Parenting: Online Safety & Stranger Danger

We warn our kids not to talk to strangers, but they also need to know how to avoid inappropriate websites or why an explicit text from a friend could get them in trouble.

FOX’s Lisa Brady reports in this week’s ‘FOX on Family’:

Even kids aware of stranger-danger, may not be prepared for what’s lurking online:

(Lozano) “You can be playing a video game and then there’ll be something that kind of comes up for pornography and all you have to do is click and you’re in a whole ‘nother world.”

Licensed professional counselor Rusty Lozano says he and his wife were stunned during recent forums with middle school classes in Texas:

(Lozano) “When she says how many of you girls have actually experienced a boy asking for a nude picture of you and she said more than half of those girls raised their hands.”

In a separate room, nearly half of the boys reported some kind of a stranger-encounter, like someone trying to coax them into a car.

Lozano urges parents to be proactive; warn kids about sexting and pornography, the laws against it and possible ripple effects, including blackmail:

(Lozano) “From making a mistake of sending a picture and saying well, if you don’t send more, then I’m going to spread this around or I’m going to get you in trouble.”

He recommends age-appropriate warnings for younger kids, too. Because once a child starts using a smart device, they can be a captive audience.

With FOX on Family, I’m Lisa Brady.