Teen Checkup | Internet Safety

How to Make Twitter Work for You

Move over LinkedIn. Move over want ads. Move over Monster.com.

Want to find a job?

A simple tweet on Twitter can help you do it.

Teens and adults alike are using and abusing the social networking to land part-time jobs - even careers.

How you ask?

Well first, I want to point out how Twitter works.

Users, known as Twitterers, post short updates that appear in their online profiles. They can choose to follow each other’s updates, called tweets, and respond either publicly through posts or privately via direct message. All entries must be 140 characters or less.

Now, if you haven’t alread done so, you will need to build a profile that shows your interests. Because you have no more than 140 characters to describe yourself in your bio, use key words that reveal your goals - even if it’s just looking for a part-time job in the Metro West Boston area.

Most users get emails alerting them about new followers, and may choose to follow you as well if your biography and tweets get their attention. You can initiate conversations with other users by responding to their tweets.

Now here’s where the real job hunting comes into play.

If you’re looking for an after school gig, simply send out a tweet. Your followers may know a friend-of-a-friend who’s looking for a cashier at the local grocery store. A recent Wall Street Journal article mentioned the story of Alexa Scordato. When she looked for a job she didn’t email or call her contacts about possible openings. Instead, she messaged them via Twitter.

Her brief message: “Hey there! Looking for a Social Media job up in Boston. Are you guys doing any entry level hires?”

Within a week, she had an interview. Within two weeks, she had a job.

The key though to job hunting on Twitter is your following. Without followers - there is no word of mouth.

Experts also have this advice about tweeting on Twitter:

• Never twitter about anything you wouldn’t want your boss or mother to see, and tell your friends to keep their tweets to you appropriate.
• Be careful about publicizing your job hunt on Twitter if you don’t want your boss reading about it. But if you’re unemployed, sending an occasional tweet that explains the kind of job you’re looking for could yield responses from recruiters. You can also seek jobs being promoted on the site by searching for phrases like “job opening.”
• Twittering about your personal life is fine, to an extent — it’s something most Twitterers do. But keep it to a minimum.

Tweet. Tweet.

This post was written by: Erin

World’s Talented Teens Appear on Oprah

We all know that when Oprah speaks the country listens. She is the single most influential TV personality in history - and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future.

I don’t usually watch Oprah. I’m too busy wrangling children at 4pm to really sit down and enjoy her guests. But last Friday was different. During a rare, but blissful child rearing lull, I flipped on Oprah and watched her showcase some of the world’s most talented teens. The show was absolutely incredible.

Oprah featured a return guest, 16-year-old  Charice Pempengco of the Philippines. Charice had been on Oprah’s show in May 2008, but was back by popular demand. Her story is incredible.

In the small Filipino village where Charice lived as a child, there wasn’t much to sing about. When Charice was 3 years old, she says she remembers seeing her father fly into a fit of rage and take out his anger on her mother. She says she watched as he choked and attacked her.

Charice and her mother escaped with their lives. “We left my dad, and after that, I never saw him and I don’t want to see him,” she says. “I’m just singing now for my mom. I didn’t help her before. That’s why I want to help her now.”

When Charice was just 4 years old, her mom discovered her talent for the first time. “She thought the radio [was] playing,” Charice says. “She went to the living room, and she saw me singing and she was, like, ‘Oh, my gosh. She’s singing.’”

After years of struggling financially—even being homeless—Charice has been able to use her contest winnings to help her mother pay for an apartment in a nice neighborhood. Charice now has her own room where she can draw, sing, play the guitar and continue to dream. “I think this is a big improvement because we’re more peaceful, and we’re happy,” she says.

In her bedroom, Charice has a notebook where she keeps drawings of the singers she idolizes, like Celine Dion. “I can say this is my dream notebook,” she says.

Charice can now say her dreams are beginning to come true.

You can watch Charice and other teen sensations sing right on Oprah’s web site. They are amazing - and so uplifting.

This post was written by: Erin

Quit Smoking So Your Teen Won’t Start

Like most things, the best way to keep your teen from picking up unhealthy habits is to lead by example.  If you don’t want your teen to start smoking there are a number of ways to address the temptation, but no approach is likely to be effective if you are talking through a cloud of smoke that happens to be issuing from your lungs.

I have a nephew. He told me over Christmas that when he grows up he wants to drive a “digger” (a dump truck) and smoke!  Why would a young kid even have that idea in his head?  Probably because his Dad is an avid smoker.

With all of the warnings out there it seems that smoking will continue to decline. Why not consider joining in on the trend? Your health - and your teen’s - depends on it.

Read an interesting piece on this subject at Online Smoking Tips.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Betwixt And Be Tween

So I just discovered a new parenting blog called Type-A Mom. It’s pretty funny, and a post she currently published is about her tweens becoming teens. A treacherous transition indeed.

It is tough being a tween. You’re not old enough to drive or date, but you’re not young enough to play it cute and get away with stuff either. In addition to being an awkward situation, this mixed-up period also involves all of the physical changes that occur as we transition from childhood to our adult lives. This can turn even the coolest kid into a pimple-faced, gangly mutant of sorts, bent on sleeping late and listening to weird music. Beware!

Seriously, this can be a tough time for any kid, and it’s no breeze for a parent either.  Teen years come with a whole new set of challenges, the least of which being the realization that finally - and forever - your little baby is all grown up…

You see, in my daughter’s mind being 12 is really “almost 13.” From the time my daughter was a tiny, little girl she has always looked forward to the next best thing. As a young child at the dinner table, her answer to the question “what was the best thing that happened to you today?” was “whatever is happening after dinner.” This response used to madden me…I mean how hard is it to think of something that happened at school. But, my daughter is always looking for the next event or happening.

It makes sense that she would look forward with almost uncontrollable anticipation to turning 13. She has already garnered a few coming of age privileges…

Read more here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

North Carolina Teens Say No To Cigarettes

I have had the pleasure of spending a lot of time in the South.  I am originally from the Midwest and - although there are a lot of similarities - there are also a lot of differences.  For instance, when I was a kid, we would have cornbread once a year on Thanksgiving. In the South, you can eat it every day. In the Midwest, no one talked much about their religious predilections. In the South, it is a common subject of day to day discourse. In the Midwest, people are kind, but not overly nice. In the South, if you go into a restaurant you will not be able to leave until the waitress has called you “baby”, “honey”, “sugar” and “dear” along with as many other terms of endearment you’d care to linger for.

Another thing that makes the South different is the fact that the South is the home of King Tobacco. One of the most striking sights I’ve seen in my travels in the South are beautiful barns filled with tobacco hanging up to dry.

Because this region finds it’s traditions, economies and cultural identity tangled up in these bright green leaves, it has experienced a unique transition in recent years as health warnings, lawsuits and new trends have seen the industry going up in a different kind of smoke.

North Carolina has had a tough time trying to convince teens to give up - or never start - the habit of smoking. However, new data suggests that their efforts are beginning to pay off:

Programs designed to reduce teenage smoking in North Carolina are having an effect, according to a new study by researchers at the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study showed the percentage of middle-school students who smoke dropped from 5.8 percent in 2005 to 4.5 percent in 2007. The number of high school students who smoke fell from 20.3 percent to 19 percent.

The results come from what is being called the first comprehensive independent evaluation of the state Health and Wellness Trust Fund’s anti-smoking efforts.

Read more here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Happy Science Fiction Day!

If you STILL haven’t had enough of holiday celebrating, then today - my friend - is your day!

Just when I thought it was safe to enjoy just-another-Tuesday, I just discovered that today is Science Fiction Day! SF Day is celebrated on January second as a nod to American SF pioneer Isaac Asimov. SF Day is a reading holiday celebrated in libraries all over the country by cool-nerdy librarians, and it is especially geared to tween and teen readers.

If you - or your teen - is a stranger to SF, I can empathize.  I have had a hard time with reading SF all of my life. However, this post really caught my eye because of the reference to Isaac Asimov and other writers who have managed to write SF that transcends the genre to tell tales that are universally human.

January 2nd is Science Fiction Day because January 2, 1920, was science fiction writer Isaac Asimov’s birthday. Isaac Asimov wrote over four hundred works and was best known for his science fiction stories, especially his Foundation series about a science which can be used to predict the future.

Science fiction isn’t all about spaceships and robots, though. Lois Lowry’s popular book, The Giver is an example of a science fiction “dystopia” novel. Dystopias are imaginary societies in which something makes the society dysfunctional. For example, in The Giver, people no longer feel strong emotions; this is supposed to stop suffering, but it also stops people from feeling great joy.

Celebrate this holiday here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

W.O.W. Could Be Your Teen’s Best Friend

I know, I know…

Kids play to many video games! It makes them stupid! It makes them fat! It makes them anti-social!

For many critics - and parents - video games are  the root of all evil.  If playing games is a terrible sin then World of Warcraft (W.O.W) might be a stand-in for The Devil himself.  For the uninitiated, W.O.W. is a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). Without getting bogged down in an extensive explanation, W.O.W. is essentially Dungeons and Dragons played online with any numbr of people simultaneously participating from all over the world. You may have seen some recent TV spots featuring  medieval-seeming digital characters voiced by stars like Ozzy Osborne and Mr. T.

If all that seems like a wild, unrestrained waste of time at best - or a demonic, soul destroying waste of time at worst, I’d like to submit the following link for your consieration:

What You Say Fellow Wowilites

If you love W.O.W. you’ll definitely love this. If you hate it, this might change your mind. Either way, it’s hilarious!

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

OMG! Online Dating For Teens!

Yesterday I posted a piece about a Dad who was coming to grips with having a daughter of dating age.  Of course, we all have to pass through a process of learning how to be a strong, proper partner to the opposite sex, and this is a natural rite of passage for all teens. At the same time, dating can lead to pressures of all kinds. It can take away from one’s attention on classes and grades, and it can lead to sexuality and all the risks that go with it.

Now that the Internet is with us - and is probably a big part of your teen’s life - we find a new feature on the teen dating landscape: ONLINE DATING FOR TEENS!

I am a bit surprised by this phenomenon. When I was a teen, my folks were rather lukewarm about dating. I chased girls more than some, less than others, but I also understood that it wasn’t necessarily a high priority to be dating-with-a-purpose or get involved in a serious relationship. For me, it is a bit hard to understand why a teen would be spending the kind of time and energy it takes to search online for a boy/girlfriend.

On the other hand, kids dating is an important step, and online dating has a lot of benefits compared to meeting just anybody in some less-than-kosher teen hook-up situation. So with an open mind and a desire for your feedback here are some tips for ONLINE DATING FOR TEENS! Check these out and leave a comment

• Be informed about the pros and cons of online dating. If unsure as to what to expect, talk to someone who has used the services of an online dating agency. Also talk to your parents or guardians about anything that you are unsure of. Always remember, the dating experience should be a memorable one!
• Remember not to reveal your true identity unless you find a relationship is working out. This will help you avoid the embarrassment associated with a relationship not working out. Do not take rejection harshly; just use this as an opportunity to learn about people and their qualities through conversations.
• Do not misinterpret signs of dating violence such as possessiveness, jealousy and sexual pressure as a sign of love. These could be warning signs of abuse.
• If you are in a violent relationship, talk to someone who will help you recognize the warning signs and provide you with support to help deal with the relationship. Remember not to keep things bottled up inside, it will only cause you pain and heartache!

Find more information here.

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Can You Convince A Teen About Danger Online?

I just sat down and read this post at a site called AMW safety center. The site is associated with the TV show America’s Most Wanted, and it addresses a lot of issues regarding teens and the Internet. I was lead to the site after a Google search and I came upon a very interesting question from a Mom who seems about to pull her hair out, trying to convince her daughter to take online safety seriously.

It can be a tough row-to-hoe to keep track of all the changes and developments that are taking place online. It can be nearly impossible to get a teen to take the risks of being online seriously in the face of all the fun and games that go along with social networking, chatting, posting photos and videos and emailing with friends.

Here is the worried mom’s question:

Michelle K: My daughter is 13 years old. Despite all of my efforts to keep her from setting up pages on websites with pictures and details about herself, she continues to find more sites that I am unaware of to set up pages on. I have talked myself blue in the face, made her watch several of your programs on predators and others. Still, for some reason, she will not listen to me. How do I get her to see how serious this all is?

Follow up at this site for her answer!

This post was written by: Joe Nolan

Lessons on Giving in ‘09

It’s 2009. Time to embrace a new year. Most of us are optimistic about the year ahead because, quite frankly, things couldn’t get much worse than they did in 2008.

I, for one, have big plans in ‘09. I plan to give my kids the gift of giving. No more of this “me, me, me” stuff. In 2009, it’s all about helping others.

I came to this realization the other day when my daughter pointed to a homeless man and asked me why he looked “dirty and smelly.” While I tried my best to explain that the man didn’t have a place to live, I knew my daughter just didn’t get it. And why should she? She’s 4-years-old.

But by the time 2009 is over, she’ll get it big time.

I want to teach my kids to appreciate what they have and feel compassionate for those who don’t have anything at all: food, shelter, a family. By giving to those less fortunate, we can bring a little light to people who otherwise live in a very dark place.

One of my favorite blogs, Wellness Kids, recently posted a discussion on this topic. Yet, they went one step further by posting these benefits of giving and ways children can give. Check ‘em out.

Benefits of teaching your kids to be charitable:

• 1. Kids gain perspective. They see firsthand the hardships that others endure and may possibly appreciate their own abundance.
• 2. Kids develop compassion. Hearing about the hardships of others helps to develop compassion and a broader world view.
• 3. Kids realize they can make a difference.Kids learn that they have the power to bring dignity, hope, and joy to others.
• 4. Kids feel proud. Kids want to make a positive impact and feel like contributing members of society.

Ways to give:

• 1. Bring breakfast to the homeless.
• 2. Make homemade gifts and deliver them to sick children or the elderly.
• 3. Adopt a family by bringing them food or necessities during the week. You can find a family in need through your church or the Salvation Army.
• 4. Volunteer as a family at a homeless shelter or nursing home.
• 5. Donate toys to toys-for-tots or clothes to the Salvation Army.

There are some many ways to give and, really, we have no excuse not to.

This post was written by: Erin