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It Gets Better
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Protecting Apple
Products
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Social Shield
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Kids Culture
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Discussion
Questions
"I really don't believe in abortion." How
about in cases of rape? "Um. Well, I
think that's really sad, but everything
happens for a reason."
Justin Bieber in Rolling Stone Magazine
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"No matter what, you can't change
who you are. I know that now. I tried
to be someone I wasn't because I
wanted my marriage to work."
Christina Millian US Weekly
The Parent Source
is composed by:
Upside Down Ministries
www.ud4christ.com
Teen Culture Specialist
Robert Smith
P O Box 232
Lawton, Ok 73502
robert@ud4christ.com
Internet pornography has absolutely changed my
generation‟s expectations. You‟re looking for the one
photo out of 100 you swear is going to
be the one you finish to, and you still
GET THE CONdon‟t finish. Twenty seconds ago you
VERSATION
thought that photo was the hottest thing
you ever saw, but you throw it back and STARTED
continue your hunt and continue to
make yourself late for work. How does
that (porn) not affect the psychology of
having a relationship with somebody?
It‟s got to.
John Mayer Playboy Magazine
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GAY TEENS AND CHILDREN TARGETED
IN RECENT COMMERCIAL
Google Chrome recently aired a commercial that really
caught my attention. It started out with several real
newspaper headlines that read things like “bullied for
being „Gay‟,” “The Suicides of Gay Teenagers” and
“Teenage Suicide „Epidemic‟.” They were then followed
by an adult gay couple talking about how tough it was
being gay in high school and how they got picked on.
They then petition adults to “reach out to kids and
share their stories.” The way they can share their
stories is by uploading videos to YouTube all in effort
to let gay teens and kids know it does get better. The
commercial then shows several short clips of diverse
adults that include a police officer and a marine, (who are obviously a couple) a senior adult man, two men
with small children, a soccer coach and many other diverse groups of people all saying “it gets better.” They
also have several celebrities including Lady GaGa, Adam Lambert, Ann Hathaway, Kathy Griffin and the
cartoon character Woody from “Toy Story” all chime in with the same message.
What you need to know about the “it gets better” project
Over the past several years, many sad stories have circulated about gay teens committing suicide due to on
going bullying. In September 2010, author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry, to
inspire hope for young people facing harassment. Two months later, The “It Gets Better” Project turned into a
worldwide movement. Inspiring over 10,000 user-created videos. Their goal is to encourage Lesbian, Gay,
Bi-sexual and Transgendered kids (yes kids) and teens to see adults who made it through this stage of life
and remind them that they are not alone and it will get better. Barack Obama, Chris Colfer, Hillary Clinton,
Joe Jonas, Ke$ha and many more celebrities have already posted videos to this site.
A few observations worth noting
1) According to statistics LGBT teens are bullied 2 to 3 times more and they are 4
times more likely to attempt suicide. Anytime a teen is verbally or physically abused,
no matter the reason, that is never a good thing.
2) The use of cartoon characters in their commercial and the open support of “Pixar
Movie Studios” is a direct indication of just how young this conversation should
begin. It also shows that at a very young age, kids are being told by people they
trust on television how they should feel about homosexuality.
3) This movement says that loving somebody and accepting their lifestyle are one in the same. It is crucial
that our teens are being taught God‟s true design for relationships and love. They must know that not
agreeing with somebody's lifestyle does not have to be expressed with hatred. However, regardless of what
their culture is teaching them, they are not “evil” if they disagree with them.
4) For years, many parents have approached this topic with
hatred, quickly slamming the door on the conversation. We
must talk to our children about it. It is also important to
allow your children to ask you questions that they may have
on this subject. Because many of them are making their
minds up based off of fleeting feelings, celebrities and
loveable television characters all the while never being
taught God‟s views on this issue.
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LEARN HOW TO LOCK DOWN AND PROTECT I-PHONES, I-PODS and I-PADS
Right now, Apple is succeeding on many levels and one of the reasons is because they
own the kid and teen market. Some call it Apple brainwash, others think it’s
world-class marketing put to work. Whatever the case, it’s working out to Apple’s
advantage.
Piper Jaffray’s survey of 4,500 kids in the US revealed that over 50 percent of teens
could own an iPhone in the next six months – 17 percent already have one and
37 percent plan on buying the device in the next six months. Of course, what
kids plan and what they get are likely not the same.
Nearly one in five, or 22 percent teens surveyed, already owned a tablet or
had one in the house. Seems like the iPad is a big hit with the youngsters as
one in five want one – it dominates the tablet market as 83 percent of
tablets sold in 2010 were iPads.
With this information in mind, every Apple product mentioned in the
above article can access anything online, including porn, sexual predators
and illegal content. How are you protecting your children while they are
on these devices? Here is a website that can help you lock down and protect
Apple devices. Visit EasyParentalControlTips.com and begin protecting your family today!
I often get asked what is the best way to know what
your kids are doing on Facebook and on their cell
phones. I recently ran across a new program that I
highly recommend! It is called Social Shield. Unlike
other monitoring programs, it is not restrained to one
device. It links directly to your kids cell phone number and Facebook account to give you a heads up on any
questionable content. It is available for $10 a month and they also offer a free 14 day trial. Here is more
information taken from Social Shield‟s website on how this program can help you.
COMPREHENSIVE ALERTS:
They alert you to a range of safety risks including cyberbullying and predators as well as talk of
drugs, alcohol or sex that could damage your child's reputation.
360 DEGREE MONITORING:
Unlike traditional parental control software, Social Shield can track social networking activities
regardless of what computer or phone your child uses to access these sites.
MOBILE PHONE MONITORING:
In addition, Social Shield can monitor your child's mobile phone calling and texting usage and
combine it with social network data to give you a complete picture about who is contacting your
child.
SocialShield is an online monitoring service dedicated to helping parents keep their kids safe on Facebook
and other social networks. We save parents time and frustration by continually analyzing their kids‟ public
and private social network activity for risky or inappropriate behavior by strangers and online friends. We alert
parents to a range of online safety risks including cyberbullying and predators, as well as postings which
could compromise a person‟s school or employment prospects. However, Social Shield does not “spy” on
kids. Rather, we use sophisticated computer algorithms to search for suspicious and/or dangerous activity
which is then “flagged” and sent to parents as summary exception reports. Social Shield strictly adheres to all
applicable privacy protection terms and conditions. You might think of it as a sort of “virus protection” for your
child. –www.socialshield.com
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7.5 MILLION UNDERAGED KIDS ON FACEBOOK
Many parents have asked me, “At what
age should I allow my kid to get on
Facebook?” I won‟t go into my full
answer on that question. But, a
common reply is not until Facebook
says they can. Many parents don't
know that Facebook prohibits children
under the age of 13 from having an
account. However, their verification
system is weak. A kid would just have
to lie about their birthday, then they
would be able to make their own profile.
Despite the guidelines that Facebook has in place, a recent survey found that 7.5 million kids under
the age of 13 are on Facebook and 5 million of them are under the age of ten. Many parents are
concerned that a 10 year old is not equipped to handle some of the dangers of Social networking like
cyber-bullying and friend request from strangers.
This is not an issue that parents can rely on Facebook to fix. Verifying ages is a difficult thing to do.
I am sure Facebook will attempt to beef this up in the months to come. However, it is ultimately the
parents responsibility to talk to their child about what they are and are not allowed to do on-line.
If your child is under 13, they are not permitted to be on Facebook. There are very real dangers that
could be avoided by simply honoring the age guidelines Facebook has in place. It is important that
parents help their kids to honor those guidelines.
KIDZ BOP 20 Covers some pretty questionable songs.
So what makes Kidz Bop music so kid-friendly? Not much,
actually. Kidz Bop is a product that has 20 volumes of
today‟s Top 40 hits sang by kids rather than the original
artists. Kidz Bop 20 is set to release this month. So what kind
of songs are they singing? “Born This Way,” a song about
embracing your sexuality even if your gay. “Forget You,” a
song that was originally titled “F**K You.” “The Lazy Song,”
which contains a line about having really nice sex …and
several other explicit songs. You may have never heard some
of these songs, but chances are your kids have. The original
versions of some of these songs contain cursing and sexual
references, so Kidz Bop edits that out and changes some of
the lyrics. However, even with curse words covered up and
lyrics changed many of the songs contain content about love and relationships in an adult context.
Modern day pop music is creative in the way they talk about inappropriate subjects, so your kids
could be singing about sex, drugs, or alcohol when singing along with Kidz Bop and not even realize it. It is also important to note that if your kids do attempt to listen to the non Kidz Bop version
of some of these songs the content will not be edited like on Kidz Bop. Not all the titles covered on
Kidz Bop are a concern, but as a parent, make sure the lyrics and meanings are suitable and appropriate for your kids.
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Parent Discussion questions:
The “It Gets Better” ProjectHow do you think this commercial could affect someone’s view of homosexuality?
How do you feel about a cartoon character being in a commercial encouraging homosexuality?
Social Shield–
How do you feel about your parents having your password to your Facebook account?
What are some negative things you’ve seen happen on Facebook? Cyberbullying? Inappropriate pictures?
How could a parent having help to monitor online activity be a good thing for a teenager or child?
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