Talking About Cyber-Bullying

The modern world has made for busy parents, busy children, and lots of new technology to keep us that way. Kids are rarely without their many various and sundry electronic devices, smart phones, iPad's, laptops and the like. Parents are so busy working to pay for all of these technological wonders that we hardly have time to supervise the activities that are taking place. We may not even know how they work, but ask any teenager, and you will get an eye roll and a quick demonstration. Ah, the wonders of technology.

The rise of technology has a bright side but it also contains a dark side. While it may seem all fun and games to your children; criminals have made good use of the same technology and are finding more creative ways to victimize and prey on the innocent. How can you be sure that the people interacting with your child in chat rooms, online forums and instant messaging programs are who they claim to be? Your child is at risk from online predators even with privacy settings set to high on social networks. Adolescent children are at increasing risk of cyber-bullying from school mates or people they know. This trend has been on the rise in recent years and can have a devastating effect on your young teen if left unchecked.

Younger children are increasingly at risk. It only takes a clever adult to deceive and victimize an innocent child. Parents must guard against the exposure that children face while surfing on the Internet, whilst at the same time yet allow their kids to enjoy the benefits of this unlimited informational resource without hindering and pestering them too much.

Communication information and available parenting tools are your weapons against online predators. Inform your children that they face a risk and teach them to be aware of strangers posing as friends. Set all privacy settings to high and encourage children to talk to you about any situation that feels uncomfortable, images, disturbing language or behavior they may encounter while online. Let your kids know that you care, and are watching out for them but not over them. There is nothing a child hates more than their parents standing over them as they interact with their friends.

Another way to safeguard children while on social networks is by using an app that monitors and tracks their online activities. This way you do not have to watch over them yet you are aware overtime they take a wrong turn. Your job is to protect your kids as much as possible from online threats.

Checkout chatsec's child protection Facebook app http://www.chatsec.com/ that protects your child from cyber bullying, sexual predators, abductions and much more.

Chatsec uses a complex algorithm that monitors your child's account so no one except you, the parent, can see what is going on. Chatsec's displays all concerning content on an easy to read platform for your convenience.

Chatsec puts parental control back in your busy life at the click of a button.

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Parenting Is Hard, So What Is the Role of a Parent?

Parenting is probably the hardest thing on earth.

Because although most parents do take it very seriously, and do genuinely just want what's best for their son, daughter, or children, they nevertheless struggle with it. Because it IS very hard.

Kids often resist, and struggle and fight, and parents do the same. Inevitably, over the course of 18 years or however more, real difficulties arise, and real harm is done to that once little kid you just wanted to love and protect and comfort.

I think this is largely due to the misunderstood nature of parenting. As parents they simply want a bright future for their children, for them to become as they hope and as they designed. But to that end mistakes are made, and I believe it is because the premise from which that parenting takes place is misguided.

This disconnect is seen most clearly in adolescence, when the kid begins to assert themselves; when he or she begins to believe and feel that they are grown,yet also see finally that they have none of the freedom or independence that normally results in.

And so they push their parents. And their parents push back.

Because to them, their child is not mature - perhaps for his age, but not yet enough for the world. They don't believe their child is responsible enough or ready enough to be as free as he or she desires. This kid still needs to be protected from his own immaturity. He or she still needs to be protected from the world.

And so they establish rules and boundaries; things they need to do and things they are forbidden from doing; places they can go and places they cannot; friends they can have and those they must avoid.

And while these actions may indeed save them from some mistake or degree of pain, I think they do nothing to improve or mature the child.

Because while it may help to protect them in the short-run - tomorrow, today, immediately - it does more to harm them inevitably. It robs them of the experience of that mistake, and the lesson of that decision. It does nothing to teach them of the responsibility and consequence of independence and of their actions. It does nothing to make a boy a Man and a girl a Woman.

The role of a parent is not the protector. It is not their job to shelter their children from the evils of the world or from their own mistakes. Their job is to prepare them for those mistakes. It's to prepare them for the difficulties of the world, from which you can not long shield them.

Adam Alvarado is the founder of, and principal contributor to The Last Broken Home, a self development blog dedicated to his journey from teenage depression to self esteem.

Central to the site is the idea that all people all people, regardless of parental participation and quality, are raised in an environment that in some way proves an obstacle to their full and complete emotional and mental maturity; that the tendency for anxiety and depression, indecision and stagnation found in most adults is best explained through the learned behaviors of their youth, and therefore best addressed there in others.

Read more about How to Be a Good Parent

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Reselling Wholesale Baby Clothes: A Profitable Venture

When someone finally makes the decision to open their own store, it is critical that they put a lot of thought into their strategy before they open the doors. The first thing that an entrepreneur should consider is what kind of products to stock. Typically one will choose to focus on an industry that they are passionate about, to ensure that they will be dedicated enough to see this venture through to completion. For those who are passionate about fashion, one option could be to utilize your eye for trendy looks to open a store that sells baby clothes and outfits for infants. They then need to find good suppliers for this aspect of the business.

For a fashionable entrepreneur, there are many reasons to consider this approach. For instance, each year there are 4 million children born in the United States alone, and each new child means that parents, friends and family members will all be looking to purchase infant apparel. Additionally, the average age of first time mothers has increased from 21 in the 1970s to 25 today. This is because couples are waiting a few years until they are in a better financial situation before starting a family. With increased financial security comes increased spending money, so that parents are more interested than ever before in locating chic, trendy clothes for their infants. Thus, there will always be a market for outfits for newborns.

Once an entrepreneur realizes that selling outfits for newborns has the potential to be a very successful business strategy, they must next turn their attention to locating their merchandise. A popular choice among business owners is to acquire wholesale baby clothes. If one has never acquired clothing in this way before, he or she may not realize how beneficial this strategy can be for a store.

These distributors will usually offer discounts for those who order in large quantities, though even without a quantity discount, buyers will find that the prices are very low. This is because sellers are not only interested in selling their merchandise, but they are also looking to build a long-term relationship with their clients. Since these sellers do not have their own store, they must instead work to ensure that store owners keep returning to place additional orders.

Using this strategy of merchandise acquisition can also help a store owner to stay organized. Instead of having to work with numerous distributors to coordinate order quantities, delivery dates, product selection and general customer support issues, the store owner has all of these needs taken care of by one company. What makes this possible is the wide assortment of products, including multiple styles of the same item that are offered by each seller.

Obviously when it comes to evaluating baby clothes suppliers, one option is better than the rest: buying wholesale. When placing an order, store owners should make sure that they ask for the supplier's Employee Identification Number (EIN) or their tax ID to make sure that they are dealing with a legitimate distributor and not a company looking to take advantage of parents who think that they are getting a good deal.

In my research on baby clothes suppliers, I found that buying wholesale baby clothes offers the most benefits to a store owner.

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Child Development: Self-Liberating School-Age Child

There are many theories of child development. However we consider the child's development as self-liberation. A child is liberating herself from dependencies and fears moving toward freedom. She goes through the infant, toddler, preschooler, school-age, and teenage stages. In this article we discuss the major challenges a school-age child faces in her self-liberation: testing social skills and making study joyful.

Your child goes to school. What an exciting event! Now, your parenting supervision is almost zero. Your child is on her own. For many students this is a time of survival. Will teachers be kind to her? Will peers be friendly to her? Will bullies ignore her? It is not a question of whether or not there are bullies. It is a question of how will she develop her own tactics to avoid them or deal with them. Every group of people forms their social hierarchy and time to time rank their members. The school environment is no exception. Let's be aware of this instead of being ignorant.

The more your child is internally secure by your love and support the more she will feel good about herself and adjust to the new environment. That is her way of liberating herself from fears and negativity, moving toward her internal freedom. What can you do to help your child develop positive social skills? Every day you can meet her with a smile and unconditional acceptance, no matter her school achievements. Every morning you can see your child to the school with faith in your eyes, that you believe that she is a good and honest person, and that that is enough for you to love her.

The main job of a school age child is to study. School material is growing in volume, consuming most of the child's time. Hopefully she has talented teachers, who make the hard work of study a joy. What if she is not that lucky? A great Russian educator Simon Soloveychik gives good advice: "If joyful study doesn't depend on us, if the study is difficult for a child, let's connect the joy with the study itself, not necessarily with its success."

Unfortunately, many parents think that school success and achievements are the only criteria for happiness, and that is a mistake. The joy of studying and learning itself is the real result of your child's efforts in school. Not only does the child develop her knowledge of the world by studying at school, she develops the love to the world itself, the desire to live in this world and be happy. "Don't be afraid of bad grades, don't force your child to be an excellent student, but be afraid to grow a joyless princess. Life will give your joyless child bad grades," Soloveychik says.

In the school-age stage your child self-liberates herself from insecurity and fears in her heart, from confusion and darkness in her mind. The only thing you, parent, can do to help her on this journey is to love and give unconditional support. If you can help with her studies, then help. If you cannot, you still can lift your child's dignity by being cheerful and joyful about her life at school, her peers and adventures. Don't be her judge or home-work manager. Be a happy parent! This sounds simplistic because it is. What you cannot impart to your child, she will acquire herself, by her self-liberation toward freedom. The stronger your faith in her, the easier this process will be.

Parenting For Everyone - raising children with love and conscience http://www.parentingforeveryone.com/

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Toys Ought To Be Age Appropriate

Parents most often strive to make sure their children are happy. Yes, keeping them in high spirits might be a challenge when it comes to play toys. Giving them everything they want should not be a priority but giving them toys that last and encourage development with educational value is worth while. Careful consideration is what needs to occur before you make a toy purchase. You need to think about how the toy will be used and what the recommended ages are for playing with it. Ask yourself these questions, "Does it have entertainment value" and "Does it have educational value or is it "Age appropriate"? And yes, most of us purchase toys just because they are the latest trend or fad and because the kids really want the product. Overall though, we must realize that toys do teach! Toys are designed for all age groups, development levels and skill sets. That is why one of the most important factors is age appropriateness which determines if the child will actually use the toy and not get bored with it.

For example, if a child who is 3 plays with an infant toy, of course they will be bored with the product. It is not suited for them or produced for the age group. Think about why we keep small toys and small parts away from infants and babies, they are too little to have these playthings due to the choking hazard it poses. Just like you would not expect a child who is 12 years old to ride a tricycle you can't expect a baby to ride one either. While this example is a bit excessive you realize the points in question. Package labeling and printed information should be reviewed prior to buying. For good reason, almost all of the companies have gone through extensive research in the product development stages along with product safety guidelines set forth by the Consumers Product Safety Commission. If in doubt, do not allow your kids to play with toys that you think might be unsafe for them. This requires constant supervision especially if you have different age groups in the same home. Sure, it can be hard to keep a 12 month old away from an older child's playthings but it is necessary for their well-being. Just like you child proof a home with outlet, caps, safety hinges and locks, you need to child proof the toys they have access too.

Lastly, the healthier way to watch out for your children's safety and keep them from harms way is to oversee their playtime meaning "Adult supervision" at all times. This is the most helpful way to save them from harm and to prevent accidents.

Dianna, is always offering safety and education tips to parents and caregivers. She focused on parents, and wants them to properly teach children to play safe on equipment. She is also the Founder of Best Price Toys, an educational toys website and Build a Swing Set, a leading children's playground store were the focus is on outdoor play and exercise for children. You can visit her store to learn more about Swing Sets and swing set safety for Kids.

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