Remember when you were a kid and your parents gave you the dreaded “sex talk”? awkward and uncomfortable, yes; necessary and helpful, absolutely. Things have changed since we were kids, and there are some very real concerns that we need to talk to our kids about.
I read a story about a child pornography investigation in Waterloo, where Grade 7 and 8 students sent nude photos through social media, a total of 20 teens between 11 and 14 years old have been dealt with through the investigation. This concerns me. We try our best as parents to warn our kids about the dangers of the world around us, but this is obviously not an easy discussion. Our kids are so plugged into laptops and cell phones on social media, texting and sharing, it’s hard to keep up. We may think that kids know the risks involved with sending nude pictures, but do they? It’s so easy to hit send, our kids need to know that once they do that, it’s out there forever. You can’t just hit delete and make it go away. That’s why they need to know the dangers BEFORE this happens. When I gave my daughter her cell phone the first thing that I told her was don’t text or post anything that she wouldn’t want her father and I to see. Please talk to your kids.