St. Abanoub Parent's Corner

07/04/2022

To contact or for speaking info, visit AffectiveLiving.com/contactA high school teacher, trainer, and instructional coach, Chase Mielke was a 2014 Michigan T...

05/25/2022

Hug your kids tonight.

05/24/2022

04/30/2022

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2022/04/27/how-tiktok-live-became-a-strip-club-filled-with-15-year-olds/

Livestreams on the social media app are a popular place for men to lurk and for young girls—enticed by money and gift—to perform sexually suggestive acts.

04/29/2022

04/10/2022

Mom, why do you share such sad stories with us?

My daughters asked me this after I told them about the tragic story of Jordan DeMay.

Jordan, 17, was the victim of blackmail through social media. He took his own life earlier this month.

Investigators say the teen was being extorted through Instagram over pictures that he had taken of himself and was pressured by the perpetrator to pay money in exchange for the pictures not being sent to his family and Instagram followers.

That’s what sextortion is, and experts say it’s happening more these days.

Sextortion predators can prey on young children and teens for explicit photos. In the case of DeMay, officials say it was a manipulation to get money, which DeMay did send, but it wasn’t enough.

“It’s never going to be enough. If you send more images, you send more money, whatever it is, it’s never going to be enough. They’re always gonna ask for more.”

“They stir up that fear hormone inside people and they say, ‘I’m gonna post it to your friends, and your family,’ and they give them a list of all the websites their gonna use, and they’ll send screenshots of maybe things that they’ve [the victims] already sent to them and say, ‘This is what I’m gonna use and send to people."

Parents, why do I share this sad story with my 14 and 13 year old?

My girls don't have smartphones yet. They are not on social media.

They eventually WILL BE though, and I want them to be prepared for what they can face in the digital arena. I want them to have a "mental blueprint" of what they can do in tough situations like this.

I also want them to be able to encourage their friends to make smart choices online and know where to go when they make mistakes.

I will keep sharing these sad stories with my daughters and with you in an effort to equip our children for the world they live in.

We must embrace talking to our children about the sadness. Let us shine a bright light on hard issues in hopes of helping our children.

Parents,

✅Talk to your kids about this story.

✅Delay the smartphone until at least 8th grade with our pledge!

✅Delay social media until 16+.

You've got this parents 🙌

04/05/2022

https://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/tiktok-brain-explained-why-some-kids-seem-hooked-on-social-video-feeds-11648866192

The dopamine rush of endless short videos makes it hard for young viewers to switch their focus to slower-moving activities. “We’ve made kids live in a candy store.”