! This post on helping young children through deployment is by Kathryn from Singing Through the Rain.  Check her blog out! 

Helping Young Children Through Deployment

I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I helped my son, Adam through my husband’s first deployment. As I thought about it, I realized my answer is going to change as he grows older and as we go through more deployments. And that’s ok! Because my son was pretty young when my husband left for his first deployment, my answers may vary from someone who has a 5 year old or an 8 year old.

My son was 16 months old when my husband left. He also has specials needs so it was hard for me to tell how much it really bothered him or how much he noticed that his daddy was gone. I am sure he noticed, but for me I didn’t see much of a change after he left. I think 16 months is still kind of young to really understand what’s going on, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything to help him remember his daddy. There were still a lot of things I did to keep Adam involved in the deployment process and to help him keep in touch with daddy while he was away.

uKnow.com is pleased to announce that December is Military Appreciation Month. Throughout the month of December, we will be featuring military mommy bloggers on our blog site discussing things like helping young children through deployment and moving.  uKnowKids is also releasing a free eBook and SlideShare to the public about essential online tools and digital services that every military family needs.

This original article was posted by Pat Etheridge , Special to CNN.com:

Many teens learn the hard way that once they hit "send," there is no such thing as an "erase" button. 

Editor's note: Former CNN correspondent Pat Etheridge is a journalist specializing in children's health and family issues. She previously hosted CNN's "Parenting Today." 

(CNN) -- They're called "Generation M2": highly tech-savvy children ages 8 to 18, whose lives are immersed in electronic media.

Now, the nation's top pediatric organization is mobilizing efforts around their well-being.

Facebook has taken off in popularity so fast that many parents are left trying to keep up with this craze. Many parents have reported that their kids understand more about the Internet then they do, and this has meant that many parents are having difficultly controlling their kid's online behavior. 

The behavior of kids online can also be difficult to rule over because of the fact that the Internet is becomming more and more accessible. Even if the parent chooses to put up certain parental blocks on their computers at home, there is no guarantee that this will keep the child from doing whatever they please on a friend's computer or on a public computer, perhaps even one at their school. 

Did you miss Bullying Prevention Awareness Month? If you are a busy parent, it may have been easy to miss all the work that was being done to raise awareness about bullying. After all, you want to spend your extra time connecting with your kids, which doesn't always leave room for everything else.

But the need for anti bullying awareness goes beyond a single month, especially when it comes to cyberbullying, which can take place at home and throughout the year, even when children are supposed to be taking a break from school.

Since cell phones are pretty much in our every day life, of course children will want their own phone to send and receive message to their friends. There is no problem with this if you feel your child is responsible but you’re worried, you can still have the authority to monitor their text messages. Text message monitoring does not make you the bad guy, its actually a helpful cause especially if you think your child is being bullied over texts or sending inappropriate things. Keep these tips in mind if you’re looking to monitor their messages.

Talk With Your Child

The trend to send sexually explicit text messages and photos (also known as sexting) is something that is seen as harmless by many upon first consideration. In fact, many who read this may have engaged in this type of activity themselves at some point. However, there are some things that those who engage in sexting, are considering doing so, or are the parents of someone who falls into the first two categories should consider. 

You may not have thought about it a lot, but the company that covers your homeowners insurance is very concerned about cyberbullying and liability issues that could arise with a lawsuit. As the world moves quickly toward establishing dual identities in both the “real world” and online communities such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube or gaming systems like Xbox 360, new legal liability issues are escalating.

Cyberbullying incidents are reported to be quickly on the rise, and the insurance industry is scrambling to determine risk for an issue that did not exist ten years ago. While personal injury riders do exist as a part of standard homeowners or umbrella coverage, cyberbullying is still considered to be a “gray area” of coverage by most companies while the courts have already begun to sort the issue out.

These days, all kids have a presence online. They have Facebook, Twitter, Sims, and a host of other social media and and online games that they interact with multiple times a day. As a parent, you worry about keeping your child safe from cyberbullying and Internet predators. But with Internet available at home, at friends' houses and on mobile devices, how can you be sure you're keeping up with your parental monitoring duties?

The best way of keeping your kids safe online is to talk to them. Ask them questions like:

• "What sites and games do you like to look at online?"

• "What kinds of information do you think it's safe to post online?"