Unless Judge Wu decides to continue the sentencing hearing again for Lori Drew, who is now nationally known as an adult who cyberbullied a child, Megan Meier, by setting up a fictitious MySpace account in the name of "Josh Evans." and lead 13-year old Megan into a relationship with the fictitious "Josh" only for the relationship to turn mean, Megan committed suicide 20 minutes after getting offline with the invented personality.  Lori Drew faces a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of $300,000 for violating the terms of service on MySpace.  Read full story...

Let us know your thoughts on what Lori Drew's sentence should be?

Cox Communications and The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children holds it annual summit today (full media release) to inform parents of potential dangers of the Internet, and has released its results of a new survey, on behaviors of kids and the technologies they use.  1 in 5 has sent text messages that include semi-nude or sexually-explicit images n/k/a "sexting."  Their findings discuss that most children surveyed use sexting to send images to their boyfriends or girlfriends.  They found that 11% sent these types of images to strangers.  Ages ranged from 13 to 18 and 80% were under 18 years of age.

As we partner with www.iroc2.org and our message to parents is to be proactive in our children's education of 21st Century Responsibility, not reactive once the actions have already been taken.  Teaching our children the risks, responsibilities and the consequences of their actions and behaviors through technology is key to a safe and productive future.  The actions they take today can affect the outcome of their future for tomorrow.  Read full article about the results of the Survey here.

ST. LOUIS, MO, June 23, 2009 --The need to teach children digital responsibility about the technologies they use is critical, so the end result of those actions does not have a negative impact at a crucial time in the future of our children’s lives.

These two organizations dedicated to child safety have come together to increase education and awareness of the dangers posed by the current trends in technology.  They have joined forces to proactively educate children and parents regarding the consequences of sexting, sextcasting, and the dangers of predators, cyberstalking and bullying.  

Denise Pellow, founder of KidsBeSafeOnline LLC, and Richard Guerry, Executive Director and President of The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication (I.R.O.C.2), bring personal experience in their unique approach to address the issues of digital safety.   

Guerry, of Mount Laurel, NJ, communicates it is vital that everyone in our rapidly evolving digital generation, regardless of age, understand how extremely important it is to be digitally responsible and aware of what poor digital judgment can bring to the lives of youth. Read More...

A recent news article caught my eye in Ohio, when a 24 year old mom and her 3 year old daughter went missing.  It happens the individual with them is currently wanted by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's Adult Parole Authority for violations of his supervision.  The mom's alleged boyfriend, 27 year old male, was released from prison in Ohio and on the same day walked away from the halfway house and now a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Robbi Douglas Potter, is a Tier III sex offender released on May 28, 2009 after serving time for a third-degree felony conviction for sexual battery of a minor.  Candace Watson, 24 mother of Haylee Elizabeth, age 3, are both believed to have been taken against their will.  Candace's mother told police she was concerning for the safety of her daughter and granddaughter. Read full story...

From a posting on Candace's MySpace page they could possibly be camping in the southern part of Ohio.  If anyone has information concerning the disappearance of Haylee, please contact the Crestline Police Department at 419-683-2222. An amber alert has not been issued in this case.

The above case lead me to another trend coming to light.  Today on www.momlogic.com an article was posted entitled: Beware! Child Predators are Targeting Moms. 

Predators have now found another way to get to children through their moms, by using parenting websites and forums.  Lori Getz, author of the article has some great advice and examples of how this is done by the luring predators.  Use the parenting websites and forums to gain the information you need, but don't use these websites to meet new people even if they have helped you out and never ever introduce your kids to someone who may be helpful to you from a website.