All posts by Suzanne Shaffer

college prep, parenting, Uncategorized

6 Ways to Prepare Your Child for College

 

college

Going to college is a huge milestone. It is a proud moment but it can be emotional and overwhelming at the same time. Therefore, you must prepare your child before they step inside those college gates.

Here are 6 ways you can prepare your child early for college.

Understand their Passions and Interests

Learning new things is more fun when kids are interested in them. Find out what your child is interested in and where their passions lie, even if they don’t necessarily fall within the realm of academics. It can be sports, drama, writing, etc.

For example, if the child is interested in sports, they can learn about the origin of a certain sport, evolution of the sport through history, etc. This will keep your child engaged and make learning more fun. Once they are clear what their passions and interests are, they can have a better understanding of which courses to pursue in college. Even if your child opts for online education, there are numerous opportunities to pursue the courses that interest them.

Prepare for College – Academically

Start preparing for college academics from junior high and high school itself. Some of the many ways your child can prepare for college include taking college-level courses and standardized tests as early as possible. This will help them enter college with more confidence.

Prepare for College – Financially

A college education is expensive, which is why you must be financially prepared for it when the time comes. The costs include tuition, course expenses, accommodation fees, personal expenses, etc. Start saving early and invest in saving accounts that offer tax benefits. It is also important that you keep an eye on the different scholarships that your child can apply for.

You can also consider online college education as an alternative instead of traditional college for your children. It is a popular, convenient and more affordable option as compared to traditional college.

Help Them Understand the Importance of College

The attitude of children towards higher education depends on the attitude of the parents. If you emphasize the importance of higher education, your child will take it seriously and focus on it through school and college. Start communicating the importance of higher education while they are still in school.

Teach Good Financial Habits

It is important to ensure that your child’s grades stay up and that they are focused on their academics, but it is equally important that they learn about work ethic and finance management early on. Encourage them to have a part-time job, about 10 hours a week, as it can help them increase productivity, learn time management, leadership and organizational skills. Teach them to be responsible about spending or saving their earnings. This will help them when they are in college.

Set a budget in high school and get them a checking account. Teach them to make smart financial decisions and ensure they know about credit card and debt early. If they plan to have a credit card, teach them to pay off the card each month and to only use it in emergency situations.

Expose them to Online College Courses

It would be a good idea to enroll your child in online courses while they are still in high school. This helps in saving money as the courses are inexpensive as compared to the college fee and your children can transition easily into college. Ensure that the colleges your child is considering applying to accept the coursework and find out what the basis of acceptance are (e.g., a minimum grade).

College is a great experience, so make sure your child is prepared for it, and is confident about treading that path.

_____________________________

About Author: Making education simple and easy to comprehend is Dana Jandhyala’s forte. She’s had a long career as an educator where she has taught in several different schools and institutes in multiple countries. Today, she helps students with personalized online tutorials by SchoolPage that help make concepts easy to understand, making learning fast and fun. She writes to help student s study better, and to coach parents so they can facilitate the success of their children. 

test prep

SAT Study Tips for College-Bound Students

 

sat study tips

Last year, nearly 1.7 million students took the SAT. A jump from 2015’s 1.6 million! While statistics for this year’s SAT haven’t been released yet, one can only assume that this number has increased. For the majority of juniors, and seniors, in high school, scoring well on the SAT is a ticket into the college of their choice. But the only way to do so is by being prepared. Because, as with many things in life, preparation is key!

Are your kids feeling overwhelmed, and unsure on where to start? Here are a few  SAT study tips to help you do well on your test.

No Cramming!

Last minute studying is simply inefficient. Attempting to absorb, or process a large volume of information in a short period of time (usually the night before a test) will do more harm, than good. Tell your kids to not  overload their brains with information, because they’ll need it refreshed by morning, before their test.

The 12-24 hours before test day should be spent calming nerves, organizing test supplies, packTing a snack/lunch, and getting much needed rest. So when their alarms go off, they’re not panicking, or rushing to get their things – let alone their thoughts – together.

Practice As If It’s Test Day!

There are plenty of websites that offer SAT practice tests that your kids can either take online, or print out, and fill in. When taking these tests, have them practice under “test-day conditions.” Time them, as well. The new SAT is 3 hours and 50 minutes long, meaning you should allot the same amount of time to them as they practice.

Additionally, you should also restrict them from any mobile phone use, music, socializing, and any other distractions. The same way athletes practice as if it’s game day, they should have this mentality as well.

When one prepares themselves under test-day conditions, they won’t feel so overwhelmed on the big day.

Work On Vocabulary

While memorizing definitions isn’t as exciting, as it is beneficial, it’ll certainly help when tackling the passage-based reading questions in the test. It’s also important to note that there’s more to boosting one’s vocabulary skills than just memorizing the definitions. Make sure your kids understand the definition as well. Especially within the context of a sentence or paragraph.

Granted that you’ve decided to help them study weeks in advance, start posting a “SAT word of the day” post-it on the fridge, or bathroom mirror to make it more fun for them. Then encourage them to try and use the word in conversations throughout the day.

Clearly, these are just a few helpful tips to consider. There are companies, such as TestPrepPlace, who provide more information about the test, and study tips, to make your future college student’s experience, and the process, a little less intimidating.  

 

Uncategorized

College Launch Day – 5 LIVE Free Events for Parents and Students

college launch day

GOING TO COLLEGE?
HAVE A CHILD GOING TO COLLEGE?  

Join Harlan Cohen, author of The Naked Roommate, for COLLEGE LAUNCH DAY on AUGUST 10th!  This jam-packed day features 5 LIVE FREE EVENTS addressing everything students & parents need to know about life in college.  WATCH LIVE or WATCH THE REPLAYS available August 11-13 (until midnight 8/13) . Sign up for ALL the events you’d like to attend (no limits!). Click on the registration links below. Parents are encouraged to attend ALL events.

Event #1 | FINANCES | 12 pm CST |
Register: 7 MONEY MUST DOs for College Students & Parents 
Save more, spend less, and avoid future financial surprises

Event #2 | PARENTING | 2 pm CST
Register: 5 Simple Rules For College Parents
How to help you and your child during the college years

Event #3 | LEADERSHIP | 4 pm CST
Register: Dream It, Believe It, Make It Happen in College 
5 steps to get define what you want and get it (with grit & resilience)

Event #4 | COLLEGE LIFE | 6 pm CST
Register: 17 Things You NEED to Do Before Going to College
What you need to prepare & navigate the HUGE changes ahead. VITAL info.

Event #5 | HEALTH & WELLNESS | 8 pm CST
Register: College After Dark
Dating, Relationships, Hooking up, Alcohol, Consent, and Staying Safe

Want 24/7 access to all the events after August 13th? 
Sign up for a BEST FIRST YEAR ALL-ACCESS PASS and download ALL the replays, attend a live online Q&A session hosted by Harlan, and get bonus content (20+ videos, roommate contract, workbook exercises, valuable resources).

careers

How to Help Your Student Pursue a Teaching Career

 

teaching career

The desire to be a teacher is something that a lot of people carry with them from a very young age. It’s right up there with astronaut and fireman when you’re asking children about what they want to be when they grow up. As a young person matures, however, that desire might stay with them and very well become the path they want to take. Perhaps they’re good with children or they’re passionate about education. As a parent, there’s a lot you can do for a child who really wants to become a teacher and will make every effort to see that dream become a reality.

Be real with them

It’s easy to grow up with a romanticized idea of what it means to be a teacher. For our generation, watching the Dead Poets Society shaped that romantic idea for a lot of people. The new generation might be a bit more connected with the reality of being a teacher thanks to the internet but it’s important to make sure that an idealistic idea of what it means to be a teacher will thoroughly ruin their chances of enjoying their career. Talk to them about both the pros and the cons. Yes, they can shape young minds and if they feel the calling they should go for it. However, it might also involve dealing with troublesome students, belligerent parents, and a system that often doesn’t allow them as much flexibility to teach as effectively as they would like.

Know their requirements

Different states and different careers have a lot of different requirements. If your child wants to go into education, then majoring in it is usually required. They may then require further certification to teach children, as well as being subjected to background checks and be required to have up-to-date vaccines. If they want to teach in further education, then they’re likely going to need a Masters or a PhD in their field of choice. On top of that, they may need both experience in the industry they’re teaching and some academic publication credentials.

Know the career is changing

The skills that it takes to become a teacher nowadays aren’t necessarily the same skills their teachers had while they were growing up. Curriculums and teaching methods change all the time. But perhaps the most notable change is the trend in the inclusion of technology in the classroom. Besides training a teacher, it’s a good idea to help your child get more computer literate. There’s a good chance they’re already more computer literate than you, but many still grow up without truly mastering these skills and focusing on them can prepare them for the more practical side of a future teaching career.

Keep their options broad

Many people get into the classroom just to find out that it’s not for them. But that doesn’t mean that their enthusiasm for educating others and the skills they’ve build up to that point are useless. There are many ways they can branch out from a traditional career in education. They can specialize in teaching children with disabilities. They can go private and work as a tutor on a one-to-one basis. They can apply teaching skills to the world of business and become a corporate skills trainer. By going through online TESOL graduate programs, they can even be qualified to teach overseas. They can go from classroom to company meeting room to an entirely different country. Teaching has a lot more career mobility than many expect if they don’t look at their options. They’re never stuck if they find they’re not in the career they want.

Find their fit

It’s not just that your child might be able to teach in a different physical environment to a different demographic. They can take their passion for education into an entirely different space. For instance, more people are making careers from teaching online, whether it’s providing e-learning lectures or preparing and distributing materials for distance learning. Others are moving to work in behind the scenes of the education systems as consultants and advisors. Again, this gives your child a better knowledge of the different branches they can take from becoming a teacher. It’s a way to support that passion and calling while also keeping their thinking practical.

admissions, college prep

First Choice College-Preparing Students for College

First Choice College’s mission is simple, to prepare students for college.  I spoke with its founder, James Maroney, about the college prep process and how he helps parents and students plan for the college application.

What surprises people most about the college application process?

I think that many parents may be surprised by how easy it is to apply to a large number of schools using the Common Application, which will lead them to an even bigger surprise: how expensive it is to apply to that many schools.  Students are often surprised that many schools require a supplement in addition to the Common Application that can sometimes ask some detailed and different questions.

Can you share a tip parents might not be aware of?

I don’t think most parents are aware of how important the college visit is.  Many parents assume it is just for the students to learn about the school, however, many colleges utilize “demonstrated interest” in making their admission decision.  The best way for a student to show demonstrated interest is to visit the college campus.

Just how important is good SAT test prep?

Being prepared for the SAT or ACT is very important.  You don’t necessarily have to get a tutor or take a class, just as some people exercise on their own without joining a gym or hiring a private tutor.  However, I one message board I saw a post where a college advisor had asked an admission officer about whether a student should prepare for a standardized test, and if so, should the student prepare for the first one, and the admission officer’s response was that students should be as prepared as possible each time they take the test.  Not every student is applying to an Ivy League school, nor do you need to go to an Ivy League school to get a good education, but every student should try to put their best foot forward on standardized tests.  While there are many test optional schools, even those school use test scores in determining the size of merit scholarships, so there is a financial incentive to improve your test scores.

When should a child start preparing?

A Yale admission officer once told me that if you are starting to think of packaging a student in his or her junior year, then you are starting way too late.  What does that mean?  For college prep, you need to start in the freshman year, as colleges look at a depth of involvement more than a breadth of involvement.  So, students should start taking the most difficult classes they can handle and getting involved in a variety of activities.  Taking difficult classes and reading are the best ways to prepare for standardized tests over the long term.  As far as taking a test prep class, I recommend starting that kind of preparation in the summer between sophomore and junior years.

What do students typically need help with most when it comes to the SAT & ACT test?

One of the most common problems we see with students is that they make the test harder than it has to be.  That is, they often think that, “Because this is the SAT or ACT, it has to be hard” and they they change the questions in their own head to make it more difficult.  The truth is both tests are very literal tests, and students need to learn to answer the questions the way they are being asked and not put in their own meaning.

What are the benefits of having an SAT tutor to help a child prepare for the SAT test?

The benefits of having a private tutor for the SAT are similar to those of exercising with a personal trainer.  You have one person who is dedicated to your success, and can carefully observe how your are approaching the test, and make corrective actions when necessary.  It gives the student highly targeted and efficient preparation for the test.

Can you tell me a little about First Choice College?

First Choice College was founded in 1999 to help prepare students for college.  In addition to offering test preparation, we also help students with the college selection and application process.  All of our tutors are graduates of Yale or other top colleges.  We see are success as being linked with our student’s success.

Can you tell me about the options First Choice College Offers for SAT & ACT Prep?

We offer private tutoring or classes for both the SAT and ACT.  This can be either in person in our office or live online.  In addition, we also offer a self-guided video course for the ACT.

Top tip or tips for parents with a college-bound teen?

The best advice I can give to parents is to start early.  The early you start planning and thinking about college, the more options a student will have and the less stressful the student’s senior year of high school will be.

For more information about First Choice College visit their website: http://www.firstchoicecollege.com 

academics, extracurricular activities

5 Ways to Find Education Beyond the Classroom

 

education

No matter what stage they’re at in their educational journey, your kids should appreciate that the classroom only provides a platform. If they truly want to maximize the capabilities of learning to experience its greatest rewards, they must be willing to do more.   

Frankly, going that extra mile is the hallmark of a champion. Here are five simple tricks that will fire your child to greater results than you ever thought possible. What are you waiting for? Let’s get to work.

Find Direction

 Becoming well versed in various subjects is important. Ultimately, though, they will eventually need to choose a pathway en route to creating a great career for themselves. While youngsters shouldn’t feel forced into making a definitive decision, it doesn’t hurt to think about the future career ASAP. After all, this will help them know which subjects need to be prioritized or what courses may be taken further down the line. Apart from anything else, that vision will serve as great motivation throughout the journey ahead.

Complete Autonomous Study

 Whether your child is a school pupil or a university student, you cannot expect the teacher to provide everything. They are a fountain of knowledge, but they can’t be expected to know everything. Their advice can form the basis, especially with regards to exam prep. Nonetheless, using services like GradeBuddy to enhance their knowledge of key topics should be on your child’s agenda. With that coupling of personal progress and class education, they should gain a deeper understanding. This should come as a huge help in both academic and practical ways.

Develop Key Skills

 Education isn’t just about increasing their knowledge. You are ultimately trying to prepare your child for the best career and lifestyle. As such, encouraging them to take the time to invest in key transferable skills is an essential part of the process. This is especially true when you actively recognize a lack of confidence in public speaking and similar areas. Their studies are the perfect opportunity to work on those weaknesses as well as their strengths. Find the right balance to boost your hopes of success in the real world, and it will pay dividends in the long run.

Put The ‘U’ Into Education

 Passing exams is one thing, but driving themselves towards a great career is another altogether. No two people are identical, and their education should be tailored to personal needs. Making education about the individual can be achieved through many methods. Learning a new language with DuoLingo, alongside a chosen field, allows your child to chase the dream of working abroad. Meanwhile, using practical approaches is far more rewarding for your personal tastes. Essentially, doing the best thing for them is the key to even greater success.

Gain Experiences

 There’s more than one way to enhance your knowledge of a subject. Frankly, experience is just as vital as education, and is something colleges and employers actively seek. This is why extracurricular activities can become your secret weapon for future applications. Apart from impressing others, it’s a great way to boost their self-confidence and capabilities within a chosen field. If your son or daughter is looking for the perfect finishing touches to their strategy, this is the only answer they’ll need.

 

parenting

Tears, No Fears, When Saying Goodbye

 

goodbye

There will be tears. Oh yes, there will be tears. It doesn’t matter how many times it happens, when a child goes to college, you are witnessing the beginning of one of the most transformative periods in her life. You’re also saying goodbye to the nature of the relationship you once shared. But how do you say goodbye to them making sure they have the best start at their future they could have?

Have the talk

College life is different from living at home. For a lot of kids, it means taking on all kinds of responsibility they’ve never had to deal with before. It’s a good idea to prepare them on a few topics well in advance before they move. Financial advice such as dealing with credit, budgeting and the like. What they expect it to look like dealing with living essentials. Even safety. Make the scarier sides of college less scary for them.

Know what the college has in mind

You don’t want there to be problems as soon as you arrive on campus. For instance, know fully what items the College has banned students from bringing. Get an idea of campus events and talks on the first day so you can schedule to visit them in advance. There’s a lot of helpful information there. It might not all sink into your excited teenager’s head, but you can help them retain the important stuff.

Get your logistic hat on

Don’t forget that moving can be a rather big undertaking alone. Figure out in advance whether you can do it yourself or whether you might need the help of local moving services. Make sure you have a checklist of all their essentials, including any paperwork and documentation they’ll need to actually get their place in the dorms. You can save your child a lot of hassle and you can maybe distract yourself a little from your own apprehensions about saying goodbye.

Don’t pack everyone in the car

This is a mistake so many people make. Dorm rooms are not very big. If they’re moving into a student apartment, they’re normally not very big either. There will be a lot of families in attendance, so bringing the whole gang along can make things crowded and difficult. Let some say their goodbyes back at home.

Goodbye with love

It’s going to be teary; there will be hugs; there will be promises to call that quickly fall by the wayside. It’s important you leave things on a positive note and continue to play that note through their college experience. For instance, you can leave them with a care package with all their home essentials. It’s a good idea to do this semi-regularly as time goes on and to simply check in on them to make sure they’re acclimating well. Just the gesture alone is a sign that you love them and care for them wherever they are. Just don’t let the gesture get lost by the fact you do it twenty times a week.

Once you’ve done all of the above, there’s little else you can do but there for them. Call them, ask them to call you, keep in touch and keep them talking about their experience. Becoming their rock can strengthen that relationship and help them stay strong while far from home, too.

extracurricular activities

Extracurriculars Can Boost College Applications

 

Grades are important on college applications, but the best way your kids can stand out to administrators is to have a few extracurriculars listed somewhere in their applications. While colleges do care about the grades of their prospective students, they also care about the character of people they admit; therefore, what your children do after school, during weekends and over summers tells them a lot about the kind of person they are. Not only do the following activities look good on an application, they help your kids become well-rounded individuals.

Part-time job

Most kids are encouraged to get a part-time job during the evenings and weekends because it will give them a little extra cash to spend on excursions with their friends, or saving for something big. However, jobs look good to a college administrator because they show reliability, professionalism, and time-management skills, as well as some extra qualities depending on what the job actually involves. Your child doesn’t need to write an entire essay on how to fill out your Marshalls application like a pro, but they can write about what they have gained from working during the weekends, and what they have learned about themselves. A part-time job also gives your kids valuable work experience that will help them get a part-time job during college if they need some extra cash to support themselves, and it will also teach them financial responsibility for the future.

Volunteering

While some kids would prefer some cash compensation for working in their free time, the benefits of getting involved in the community by volunteering cannot be overstated. Volunteering for a charity, either at home or abroad, can help your kids develop skills such as compassion, hard work, and fundraising, which will certainly be useful when they join clubs in college. Volunteering also shows initiative and a willingness to help others. All these qualities will shine on a college essay, especially if the topic of said essay is the goals of the charity your child works with.

Tutoring

One of the best ways to confirm that your child is a superb student in a particular subject is if they tutor other students in said subject. Tutoring is definitely something your child should mention in their application if they are hoping to major in this topic in college, or if they’re looking to get into teaching in the future. For your kids, tutoring teaches them patience, the ability to be flexible with their teaching plans if it doesn’t work for a particular student, and they’ll be able to give concise explanations – a talent that college administrators will appreciate when they read their applications.

School newspaper

Working on the school newspaper will sharpen your child’s writing skills, as well as teach them critical thinking and the ability to work to deadlines.Whether they want to major in journalism or not, these skills will be invaluable in the future, and it shows college administrators that your child is actively involved in school events.

test prep, Uncategorized

7 Tips for Summer SAT Prep

 

summer sat prep

 

As the school year is over and the final examination grades are being compiled across the nation. Many students and parents are brainstorming different ways of squeezing in some test prep time over the summer.  If that’s not you yet, don’t worry! Here are 7 actionable tips you can use to help your child on their way to SAT success!

It’s best to start test prep during the summer and make it a habit for when it’s really needed. During this time of the year, students are more relaxed, and are less consumed by class schedules, social protocol, and extra curricular activities. 

Parents of students who are set to attend college and are serious about scholarships should take advantage of this time to prepare adequately for SAT examinations. Test preparation is best started early to give students the best shot at a good SAT score and a place at their first choice college. Starting now builds up the habit in time for the start of a new school year.

  1. Make it a habit!  Your child should make it a habit of dedicating an amount of time each week practicing questions they find hard. This could be 1-2 hours, once or twice a week, so long as it is consistent.  This time doesn’t have to be all in one go, in fact most people work best and retain more information in short bursts of up to 20 minutes.
  2. Set achievable goals.  Every student should have an SAT score in mind.  Set a goal for what kind of test score your child needs to get into their college of your choice.  It doesn’t hurt to aim a little higher either.
  3. Choose the right type of test prep; Every student learns differently, some require more guidance than others.  When it comes to SAT prep there is something for everyone, including: local classes, online courses, student forums, Youtube videos, printable practice tests and a whole lot more.
  4. Learn visually; with vocabulary cartoons, SAT crosswords, Flocabulary (hip-hop music that boosts vocabulary), yes that’s a thing! Or even the Kaplan SAT/ACT Score-Raising Manga Series. There are many other unique resources, as well. Reading will help students with the SAT’s vocabulary and writing components.
  5. Get help from tutors. SAT tutors usually have firsthand experience with the SAT test and what it takes to achieve a high score.  They can help identify your child’s individual strengths and weaknesses, and work precisely on the areas that help them to achieve their desired SAT score.  Seeing a tutor over the summer gives students more time to dedicate to the areas they struggle with most.
  6. Practice makes perfect. Each time you take a practice test, more and more questions will seem easy to you.  As you begin to collect these questions you answer right, without fail, work these easier questions into your daily review habit.  Spend 20 minutes, twice per day reviewing each question.  Do easy question reviews at least three days per week.
  7. Study the answers that matter most.  Make sure your child spends time working on questions they find hardest.  It is best to use the longer time period to focus on these areas, than to rush them at the end. Study the explanations until they are understood.  If you have questions, be sure to ask someone.

Ultimately, it’s never too early for students to start preparing for the SAT.  Having more time will mean that your child is less stressed and more familiar with the SAT come test time. Cramming at the last minute rarely sees positive results.  Summer SAT prep doesn’t have to be all consuming, any amount of regular study, however small can prove beneficial.

_________________________________

Today’s guest post is from James Maroney, the founder of First Choice College Placement, a test preparation center based in Milford, CT.  Since 1999 James has traveled the country helping students to prepare for the SAT and ACT tests and gain a place at their first choice college.

App Tuesday, parenting

Watch Out for These Secret and Dangerous Apps

dangerous apps

One of the most surprising parenting moments for many of us happens when our sons and daughters morph into teenagers. Almost overnight, our sweet little ones, who once shared all their hopes and dreams with us, begin shutting us out of their lives. Suddenly, we are talking to closed doors and blank stares, grasping at anything that resembles the bond we used to share. This stage of development is tough on families for several reasons, but one of the most startling is the strained relationships between our children and us.

However, this shift in our family dynamics catches many of us off guard. As our teens desire independence and privacy we are often left behind, especially when we factor in their digital devices and smartphones. In fact, 70 percent of our teens actively seek out ways to keep us in the dark when it comes to their technology and social media usage. While we might be able to look at a child’s Facebook account, one area we should be concerned about is the world of secret and disappearing messages.

Secret and Disappearing Messages

Disappearing messaging apps are one of the newest trends to hit the social media scene and they keep evolving. These apps feature messages that automatically delete after being viewed. The amount of time varies depending on the app or settings, but they all promise that eventually the data will be gone. BurnNote and Snapchat are probably the most popular disappearing messaging apps that our children enjoy using.

Our tweens and teens enjoy using disappearing messaging apps, because they don’t keep a running list of all their activity, comments, likes, and friends like traditional social media giants Facebook or Twitter do. Kids are concerned about maintaining their digital footprints and view disappearing messaging apps as a convenient way to promote more authentic conversations. With these apps kids can stop worrying about creating a database of comments, thoughts, and activities that anyone can view or access.

Disappearing messages are one thing, but secret apps take privacy to a whole new level. Secret apps come in a wide variety of formats, but the premise is all the same. These apps create a benign cover that looks harmless to parents, teachers, or adults. On a phone, the icon may look like an ordinary calculator app. However, if you were to click it open, you would uncover a place to store information and photos you don’t want others to view. Often, kids will store sexts or x-rated images in secret apps.

Secret and Disappearing Messaging App Dangers

While disappearing messages and secret apps have some good qualities there will inevitably be some drawbacks to this technology. Unfortunately, the private and fleeting quality of these apps encourage our kids to make extremely poor content choices. These apps become perfect vehicles for bullying and sexting, because evidence of any wrongdoing disappears. Both of these offenses carry very real emotional consequences and have even been prosecuted by the authorities in court.

Although the lack of accountability and the threat of not being monitored is liberating, tweens and teens often forget anything sent over social media isn’t really private. While at first glance, this doesn’t appear to be possible with disappearing apps, children need to be reminded that everything digital has the potential to be retrieved, shared, or saved. Users can always figure out methods to save messages by using screenshots or other devices to click a photo.

dangerous apps

7 Essential Tips for Keeping Teens Safe

Thankfully, we are not entirely helpless. As parents, we can teach our children a few tricks and methods to safely enjoy disappearing messaging apps. Listed below are a handful of essential tools to overcome a child’s secrecy to keep them happily scrolling:

  • Teach social media etiquette
  • Keep all devices in common living areas
  • Prevent children from using phones in bedrooms
  • Have a child tell you if they witness anything that makes them uncomfortable online
  • Let kids know it is okay to say no to sexting
  • Monitor a child’s activity by friending them online or asking to see their accounts every now and then
  • Begin a conversation about the power of words

How do you keep your teens safe while they use dangerous apps?