Please don't share!!

At one point we've all seen it. Friends or family on Facebook sharing random pictures. Some are Memes and are really funny! Some are of missing people and I always share these in the hope that it will reach that one person that holds vital information! Some are of scammy competitions, I spend ages trying to explain to some that they are fake and so noticeably fake! Like the current one, "Argos." see the fullstop? That's how you know it's fake! Facebook really need to clamp down on these pages, especially the ones offering 1,692 iPads because the security film is damaged and they can't sell them! (!!) I mean, really?

But they're not the posts that concern me most.

It's those ones of abused babies and children. The latest, about a boy called "Chris" who was supposedly murdered by his own father. I know this happens. A few posts ago I wrote about the subject. I'm not trying to hide the fact that it happens. Far from it! But, tell me, what good does it do to share the picture of the little baby black and blue? It won't stop it from happening to someone else. All you are doing is giving the person / people who abused that poor child the attention that they crave.

By all means, share a post of writing. Tell the world, or at least your friends, family and any followers, how you feel about this and to report anything they feel is even the slightest suspicious. Babies don't have a voice. We adults are their voices, we need to protect them!

So please think hard before you share that picture again. We need to help these innocent children but not by sharing the pictures of their abuse.

Are your kids safe?

Some time ago I wrote a post about internet bullying. Unfortunately, that's not the only thing that's worrying about kids using the internet.

I remember the first day my parents told me we were getting connected. We'd already been using the internet in school to do research and I was looking forward to being able to download some of my favourite albums, legally of course! I'd never run home from school so fast! I sat there for three solid hours waiting for one song to download! And that awful tone... duhhhhh.... waiting in hope that it'll connect first time so you don't have to hear that dreadful screech! That's going through me just thinking about it!

How different is that to today's internet. Fibre optic enables us to reach speeds of up to 100MB - back then we were lucky to get 0.01MB! There was a fraction of websites available then as there is now. According to Royal Pingdom - there were only 361 million users of the internet in 2000. In 2010 there was 1,967 million! That number would be even bigger now. The fastest speeds - it takes less than a minute to download a song, you can watch tv and films through the internet, you can do your weekly shop. It's just that easy to use!

But, of course, with ease comes problems. Are your children as safe as you think?

Picture this, Friday night after school. The whole family has eaten and is now settling watching TV. Your 13 year old daughter asks if she can use the computer to do her school homework. Nothing can harm her can it? She's only researching the royal family and, except for the odd beheading, there's nothing really gory about it. Right? Wrong, as I found out when I did exactly the same. I was in school at the time, aged 15 and researching Prince Albert. I won't go into full explanation because I'm sure most of you see where this is going, but let's just say I was thankful for the slow internet speed back then! By the time I realised what the first image was, I closed the page.

Many parents don't realise this danger. More importantly, they don't realise they can stop this from happening. A simple family protection software with defined controls will allow us as parents to block specific websites while allowing safe ones, not to mention setting limits on the amount of time they spend online after which point they won’t have access to the internet - great if they have a computer in their bedroom! You can also track the websites they visit and the keywords they enter into the search engines, as well as see snippets of the videos they’re watching and so much more too.

My two girls realise the dangers of the internet. I hope that I have drummed it into them enough for them to understand why I go on about it all the time. I show them news stories about cyber-bullying, about viruses and scamming emails, and I try to keep up with everything that changes. As much as I trust them, I still worry about their safety. I even worry about my own sometimes! So we have a set of rules that we stick to. They include;
No downloads without mums permission,
No clicking on adverts,
Only allowed on youtube if mum or dad is present,
Maximum of an hour unless it's for homework,
As well as many others.

There's another problem I face as a mother though. Mobile devices. iPads, phones, even their DSs can go online! How am I supposed to keep them safe when I can't go to school with them? This is where it is so important for parents to teach their children.

A few articles that might help you are;
The Guardian
NSPCC
PC Advisor
Forbes
They all are interesting reads and taught me a few things!

Back to social media. I've had a Facebook account for about 6 years now. I regularly interact with old school friends, family and play games on there - yes, that silly Candy Crush! But I also get creepy messages, you know the ones, "I just love your profile picture and think you look gorgeous!" - umm, my picture is of a Minion? Are you saying I look like one? I know, and I hope you do too, to just delete and block. But how about that 13 year old daughter? What are the chances of her answering, arranging to meet with this man that thinks she's gorgeous when she thinks differently? What are the chances of her telling you, her parent, that she's meeting him? I'd say slim to none. This is the real world, this happens everyday. Parents need to be aware and be able to stop it happening. I have no problem with children using Facebook, C has an account and only uses it for chatting with school mates and playing games, but that doesn't stop me from sitting next to her when at home, just to make sure.

What are your thoughts? Do you have the internet at home? Do you allow your children to use it, whether supervised or not? What scares you about the internet, if anything? I would love to know!

This post was a collaboration :)

Happy birthday Madeleine

The face no-one could or will ever forget. Madeleine McCann - it was her 10th birthday on Sunday 12th May 2013. Yet, instead of being at home celebrating with her friends and family, she is missing. Where? I wish I knew, as do thousands if not millions of others.

And, sadly, she's not the only missing child.

April Jones, 5 years old, went missing back in October 2012. A man is currently on trial for her abduction and murder. A trial I have refused to keep updated on as I still have hope the little girl is found, just like Madeleine, just like the 1000s of children and adults missing all over the world. And when I say 1000s it is just a guess - we only hear of the high profile stories, the ones the press have splashed all over the front pages, the ones we hope, no matter what we hear or read, that the kids involved will return to their families safe and well.

So what am I doing?
I'm taking part in a campaign called #blogging4madeleine where bloggers blog about this subject. To raise awareness, to encourage, to remind - it's amazing just how easy someone can forget after a while.

I've had so much trouble finding the right words to put down, even now I don't think these are right either, but something that happened today made me realise just how precious a little person is and how much they need protection.

Going through my morning routine; sorting little man J's breakfast, changing Baby B and feeding him, checking my emails and having a nose on Facebook. Whilst look for ideas for a Christening present, I noticed there was a new post in my local area group - it's basically a group for residents who live in my local area and they advertise sale items, inform others of events or have a general moan.
Well today, the new post was from a worried lady, who had found a young boy wandering the street. This young boy had bare feet and had been seen crossing the road a few times. She said he was about 3/4 years old and wouldn't speak to anyone.

Now, what initially annoyed me was one lady wrote "That's disgusting - good thing you spotted him before he was snatched the poor thing. Get onto the police who will hopefully ring social services!"

Ring Social Services? Is this lady for real? I mean, we've all had it - we turn our back for a second, and something goes wrong. Ask my mum, I once stuck my foot in a bath of hot water when my dad turned his back. I remember giving my little sister a good slap (and vice versa) when my mum wasn't looking. My eldest daughter, then 5 years old, went for a little walk when we first moved into our house, over to her nans in dressing-up clothes - whilst I was out the back garden pegging washing on the line!

But after a while, I realised how lucky the little boy was. He COULD have been snatched by anyone. He COULD have been hurt somehow. But is getting Social Services involved when the background is unknown the right move? For all we know, his mother could have collasped and he went outside to look for help. Maybe, like me, she was pegging washing out and he "escaped" without her realising? 

It happens everyday - kids don't understand danger. They need to be constantly reminded that they shouldn't talk to strangers, they shouldn't stray away from mummy's or daddy's side while out in the big wide world. I'm just very glad this little lad was safe, and he wasn't hurt. I haven't heard anything else since so I hope it really was an accident that he was out.

Which brings me back to Madeleine. We've all heard the story of the night she went missing - Thursday 3rd May 2007, whilst on holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal. We've all had our own thoughts on what may have happened to the little lady. But, we must remember that she is still missing. Someone, somewhere MUST know something.

If you, or someone you know, knows something - anything -sightings or information - then PLEASE contact either;
your local police force and +44845 8384699 or email investigation@findmadeleine.com
OR
Crimestoppers (in confidence) on 0800 555111 (www.crimestoppers-uk.org)

For more information about this campaign, search #blogging4madeleine and visit the website www.britmums.com/2013/05/will-you-blog-for-madeleine/

You can also visit www.findmadeleine.com for any information I have missed and please visit http://uk.missingkids.com/ to see if you can help in any way.

Here is a recent picture released of what she COULD look like now: