Robin W: I just found out that there is gang activity in the elementary school that my two youngest children attend. I think my son has been a target, but he's afraid to open up and talk to me. He used to be able to talk to me about anything but now he's withdrawn. He has never had problems at school before and now all of a sudden he's acting out and stealing, and I don't know what to do about it. My son is normally a very happy, friendly; laid back kid...What can I do to help him?

JW: Robin, bullying can a serious problem for kids, and bullies frequently target the kids who are good students. I recently came across a sobering statistic from the Family Work Institute: nearly a third of school kids become victims of bullies. So, clearly, your problem is one that a lot of parents are battling. I know that the National Crime Prevention Council has done a lot of work to help parents like you deal with this growing concern.
Continue reading How Can My Child Stay Safe From Bullies? »

Michelle K: My daughter is 13 years old. Despite all of my efforts to keep her from setting up pages on websites with pictures and details about herself, she continues to find more sites that I am unaware of to set up pages on. I have talked myself blue in the face, made her watch several of your programs on predators and others. Still, for some reason, she will not listen to me. How do I get her to see how serious this all is?

JW: Believe me, Michelle, many parents are fighting this battle with their teenagers. Fortunately, you have a very powerful ally. You can’t keep your kids off of the Internet, but The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) offers some great online resources with information that’s not only helpful for parents, but produced with graphics and language that will appeal to kids, too. You can access these resources at NetSmartz.org, NetSmartTeenz.org and 4NetSafety.com. The websites use videos and interactive games that help open the lines of communication, and help kids understand how dangerous the Internet can be if they’re not careful.