Most teenagers are unaware that their online presence leaves a trail that leads back to them. Everything they do online is not only difficult to remove, but it can also impact their future. From applying to college to getting their foot in the door in a career, digital footprints can make or break a teen’s future and goals if they aren’t careful.

Good Digital Citizenship

Digital citizenship is the way you behave online. When you were a teen, you didn’t have to worry so much about the repercussions of your actions catching up with you. Teens today should be aware and use caution in interacting socially online. Social media is designed to connect with peers but can easily be used for bullying. That funny meme might seem to be worth sharing at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t affect you negatively professionally.

Be careful when choosing what to put out there in the digital world. If you’re unsure if something would be appropriate to share, take a screenshot of it and send it to a select few. It is essential to teach your teen that good digital citizenship will follow them into college and their chosen career path. It is not uncommon for colleges to rescind acceptance letters for behavior they see on social media platforms.

Dangers of a Digital Footprint

Cyberbullying is a harmful use of social media that is an ongoing challenge that will only worsen without proper guidance for our teens. More than 30,000 suicide deaths occur each year in the U.S. Cyberbullying plays a significant role in this suicide rate because it targets teens that could already be suffering from depression or another disorder. Cyberbullying might seem harmless to some teens, but written words can be easily misinterpreted and taken out of context.

Teens should be careful even when they are joking about what they say on social media. They are leaving a breadcrumb trail that will stay with them forever. It is doubtful that your teen would intentionally hurt someone, but ensure they know the dangers of how their words can be misconstrued. Tell them about the game of telephone where something is whispered into a person’s ear, and then it’s passed around the room. More often than not, the said phrase is not the same once it travels around the room. Teach your teen that their words matter.

Restrict Access To Personal Information

Set guidelines for what your children should share online and what they should keep private. Educate them on the parameters of safely sharing information. They should know not to ever share sensitive information no matter the circumstances. If they question something, encourage them to come to you to be sure before they enter anything they’re unsure of. Don’t wait until something happens to create guidelines for them. They should never share their phone number or address anywhere online.

Parents should also be careful about what they post online about their children. You may unknowingly put them at risk when posting about them online.  For example, if your child gets an reward about school refrain from naming the school.

Negative Digital Footprint Impacts

There are numerous harmful impacts that your teen’s digital footprint can have on their future. College admissions and military recruiting officers can and will take notice of your teen’s digital presence when considering their application. Employers and internships will also look up your teen online when considering them for a position.

Recruiters and coaches will look at your teen’s profiles when considering open positions on their team for colleges. Your teen is also at risk for identity theft every time they post online. Photos shared online are fair game for identity theft. Scholarships for college and internships often ask candidates for their social media profiles to peruse before considering them as applicants.

Anonymity Doesn’t Exist

Privacy doesn’t exist online. There is always someone watching, whether it’s an identity theft attempt, a cyberattack or the government through the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The ECPA authorizes the government’s admission to your files and folders online. The digital communications they can access are Facebook messages, email, your cloud and others.

The Library of Congress is saving tweets from Twitter for future generations. So, your anonymity is nonexistent. Urge your teens to stop and consider their content before they post it. Encourage them not to be impulsive and leave private conversations off of social media. Nothing online is temporary. Once it’s out there, it’s out and hard to remove even after it’s been deleted.

Enable Privacy Settings

Ensure all of your teen’s social media platforms are set to private. Make sure they have their location turned off on apps like Snapchat. They should know about numerous privacy settings if they’re allowed to use social media. Twitter has tweet protection where your followers are the only ones that see your tweets, besides the Library of Congress.

Apps like Instagram and Facebook have options to make your profiles private, so only people you choose can access the information you share. Keep track of your accounts and delete the ones you don’t use frequently. This will make it easier to maintain your digital footprint and gives you a smaller chance of data breach.

Center Stage

Social media has taken center stage in the way children communicate with each other. The game of telephone has become a thing of the past. Do you remember having to ask your parents to call someone long distance? What about call waiting or eavesdropping on your siblings’ conversations from the second phone in the house? It’s a whole new era now. Advise your children how easily they are susceptible to dangers online and encourage them to be selective and protected when posting content.

About the Author
Ava Roman (she/her) is the Managing Editor of Revivalist, a women’s lifestyle magazine that empowers women to live their most authentic life. When Ava is not writing you’ll find her in a yoga class, advocating for her children or whipping up something delicious in the kitchen!

There’s no doubt that the field of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is among the most important areas of study. This isn’t just due to the promising career paths this field affords. STEM education helps people navigate the tech tools needed in everyday life. Unfortunately, there is still a gender imbalance in STEM that needs to be addressed.

One potential tool to encourage more girls toward STEM is coding. We’re going to take a closer look at the gender gap and how to utilize coding effectively as a gateway to a rich and rewarding experience for girls interested in STEM education.

Why the Gender Gap in STEM Exists

There is still a significant gender gap in STEM. Only 28% of STEM workers are women.

However, the statistics on girls in STEM also show us that female learners have no less biological aptitude for math and science than their male counterparts. Indeed, in higher education, we can see female students tend to gravitate toward biological sciences.

However, there’s still work to be done in balancing other STEM subjects. While coding can be great to get girls more enthusiastic about the field, it’s still just a tool. To utilize it effectively, it’s important to understand what is influencing the gender gap.

Lack of Mentors

Mentors play a significant role in guiding students through the challenging academic elements of STEM and toward meaningful careers. Unfortunately, there is too often a fewer number of female mentors available to help girls thrive. This can be discouraging. Part of effectively utilizing coding to get girls involved in STEM has to include establishing inspiring and practical female mentors in the field.

Gender Stereotyping

A common issue with STEM is there’s an unhealthy and incorrect stereotype of science being a male field. This is often bolstered by the tendency for schools to teach men’s historical achievements in the field. Yet, there are incredible female STEM leaders, like Katherine Johnson and Tu Youyou, that students should also learn about. When using coding to encourage girls into STEM, there needs to be clarity that it is a field as much for female contributors as males.

Jessica Wade, a London-based physicist, has worked to draw attention to the thousands of women in STEM history who have been left out of the history books.  She did this by writing Wikipedia biographies about women and minority scientists who did not get recognition and credit for the work they did.

Where To Find Coding Programs for Girls

There are growing resources specifically aimed at getting girls into coding. Among the most prevalent and active is Girls Who Code. They are dedicated to closing the gender gap in programming and run more than 8,500 coding clubs and camps around the world. Black Girls Code is also instrumental in helping young women of color overcome the hurdles contributing to the gender and race gap in STEM. They have 15 chapters around the country running code camps, hackathons, and enrichment programs.

There are certainly some schools offering coding clubs to highlight the value of STEM education. However, it is often the community-operated programs that are most dedicated to helping girls explore the career potential and personal enrichment coding has to offer.

Making Learning To Code Fun

Part of the hurdle with getting kids in general into coding is that it can be seen as a dry subject. Students tend to be put off by the idea that they need technical proficiency to engage with it. This illustrates one of the causes of gender disparity in STEM. Girls, in particular, already have lower self-confidence in their STEM abilities than boys. One way around this is to emphasize the fun of coding.

There are some fun platforms to introduce younger students to coding through making simple games and animations. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed the Scratch and ScratchJr applications that teach the foundations of coding in a practical and fun way. This is also something girls can engage in, both by utilizing guided courses and working independently.

For teens, it’s worth getting them involved with fun events. Hackathons can be particularly exciting with many accessible to beginner coders. Part of the fun here is that these coding events involve various disciplines, including coding, bug testing, and graphic design.

Finding the Time To Code

As with any STEM subject, learning to code certainly takes some time and commitment. It’s important to find ways to help young girls include coding in their schedule without adding to the stress of juggling other activities.

One effective approach is to make their daily schedule more visible. Young students may find keeping mental track of their tasks overwhelming. Making a digital planner she can access on her smartphone or laptop via a PDF-annotation app can be a practical way to keep her day organized and manageable. This allows her to see all her responsibilities, prioritize them, and establish spaces for coding sessions, clubs, and hackathons.

Creating a Supportive Home Environment

One of the most important ways to encourage girls to code is by making sure their home life is designed to support them. As parents, you must make certain they have the resources they need to focus on their coding. This might be extra time allocation on family computers or making arrangements to take them to events.

One of the most simple yet impactful ways of making your home environment supportive is to be demonstratively encouraging about their efforts. Praise young female coders, listen to their ideas about the subject, and even get involved as a volunteer with their coding organizations. Regardless of your parenting style or guardianship situation, there are ways to support young girls looking to get into STEM.

If your family is one in which you’re coparenting in different households, there needs to be consistency. While it’s not always easy, divorced parents need to communicate regularly and openly to provide the most effective support for their kids. Cooperate in providing your daughter with the coding resources and education she needs to thrive. Ensure you’re both actively involved in her clubs and in helping her overcome hurdles.

Conclusion

It remains the case that there aren’t nearly enough women in STEM. Coding is one of the most important skills to possess in the modern world and can act as a route to other STEM subjects. There is a growing number of dynamic and community-driven coding organizations young girls can join to learn to code and find mentors. It’s also important to take steps that keep learning fun and practical. When more parents, teachers, and communities commit to encouraging girls in STEM, there is more opportunity to close the gender gap.

About the Author
Katie Brenneman is a passionate writer specializing in education, mental health, family lifestyle and online safety. When she isn’t writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. You can follow her on Twitter.

Teaching children to develop a healthy and responsible relationship toward money management is up to the parent. Experts believe children should learn about how money works as early as five. Learning how to spend wisely is equally important as staying safe with money. That includes avoiding pitfalls that lead to thefts, overspending, and other issues.

This guide focuses on how to teach kids to stay safe with money. Here are the steps to help your child understand how the spending works at any age!

Teach Them Where Our Money Comes from

It all begins by underlying that nobody gets an endless supply of money. Children should understand the sources of money. For them, it could be a birthday gift or pocket money they receive from parents. Doing chores and helping around the house is another way for them to earn cash.

The next step is explaining how adults get the money they give to kids. Explain how you go to work every day to earn cash. And if they ask about grandparents, point out they’ve worked for decades and deserved a pension.

Spending Wisely – Making Most Out of Your Money

Teaching children about the value of money what they buy with it for themselves is imperative for any parent. You can come up with a list of chores your kid could do to earn cash. A simple job should be worth $1, but demanding tasks that last hours might be paid $10 or more. They’ll realize it takes effort to earn bigger sums, so they’ll pay more attention to how they spend them.

And while discussing spending the money wisely, point out the “needs versus wants.” Your kid should get limited weekly (or monthly) pocket money. Tell them they shouldn’t spend all the money at once. They should have enough for snacks, playing with friends, etc. If your child goes over the limit, don’t just give them extra money. Use the opportunity to teach them about the loaning concept. Give them a small amount, which will ensure to cover spending on their “needs.” But do that with the condition of them returning that cash from the next pocket money.

Teach Them About the Potential Dangers

Money management isn’t only about spending wisely. It’s about staying safe and avoiding financially-related threats. These could be:

• Friends who ask for a loan but don’t plan to return the money. Your children should avoid loaning anything they consider “a big sum.” Also, if their friend doesn’t repay the loan once, they shouldn’t give them any money anymore.
• The importance of keeping their money in a safe place. Cash shouldn’t be out in the open for everyone to see. It’s better if their money is on a card, and you can find children’s debit cards offered by some banks.
• Keeping passwords and PINs safe. That includes not sharing them with anyone and only logging into accounts on secure networks. Many providers allow locking cards easily if there’s a suspicion of a breach.

Teach Them Online Shopping

Online shopping is a convenient way to order things you need to arrive at your doorstep. It’s a safer way for children to shop since they don’t have to carry cash to the store. Online shopping could save money by allowing price comparison and finding the best offer.

Children should understand they should only buy from legit sites. They should look for encryption certificates, such as SSL. Alternatively, they can stick to Amazon, eBay, or other reputable platforms. If they have any suspicions about the site, children should ask you to check before proceeding with the purchase.

Teach Them Not to Keep Cards Somewhere Obvious

A huge part of money safety is keeping your cash and cards in a secure place. If your child leaves them somewhere obvious, it makes it easier for potential thieves. That’s why they need a secure wallet. And there’s no better way to protect your child’s cards than using an RFID-blocking wallet.

RFID or radio frequency identification enables reading info from credit cards equipped with this technology. It’s how you pay in stores, but that makes you vulnerable to wireless thefts. Thieves that have illegal RFID readers could download your card info and create a copy used to spend your funds.

RFID wallets are critical protection against these thefts. They block these frequencies and ensure no one can read your card while it’s stored in the wallet. That makes them essential for children and adults to use cards. And on top of that, it’s a beautiful accessory!

Check Spending Regularly

If your child has a spending card connected to your account, you should check the balance regularly. It’ll ensure you stay in touch with how they spend the money. It helps to identify every payment because staying in the loop shows whether your child is managing their cash responsibly. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, you can block the card until you resolve the matter.

Conclusion

Teaching your children about staying safe with money is a process. It begins by playing pretend shops when they are little and proceeds to help them manage pocket money later. Learning about money management early is the jumpstart your child will appreciate once they get older. It’ll be less likely they’ll enter cash problems, so your effort would be worth it!

Author Bio
Mariam Simmons is a fashion enthusiast and Content Manager at Alpine Swiss. She loves traveling to the world’s top stylish destinations and gets inspired to create helpful fashion and lifestyle guides. With over a decade of writing experience, her main goal in creating content is to ensure readers learn something useful and provide value instead of noise.

There are a multitude of effective substance abuse prevention interventions. Generally, these interventions involve family, school, and community.   Young children need to begin knowing about the dangers of drugs. Like anything else when educating kids, it should be fun, age-appropriate, clear, and concise.

Just like learning the ABCs when they were younger, there are consequences when a child does is not properly educated; they struggle to read and write.

As they age, they also learn other things and do dangerous things carefully, teaching them about consequences and responsibility.

Overall, it is the responsibility of parents to keep things light early on but begin to set boundaries, rules, and expectations, talk about specific dangers and immediate consequences and emphasize responsibility.

Here are four practical tips for educating your child about drugs.

One—Keep Things Age Appropriate, Especially for Toddlers

Many parents ask if they can lighten a heavy topic for younger children. Like anything else a child learns in life, it is about relating to them in a way they understand.

For example, 2 to 4-year-old children begin to learn about healthy food choices, vitamins, exercise, etc. Yet, they are also taught not to accept things from people who are not their parents unless they have permission.

Kids become curious about what their parents do, such as eating, drinking, or taking medications.

When your child becomes curious about these things, you may tell them you are taking medications to be healthy. At the same time, they are taking their vitamins to stay healthy and fit. You would even go as far as to tell them they would only take these things when their parent gives it to them.

Drug Education for Toddlers—Suggestions for Parents

• Toddlers can learn about healthy choices and what they can take and cannot take.
• Encourage them to care for themselves, teaching self control so they make healthy choices.
• Point out harmful chemicals and help them avoid dangerous substances.
• Keep medications locked in the medicine cabinet, and explain to them the dangers.
• Help them understand the difference between things that can hurt them and things that keep them healthy.

Two—Be Clear and Concise About Rules and Reasoning

There is no reasoning with a toddler, yet when children reach elementary age, they begin to discover things like their individuality and strong bonds with their parents and explore and discover everything new.

For example, children at this age begin to pay attention to their parent’s actions. In most households, a child will see an adult drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, cannabis, or take medication. Unfortunately, there are also circumstances where children see their parents using illicit drugs.

As a parent, you may explain to them that adults make decisions that are not always safe or healthy. Moreover, because an adult is using something like alcohol, tobacco, or medication, it does not make it safe for a child to use as you are still developing, and it could damage your development.

Finally, make a definitive rule about not smoking, drinking, or taking any medicine their parent does not give them. Explain to them that drugs and alcohol are dangerous physically and mentally, and underage drinking and tobacco use is illegal.

Drug Education for Elementary School Children—Suggestions for Parents

• Speak to your kids about the things they see on social media, television, or the movies. In addition, they may overhear something at school. Encourage them to speak about it and speak about how they feel.

• Discussions should be light and focused on the here and now. Anything past what is currently happening does not necessarily register with children at this age.

• Discuss differences between medicinal and illegal use, especially with narcotic prescription drugs or any medication found in the house. This is especially important with alcohol and cannabis.

• Be mindful of the message you are sending your children. Tobacco, vaping, and alcohol products are seen by most children early in life. Be clear with them these substances are harmful.

• Parents should always know who their child’s friends are and meet their parents.

• Solve problems with children together, which helps them find long-lasting solutions. Children need an opportunity to build confidence and resilience by making choices.

• Research innovative new ways of fighting substance exposure and substance abuse, such as the role of nutrition in substance use disorder prevention.

Three—Speak About Immediate Consequences, Not Just Punishment

Preteens and teens are just trying to fit into a world they know nothing about and are discovering. At one point, it used to be their friend’s opinions had the most influence on them. Unfortunately, social media now provides unwanted far-reaching, and often destructive views.

Preteens and teens are less likely to consider long-term consequences when making decisions. The long-lasting impact of decisions does not necessarily sink in until they are older, which makes threatening punishment pretty useless.

It is a good idea to speak about immediate consequences. When discussing the dangers of drugs and alcohol, be sure to relate it to things they care about at that age.

For example, kids at this will come across other teens selling drugs at school. Yet, they are likely hesitant to mention something. Other parents are speaking about it, which means you should make conversation and ask them if they want to talk about it.

Do not lecture or scold the child, but be inquisitive about how they feel. They may have questions about drugs and why kids their age are using them. They may also have questions about if drugs are dangerous. Answer everything honestly and even related to your experience; provide real-life examples.

Additionally, explain to them how drugs and alcohol would impact their life. For example, it would become difficult to achieve academic or athletic success; it may affect their personal hygiene or overall appearance.

Drug Education for Preteens and Teens—Suggestions for Parents

Heaven forbid you will ever need to seek teen drug treatment for your child.  Education about the consequences of drug use is the first step to prevention.

• Make sure they know the consequences of breaking rules are enforced. Overall, it is about setting boundaries early on.
• Maintain positive comments, especially during puberty. Focus on them improving their skills and learning from defeat and failure to become better.
• Help them understand the fantasy world of social media and how different it is from the real world.
• Make it clear you disapprove of all alcohol, vaping, tobacco, and drug use. Create opportunities to discuss your feelings about this.
• Let your child in on all things you find wonderful about them.
• Show interest in and discuss your child’s daily ups and downs.

Four—Explain Addiction and Emphasize Responsibility

Every child should understand addiction. Emphasize the difficulty of quitting using a substance after a person has started. Explain how some individuals cannot stop using drugs or alcohol, which leads to tragic consequences.

It is inevitable that when they reach legal age, they may likely try alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, vaping, or experiment with illegal drugs. Maintaining rules and expectations is vital, especially if they live with you. Emphasize responsibility and remind them of substance abuse, smoking, and drinking dangers.

Online Tips and Resources for Parents

SAMHSA, Parent and Caregiver Resources—Extensive information is provided, which includes fact sheets and brochures. It is easy to access and covers children, preteens, and teens.

KidsHealth in the Classroom – Free information for educators to help kids understand the dangers of drugs. They have resources from PreK through 12^th grade with age-appropriate links and activities.

Tips for Drug Safety Online – Tips for parents to help mitigate the risk associated with online activity. This resource focuses specifically on protecting teens from online drug dealers

One Choice is part of the Institute for Behavior and Health—Parents have access to informative tips and tools and access to other organizations.

Drug Prevention Resources is a Texas-based non-profit organization—That offers free downloadable tools for parents, teachers, and community members.

Foundation for a Drug-Free World—This organization provides extensive free tools and programs, online courses, and other resources for parents and anyone searching for drug education.

If you feel like you are in over your head, don’t be afraid to seek professional help, such as a child psychologist or therapist.

In Conclusion

Do not stop talking. When it comes to the health and safety of your family, this should be an ongoing discussion. It is not a one-and-done conversation. Yet, it does not have to be confrontational or a lecture. Check in frequently, keeps it light, and make sure they understand.

It is simply learning the alphabet one letter at a time. Once they understand the first letter, they move on to the next. Different methods are used to accomplish this, yet the result is the same. Gradually, it comes together and begins to make sense and is now part of everyday life.

About the author
Marcel Gemme has been helping people struggling with substance abuse for over 20 years. He started as an intake counselor for a drug rehabilitation center in 2000. With drug and alcohol problems constantly increasing, he utilized his website, Addicted.org, and community outreach to spread awareness. His primary focus is threefold: education, prevention, and rehabilitation.