5 Things You Should Know About Using Smartphones Safely

1. Teens use smartphones for everything from playing games to downloading music. Check out this infographic to see what else they're doing.
2. In one survey, 69% of adults said they believe smartphones increase risks to teen safety and well-being.
3. A smartphone is basically a small computer, so you should protect it the same way. Read these FAQs to learn about protecting your phone.
4. Pictures taken on your smartphone and posted online may reveal your location. Read this news report to learn how to fix it.
5. You can help teens think about smartphone safety with a simple conversation. Use these discussion starters from NetSmartz to get going.

Check out our new mobile website and connect with us via your Smartphone!

[Source: NetSmartz Workshop] Articles and comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) or Child Quest International (CQI). Any products or websites mentioned are not necessarily affiliated with, endorsed or licensed by NCMEC or CQI.

Silicon Valley ICAC Task Force: Three Arrests in Marin County Child Pornography Raids

SAN RAFAEL, CA Feb 24, 2012 - The Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force was serving warrants in Marin County Thursday, arresting three people on suspicion of downloading child pornography, police said.

A team of 75 agents and officers working for as many as 20 different city, state and federal agencies started making felony child porn arrests early Thursday morning.

"So far, we've served four warrants and made arrests at three of the locations: one in Fairfax, one in San Rafael and one in Novato," explained Margo Rohrbacher of the San Rafael Police Department.

The males arrested were a Novato teenager, 22-year-old Daniel Dinneen of Fairfax and 31-year-old Carlos Martinez, who lives in San Rafael.

"Imagine the worst of the worst. This is even worse than that," said Rohrbacher. "Infants up to pre-pubescent children, so it's just horrible."

Authorities arrested at least three men and seized computers and other evidence police said that show the men circulated videos of prepubescent children having sex with adults.

Other warrants were still outstanding for people who engaged in anonymous file sharing.

"The child pornography crime is growing in leaps and bounds," said Rohrbacher. "It grows about 150 percent a year and currently it's the fastest growing crime in the U.S."

Most neighbors in the family neighborhood where Martinez lived didn't want to speak, but two of them did. "I was pretty disgusted," said area resident Brian Todhunter. "You know, it's hard to say what people are doing behind their doors, but I was pretty surprised to find it so close to us."

"I don't know what... what to say," said neighbor Helena Silva. "I don't know. A great surprise."

20 such arrests have been made in the Bay Area in the last few months. Police said most of the accused had no criminal records.

[Source: KTVU | KCBS | ABC7]

6 Tips for Better Facebook Parenting

Recently, many people chimed in about the “Laptop Shooting Dad‘s” reaction to his 15-year-old daughter’s Facebook posts. Not only is the subject of social media parenting popular, but his stunt has surpassed 30 million views on YouTube.

While it’s evident that we live in a country of extremes — parents who use guns to make a point vs. parents that find this version of parenting horrific — the bottom line is that we all struggle to find the right balance when helping our kids through their tumultuous teen years.

During a recent #theonlinemom Twitter chat, nearly 400 parents weighed in with what they believed to be fitting alternatives to shooting nine bullets through a laptop. For instance:

• Donate the laptop to a needy school.
• Remove her privileges, like cellphone or allowance.
• Impose an extended grounding.
• Ask the 15-year-old to “clean the cleaning lady’s home.”

So what to do? 

Fact #1: Parenting experts agree that a child who feels emotionally and intellectually connected to her parents is likely to make better decisions during puberty and adulthood.

Fact #2: 90% of teens with a social networking account have one on Facebook, and 7.5 million kids under 13 are using Facebook to connect and share experiences with friends and family.

Conclusion: Embrace the platform.

Here are a few useful tips to keep in mind, whether your child is just getting started or is already a Facebook power user.

1. Jump in. If your teen is an avid user and you are not familiar with Facebook, open an account yourself and become familiar with the environment. Ask your teen to help you, to teach you the basics and the settings and to explain why she likes to use Facebook. Remind your teen you’ll be showing her how to drive a car soon — there’s a great quid pro quo!
2. Understand the importance of the platform. Facebook is not just a teen fad; it has also become an essential business tool. Your kids will need to be extremely savvy using and navigating social networks to stay competitive in the new economy.
3. Do not post on her wall. If she decides she’s going to friend you, refrain from any comments, offline or online. Do not comment to her friends when they pop by the house. Be respectful of the online space she has created with her friends.
4. Learn to connect with friends and family. If your teen sees that you are genuinely using Facebook as a way to connect with others, she will be impressed and proud of your ability to embrace a new medium. And believe me, you might just enjoy it!
5. Keep up. Facebook makes constant changes to settings, formats and even basic design, so stay involved and be aware of the changes. Embrace new apps by discussing them with your child. She will be able to relate to you on this level too.
6. Talk about it. Talk about Facebook at dinner — it makes for a great conversation. For instance, discuss how Facebook is as big as the third largest country in the world; how different people use it; what constitutes a friend; the FarmVille and Mafia Wars mania; the company’s IPO; where it may be headed, etc.

As your child’s parent, only you can provide perspective that he or she will learn to trust over the years. Treat Facebook as a new environment you can both explore together.

[Source: Mashable By Monica Villa] Monica Vila is co-founder of TheOnlineMom.com, an organization that provides technology education to families and helps moms connect with brands they can trust.

Do you have other tips to share? Add to the conversation in the comments below.

Missing Children Project: You Can Help Make A Difference

Law enforcement officials identified pictures as the single most important tool in the search for a missing child. Statistics prove that 1 of 6 children featured in a photo campaign is found as a direct result of the photo. The public plays a tremendously important role in the search for missing children, and photographs are the critical link between the public and law enforcement.

TSM Advertising "Missing Children Project" works with Child Quest International (CQI) to locate missing children by showing their images on commercial screens. TSM and CQI have also developed a series of radio commercials designed to educate families about preventing child abductions both on and offline.

The objective of TSM’s and CQI's missing children TV project is to locate missing children by showing their images on commercial screens throughout the United States, thus providing thousands of people with the information necessary to help Child Quest International bring missingchildren home. 

As part of this program, TSM and CQI are looking for U.S. businesses who care and who would like to help us get our message out. By creating partnerships with caring businesses, our project goal is to create a large scale platform to increase missing children awareness by allowing images to be shown on commercial screens. Thus, developing an awareness program designed to deliver those images and vital information about missing children to the general public during commercial advertising time periods. The video commercial announcements may be shown during specific television programming (i.e. CNN Headline News), on retail screens in various locations (i.e. restaurants, supermarkets and malls), in movie theaters, at sporting events and so forth.

When you partner with TSM & CQI with a radio or TV Cause Marketing campaign you get:

• Advertising that cuts through the media clutter
• To make a positive impact in your community 
  
• To build positive public relations/branding
• Additional marketing opportunities online
• Improved customer relations 
• Improved business

Please contact Tim@tsmadvertising.com to find out how you can help protect kids and reunite loved ones while helping your business at the same time.

Additonally, If you are looking for extra income and would like to be able to work a couple hours a day from home, TSM has an opportunity for you. If selected, you will be responsible for developing relationships with clients who will provide funding for Radio and TV “Child Safety” Public Service Announcements.

You can work when you want to, anywhere in the U.S. Contact tim@tsmadvertising.com for more information.  You CAN help make a difference.