Mantofa Articles Directory

Ah! The Internet. The wonderful World Wide Web.

A whole new door of information and possibilities has opened in our lifetimes. It is expanding everyday, too.

It also brings a macabre nightmare opening of Pandora’s Box for any parent. The “Information Highway” is loaded with danger for kids.

It is important to understand how the Internet is used by predators. They do it in a number of ways: some like to befriend a child first. Often it involves attention, kindness and gifts. The process slowly introduces sexual context and content into their conversations.

Some predators immediately engage in sexually explicit conversation with children. Still others collect and trade child-pornographic images, while others seek real face to face meetings with kids.

It is also important to know that the FBI states that an online predator can be any age or sex. There is no one profile.

Teenagers are particularly targeted because of their natural curiosity and growing sexual nature. Predators exploit this.

One of the warning signs your child may be in the throes of being victimized online is that they may become withdrawn from the family.

Online predators will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and their family.

Predators will accentuate any minor problems at home that your child might have, again befriending them and driving that wedge into the family structure.

Many kids are not aware they are putting themselves in danger by giving out too much personal information and communicating with people they’ve only met online.

These problems get larger because most kids, especially teenagers, do not inform their parents of online incidents.

Monitor your child when they are online. Sit with them while they surf and play. If you do not sit with them while they are online and your child is pre-teen, consider installing available filters that let you control the sites they can visit.

It is not about mistrust, it’s about knowledge. Preteens can accidentally visit a porn site where “cookies” are surreptitiously deposited on your computer. This typically opens the door for SPAM and more unwanted intrusions into your life.

Decide on the time of day, length of time and websites that you child can visit.

Teach your child to treat online contacts just like the strangers they are. Personal information is none of their business!

This includes telephone number, address, parent’s work address and telephone number and the name and location of schools.

Make sure you view all correspondence that your child has created prior to agreeing to this type of meeting.

There is no reason today for a picture of your child to be posted on the web for any reason without your permission.

This way, they do not have the ability to send it to anyone. If there really is a need for a photo online of your child, make sure you review the reasons why and carefully weigh the options.

Joyce Jackson is a child safety expert in northern California. For her extensive website and information see http://www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com and get her free online safety report at http://www.StopPredatorsCold.com

It’s wonderful for moms to have the choice to stay at home to raise their young children. There’s nothing like just being there for all those milestones. But the day comes when all the kids are in school. Should you go back to work?

This is a very common point for stay at home moms to rejoin the workforce, at least part time. There is less need from their children, and it’s nice to be bringing in some income. The basic early needs have been taken care of.

But not every stay at home will decide to go back to work. There are still very good reasons to stay at home. How do you decide which way is right for you?

Much of this depends on your priorities, of course. What do you feel will be best for your family?

Even in school, your children can have a need for a parent at home. There are the days they stay home sick. Half days. Holidays. Summer vacation.

Not to mention the benefits of having someone at home to help with homework when they get home after school. Being a stay at home mom means that it is easier to be involved in your children’s education. That can be a definite advantage as you probably won’t be too tired to give help as appropriate.

Being there means no need to pay for daycare or figuring out who is going to pick the kids up later.

However, continuing to stay at home means you will probably fight the battles you fought when you first chose to be a stay at home mom all over again. People often assume SAHMs will go back to work once the kids start school. All those arguments about whether at home moms are lazy can be expected again.

Of course, there are advantages to going back to work too. More money for your family. That can feel good if you’ve been stretched financially the entire time you’ve stayed at home. It’s a chance to use your college degree, if you have one, for a career.

Going back to work can be tough, of course, You will need to update your resume. Not all employers will respect your choice to be an at home mom for a few years, but at least that is a good explanation for the gap in your resume. But if you did any volunteer work or worked at home, make sure that makes it into your resume.

If you haven’t kept your skills up you may have to start at a lower level in your career than you left. Even if you have tried to keep up, employers may not trust in that and expect you to prove yourself in that lower position. It’s tough but it’s the reality of the situation.

One option would be to consider going back to school for a time rather than straight back to work. Update those credentials so that you can start at a higher level.

Most stay at home moms will consider at one point or another returning to work. That doesn’t mean she will choose to do so. Just as when a baby is first born, there are good reasons for a mother to choose to stay at home just as there are good reasons to decide to return to work. It’s a very personal decision, something done for the good of all involved.

Stephanie Foster is happy as a SAHM. She offers tips on finding work at home jobs at http://www.homewiththekids.com/work-at-home/ but has found that doesn’t always stop the questions. If you want to share your experiences you can join her forum at http://www.homewiththekids.com/phpBB2/

Parents are integral in our Keeping Kids Safe program. Kids get the most out of what we teach when we engage the parents as part of the teaching and learning process.

Why?

First, kids want to please their parents. They will work very hard to do things they know will gain the smiles, kisses and pats that go with the approval of Mom and Dad. At young ages kids will do things they have little or no interest in because they know they will gain favor with their parents.

With Keeping Kids Safe we bring parents into our classes, exercises and techniques. Why not have kids engage in safety activities that benefit them while the get thee parents to approve? It simply accelerates the learning process for the child.

Secondly, practice at home reinforces safety issues through repetition. At keeping Kids Safe we are great believers in repetition. It is the most time honored teaching tool on the planet and we use it relentlessly.

Repetition does not mean dull, either. It simply means doing things again and again. There are many ways we repeat things so kids remember however they are carefully disguised as fun and new, exciting things for the kids. We come at these ideas from many different angles in our Keeping Kids Safe course.

It is just flat out true that the more kids are exposed to something the better they learn it. If your child grows weary of hearing an idea repeatedly…be thankful. That means they have learned it so well that it now bores them a bit. This is far better than them being exposed to an idea only once in class and not have it take root in their memory.

Parents As Silent Examples
We also know kids learn by watching. Who do kids watch the most? Who do kids get influenced the most by when they are young? Their parents.

It does not matter if the behavior is positive or negative the child observes, the child just mimics the behavior of their most cherished icon, Mom and Dad. Kids watch and learn from the examples of their parents. This is why parents can capitalize on teaching their children silently by example to be the best they can be.

How?

By being the best they can be as adults and as parents.

To get the most out of keeping kids safe for your child you need to be the best you can be as an adult and set that example. Are you a confident person? Are you calm in a crisis? Do you have a positive outlook and a can do attitude?

These are critical qualities your child needs to have in order to be able to keep themselves safe when you are not around.

Whether you want to be or not, whether you consciously work at it or not, whether you believe this or not, your child is watching absorbing and mimicking very quietly everything about you as their parent.

So, Mom and Dad, you need to be the best you can be.

Setting The Example
So how do you do any of this with kids, family, jobs, obligations and just flat out the every day demands of living in today’s world?

There are two simple steps to start.

If you do these two things every day for a few weeks it will open doors that will bring you ideas and ways to move and improve.

One, tell yourself you feel good. Every day, whether you do or not, tell yourself you feel good. Every day, several times a day say to yourself, I feel Good!Say it with meaning, say it with emotion, say it often.

Even if you do not feel it, say it! Delete the negative thoughts. Just stop them in your mind. Focus on feeling good. It will take hold after a short period of time.

You may think this is silly but feeling good is the foundation for all that is to follow.

Did you know your kids do this unconsciously. They’re first thought in the morning is not Oooo! My Back! Kids think about their toys, what they want to eat and where they are going for the day that will be fun and make them feel good.

As adults we learned day after day over years how not to feel good. Remember times as a child when you felt great. Be like your child in your mind. Train your mind to feel good.

What did you dream about at 8 years old?
I watch my two boys as they play. They are full of expressive faces, words with giddy laughs and wide open eyes as they talk about flying superheroes, race cars, dinosaurs and rockets.

At any one time they want to be baseball players, scientists, astronauts and heroes. Every answer to “what do you want to be?” is accompanied by waving hands and full body gesture as they see in their minds eye what they are thinking.

I never once hear that they want to be mid level managers, have a dead end job and surround themselves with debt and money problems.

Somewhere along the way of growing up most adults let go of their dreams. In letting go of them hey also lose the desire to continually move forward and evolve as human beings.

I’m here to say that life can be better the older you get. Life is better the older you get. Improving, moving forward, evolution, growth, what ever it is you call it you can do it and strive for your dreams what ever your age.

Dreams are for adults.

Find your dreams again. Sure, they’ve changed since your were a child. Maybe they have not. Spend some quiet time resurfacing your dreams again.

It may seam like a child’s fantasy and that is the point. Become more child-like. Kids hold onto their dreams because they have not been conditioned to let go of them. The negative influences of our society drum us into submission to let go and become one of the masses.

It is never to late to find a dream and pursue it. It will keep you young and keep you excited for the rest of your life.

Joyce Jackson is a child safety expert in northern California. For her Keeping Kids Safe program and more great information see her extensive website at http://www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com and http://www.StopPredatorsCold.com

Math is one of the most important subjects to teach your kids. A strong math foundation will carry them through a wide assortment of courses and life tasks but, unfortunately, it is one of the most difficult subjects to teach children. Many find it boring and mundane, and struggle with concepts and ideas.

My own kids really had a hard time focusing on their math lessons in the beginning. They would beg and plead with me to take a break, and it really concerned me. So, I took it upon myself to investigate what makes math fun for kids, and why my own attitude had a profound effect on how they saw mathematics.

Mathematics certainly doesn’t have to be boring to kids! In fact, there are a wide assortment of educational math toys that not only make learning easier, but a whole lot of fun. When shopping for
toys and activities, think about things in terms of visual and moving elements. Gears, sorting items, play money and other tools make math real to many children.

Role playing is another easy way to introduce math to young students. A “pretend” shopping trip will not only entertain your kids, but teach them how to make change. Try giving your children a budget and letting them loose in a dollar store, and don’t forget to factor in taxes! One of the most satisfying activities for my own kids was a simple trip to the grocery store. I shopped with list in hand, while they had a pad and paper to tally up the shopping total. The child that got the total correct won a piece of candy or other goody at the end of the trip.

The trick to making math fun is to go with what your child is already interested in. If your child loves dinosaurs or soccer, try to find ways to introduce math concepts associated with that topic. Maybe they can calculate scoring averages for their favorite teams, or figure out how many pounds of food a T-Rex would eat over the course of a week. The possibilities are endless!

Lastly, learn to love math yourself. If you hate balancing your checkbook, your kids will pick up on it and learn to hate math as well. So the next time you grunt and groan about tallying up the bill at a restaurant, put on a smile and try to have fun with it.

Sarah Jones loves teaching. When she isn’t homeschooling her own children, she is busy sharing her love of education with others.
Find a wide assortment of lesson plans, crafts for kids, and homeschooling tips at http://www.KnowMore.com.

Predators are difficult for most of us to recognize. Any parent will gladly stand guard in their yard or take their turn patrolling the street in front of the house watching out for predators. However, watching out for sexual predators searching for your child is just not that simple.

First of all, the media does all of us a disservice. Yes, it is trendy to blame the media for all kinds of ills. When it comes to predators, we are not blaming the media for a problem, as much as alerting you to the shortcomings of movies, television shows and yes, even newscasts.

Movies and television shoes depict predators as if they came from Mars. We see dirty, leering, filthy adults that would make sewer rats cringe, as they slink and lurk behind garbage cans.

Newscasts have become focused more on ratings and selling advertising than hard real news. There are just too many confusing pieces of information and messages out there for most parents to filter through. Unfortunately, a lot of the information on child safety, although well intended, is old, outdated, useless or just plain wrong. Many ideas and notions about sexual predators are just plain wrong, too.

Who are these predators and how can you recognize them? You really can’t. If there is one message for you to understand, it is this one. Sexual predators look like everyone. They look like your neighbors. They look like the people at the grocery store. They look like everyday, normal individuals.

What to do about stopping sexual predators comes from knowledge and education. It’s all about having a trusted source that can filter through the maze of information and disinformation for you. We’re that filter for you.

First, sexual predators are difficult to spot. Not only do they look like us but they drive vehicles just like we do, too. They drive family vehicles that are like every other car on the road.

What we are saying is this: there is no real way to go about your daily life and be able to spot sexual predators. This is why we teach kids the added advantage of keeping themselves safe. This is why we arm kids with all kinds of tool and techniques so they can deal with people, people in general, so that if in the end they shed their disguise as normal people and reveal the hidden sexual predator, your child can be safe.

The Jeffrey Dahmer’s, John Wayne Gasey’s and Ted Bundy’s of this world were described as “the nice guys next door.” All of them were prowling predators no one spotted.

We know that sexual predators search for the child that they see as weak, sad and unhappy. It’s the kid with the shuffling feet, head drooping and eyes fixed to the ground. It’s the child that appears they are in need of a friend. The predator wants an easy target when the time is “right.”

For the most part, predators are not interested in any kind of visible, noisy or public struggle that brings attention to their nefarious deeds.

In fact, many predators choose to befriend a child first. They choose to develop a dependent relationship with a child that appears to be in need of a close friend. It could be a sad, unhappy child. The predator then offers them gifts, ideas, or simple emotional comfort that makes the child feel better. The process slowly introduces sexual context and content into their interactions and conversations.

Some predators immediately engage in sexually explicit conversation with children right from the start. Online or Internet sexual predators may collect and trade child-pornographic images.

Others online may seek real face to face meetings with the kids they emailed or connected with in chat rooms or social blogs. There is no one profile. Predators cunningly exploit weakness and naivete. They will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and their family. Predators will even accentuate any minor problems at home that your child might have, again befriending them and driving that wedge into the family structure.

A confident child represents more of a challenge, a problem, someone who will be hard to manipulate, for the sexual predator.

Confident kids will also be uncooperative. They understand better, even if they cannot articulate their feelings, that something or someone is “just not right” and will avoid them or stay away.

Today’s world is a dangerous place. Today’s dangerous world is very different than anything seen before. It’s dangerous for adults.

It is very dangerous for our precious children. This sad truth is a reality however, one that you must accept and deal with in order to keep your child safe from sexual predators.

Many parents today just don’t know how to keep their kids safe in a modern world. There is nothing wrong with that. They grew up themselves with their parents warning of “Don’t talk to strangers!” when they were a child heading out the door to play. It was truly useless information to the child back then as it is today, but somehow made the parents feel their children were safe.

Many parents, although they are adults now, still think like this. Today, however, this kind of thinking can not only keep your child unsafe, it may put them at risk as a target for sexual predators. This kind of thinking can really endanger your child.

“This guy has to be a bad stranger,” or “Stay away from weirdoes!” seems like it has to help. The sad news, however, is it is useless. The fact is, many parents today have no idea how to keep themselves safe let alone teach their children safety from sexual predators.

Telling your child not to talk to strangers or telling your child any neighbor can be trusted is a recipe for danger. If you go around like this you are playing with odds that you child will not be the one ever approached by a sexual predator. That is roulette with your child’s life. Teach you child to be safe from all strangers and how to engage a Cirlce Of Safety to do it.

Joyce Jackson is a child safety expert in northern California. For her extensive website and information see http://www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com and a free special report at http://www.StopPredatorsCold.com