Archive for November, 2013

What Is Sextortion?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 25, 2013

ANSWER:

Detective Rich Wistocki
High Technology Crimes Unit
Naperville Police Department
1350 Aurora Avenue
Naperville, IL 60540
(630) 305-5384

What is Sextortion?

Sextortion is defined as when a child is talking to whom they believe is another child on a variety of social media and they exchange risqué photos that are not sexting. The extorter then uses that risqué photo to extort your child to send a sexual picture, telling them that if they don’t comply the risqué photo will be sent to their entire contact list. The child is often afraid to tell their parents, fearing consequences, and so complies with the request for a sexual picture.

Do not allow your child to become involved with sextortion. Open communication with your child by having a conversation. Let them know that if someone wants them to do something that they don’t feel comfortable with online they need to come to you without any consequences.

The Golden Ticket – explain that if someone makes your child uncomfortable, instead of doing something they will regret later, they need to work through it with you. This opens the door to good communication with your child when they are online or on their cell phone. It is very important that your child can trust you to make a good decision.

Being popular on social media is everything to a child. Understand this and the types of software available for monitoring their online activities.

Tags: Pictures, Sex, Sexual Predator, teens, Video

Posted in: All Categories, Bullying & Cybercrimes, Teenage Sex & Pornography

Leave a Comment (0) →

What Should Parents Know About Social Media?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 25, 2013

ANSWER:

Detective Rich Wistocki
High Technology Crimes Unit
Naperville Police Department
1350 Aurora Avenue
Naperville, IL 60540
(630) 305-5384

What Should Parents Know About Social Media?

Before allowing your children on social media, a conversation needs to take place. Children must be told that you want access to social media and parents must have all screen names and passwords so they can enter the sites whenever they want to. It is important to have this conversation because predators are out there. It is up to you, as the parent, to monitor your child any time they are on the computer or cell phone.

The biggest misconception parents have is that “my children’s privacy is at stake”. There is no such thing as child and privacy. You are responsible for your children so it is incumbent upon you to monitor and make sure your children have a safe journey through the internet.

It is a matter of having communication with your children. If you say “Oh, my child would never do that”- when you start thinking this and start accepting that philosophy it is time to check.

You must grow up with your child through technology.Monitoring software is available for android phones. iPhones cannot be monitored. The biggest mistake parents make is to allow children to charge their devices in their room at night. Put them on the kitchen counter – do not let them take them to their room.

Tags: Facebook, Instagram, parents, Social Networking, teens, Twitter

Posted in: All Categories, Bullying & Cybercrimes

Leave a Comment (0) →

How Can I Help My Child Get Into a Good College?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 24, 2013

ANSWER:

Julie Nelson-Kuna, PhD, LLC
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
800 W. 5th Avenue
Naperville, Il Suite 101 B
(331) 472-7313; drjulienelsonkuna.com

How Can I Help My Child Get Into a Good College?

The issue of finding a ‘good’ college is frequently on the minds of parents of both
children and adolescents, as building a college resume seems to begin for our
children at younger and younger ages. College choices should be driven by the
unique qualities of your adolescent, and not necessarily by ‘top tier,’ or status-
seeking Ivy schools, as determined by US News and World Reports. Naviance is
a wonderful tool for examining college options. Myths regarding the value of
networking and connections gained by the college choice are discussed, and parents
are encouraged to work with their adolescent throughout the college admission
process.

Tags: admissions, college, college admissions, Naviance, school match, student interest, university

Posted in: All Categories, Family & Relationships, Schoolwork & Competition

Leave a Comment (0) →

Are Cutters Just Seeking Attention?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 24, 2013

ANSWER:

Julie Nelson-Kuna, PhD, LLC
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
800 W. 5th Avenue
Naperville, Il Suite 101 B
(331) 472-7313; drjulienelsonkuna.com

Are Cutters Just Seeking Attention?

Cutting is frequently a secretive, hidden behavior that makes adolescents feel very
ashamed. For others, cutting may be a ‘cry for help,’ because they are unable to
express their pain more directly. Any parent that becomes aware of their child
experimenting with self-harm should immediately initiate a conversation with their
adolescent regarding these behaviors. It is likely your adolescent will need help
understanding her own emotional world, and may benefit from talking to somebody
about how she is feeling. Life is stressful, and we as parents can model for our
children positive stress management strategies.

Tags: adolescent, emotion, mutilation, pain, self-harm, stress

Posted in: All Categories, Anxiety & Stress, Depression & Self Harm

Leave a Comment (0) →

Is It Okay For My Child to Text Me All Day?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 24, 2013

ANSWER:

Julie Nelson-Kuna, PhD, LLC
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
800 W. 5th Avenue
Naperville, Il Suite 101 B
(331) 472-7313; drjulienelsonkuna.com

Is It Okay For My Child to Text Me All Day?
There are many reasons why adolescents may text their parents during the school
day. They may have difficulty advocating for themselves when they have a problem
with a teacher or school situation. Perhaps they are overwhelmed with negative
emotions about being away from home, and don’t feel secure at school. Strategies
for addressing this parenting issue are discussed, that will empower parents in
offering support and guidance to their adolescents.

Tags: adolescent, boredom, Dad, Mom, stress, teens, texting

Posted in: Anxiety & Stress, Family & Relationships

Leave a Comment (0) →

What Is Self-Harm?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 24, 2013

ANSWER:

Julie Nelson-Kuna, PhD, LLC
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
800 W. 5th Avenue
Naperville, Il Suite 101 B
(331) 472-7313; drjulienelsonkuna.com

What is Self-Harm?

Self-harm is deliberating cutting, burning, picking, or injuring one’s body as a way
to cope with strong negative feelings. Activating the pain network may either
numb the adolescent to feeling anything, or the pain may function as a distraction
from their emotional pain. Adolescents who self-harm are often suffering from
depression, eating disorders, or other mental health challenges, and they are very
limited in their ability to cope with stress. As self-harm has gained prominence
in media, this coping strategy may also have been inadvertently glamorized, and
become another way for adolescents to experiment along with alcohol and drug use.

Tags: anxiety, cutting, Depression, eating disorders, mutiliation, self-harm, stress, teens

Posted in: All Categories, Anxiety & Stress, Depression & Self Harm

Leave a Comment (0) →

Why Are Some Drugs Addictive?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 14, 2013

ANSWER:

Michael Kuna, M.D.
Psychiatrist/Addictionologist
Genesis Clinical Services
Wheaton, IL
(630) 653-6441

Why Are Some Drugs Addictive?

There are many theories why teens become addicted to drugs and alcohol. We
now know that there is a part of the brain that is directly involved with addictive
behavior. This pathway, called the Reward Pathway, is necessary for life.
Unfortunately, alcohol and drugs of abuse can trick this pathway into thinking that these
substances are important for survival. The resulting effect is that alcoholics
and addicts will often give up everything so they can have their drug of choice.

Tags: alcohol, cocaine, drug addiction, Drugs, heroin

Posted in: All Categories, Drugs & Alcohol

Leave a Comment (0) →

What Drugs Do Teens Use?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 14, 2013

ANSWER:

Michael Kuna, M.D.
Psychiatrist/Addictionologist
Genesis Clinical Services
Wheaton, IL
(630) 653-6441

What Drugs Do Teens Use?

What are the typical drugs that teenagers use? There are a number of ways to
survey this information. They include first drugs, the average number of teens using
drugs on a given day and studies that explore specific sub-groups, like high school seniors.

These studies show that alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and prescription medicines
are the most common drugs of abuse among teenagers. Drugs like crack cocaine,
methamphetamine and heroin are used by much smaller groups of teens. However,
these drugs often lead to deadly consequences as illustrated by the increase in
deaths caused by heroin overdoses.

Tags: drug abuse, Drug Use, Drugs, teens

Posted in: All Categories, Drugs & Alcohol, Prescription Drug Abuse

Leave a Comment (0) →

Why Are Kids Getting Hooked on Heroin?

Posted by Bridget Hatch on November 13, 2013

ANSWER:

Bob Marshall, Police Chief, City of Naperville
1350 Aurora Avenue
Naperville, IL 60540
(630) 420-6161

Why Are Kids Getting Hooked?

There is a huge problem in our community with young adults getting addicted to prescription drugs, be they prescribed after injury or taken from a parent’s medicine cabinet. Once hooked on these, they move on other substances. We are seeing this in younger people- late teens to early 20s. Heroin is highly addictive- one may become hooked after using it only 2 or 3 times. Once addicted, an individual needs professional treatment to treat their addiction.

Tags: drug abuse, heroin, illegal drugs, prescription drug abuse

Posted in: Drugs & Alcohol, Heroin, Prescription Drug Abuse

Leave a Comment (0) →

Page 1 of 2 12