The organizers are creating a virtual march in 2012 to encourage the United Nations to add Cyberbullying to the issues children should not be forced to endure. When you go to the site, you create an avatar and sign the petition. You can change your avatars look, there are games to play and lots of innocent fun. The Big March 2012 will be held on 31st January 2012, when the avatars will hold placards and march in a line across the sites who sponsor and support the event.

At the end of the march, the avatars will assemble in Big March Park on the Beatbullying Big March website, where the petition will be delivered to a virtual UN building.

Emma-Jane Cross, CEO of Beatbullying, said: “Violence amongst young people across the world is at epidemic levels.  We have a child protection crisis on our hands, and we have a duty as global citizens to unite and insist that world leaders, politicians, communities and families stand up and take action.

Check it out with your kids!

What is Pinterest?  In their words:

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite.

Our Mission

Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.

As with all cool sites online – remember to protect your identity, don’t overshare personal information and use caution when something looks too good to be true. Hopefully this is just a really cool site where you can connect with great ideas and people just like you!

Fooz Kids is a parent-controlled application that enables children to create, connect, discover and learn in an online environment that offers content specific to their age and interests. Offering web browsing, videos, games, learning, communication tools and more, Fooz Kids is available in 36 different languages across 56 countries and is compatible for both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems as well as Android tablets. Fooz Kids is a product of Fuhu Inc. For more information or to download Fooz Kids please visit www.foozkids.com

Let us know what you think or if you’ve used the app.

One of my favorite blogs is Around the Web in Seven Days – by my friend Tony Jordan. Tony and I go way back in the music business, so his blog highlights a lot of Music with tech related information – pretty hip and teens would like it. I like his blog because it’s once a week, short and often very fun.  But he also is a father and helps keep me up to date on new things digital.  One of his recent blogs talked about a new App that sounds pretty cool. It is still in Beta testing – but if you’re a parent and want to “test drive” it – go to their website and let us know how it works out. We’re always looking for parents who are actively using technology to help the rest of us stay in the know!

The app rewards kids for checking in and you know they’re telling the truth because their phone’s GPS verifies their location. The whole family can use it and you can all stay better connected. It sounds like a great app. Let us know if you try it out!

SOCIAL LOOPING

Everloop gives kids a place to connect, express themselves, and be creative.

Everloop’s innovative platform is designed with four layers of moderation to keep kids under 13 safe – it’s a loop of privacy around their communication online. Your children are free from anonymous intruders, and their personal information is secure and hidden.

Parents have control.

Every kids’ Everloop account is associated with a parent, so you can have a “dashboard” view of your kids’ activities. Older children ready for email and chat? Switch it on. Not ready for younger children to form new friendships online? You can block it. (And we keep personal information like addresses and phone numbers impossible to enter, so you never have to worry about that for any of your kids.)

Created by the folks at Google, the site offers 50+ short videos with easy to follow, step by step instructions from the Basics to Blogging. They start with a form you fill out, check the videos you think will be helpful (and not demeaning) and it emails the note from you with a link to the videos. Mom, Grandma, your best friend clicks on the video and watches it as often as they like. You might want to take special care – some videos are MAC specific – so don’t confuse the issue… 

We have to respect our children while at the same time teaching them responsibility. One of the key things she shares is that using technology (and the expensive devices that goes with it) is a privilege, not a right and it must be treated as such. Use of the technology and devices should come with rules and expectations and abuse should have consequences.  See her 15 Ways Blog here for great insights. Also if your younger children want to test the waters on social networking, Yoursphere is by kids, for kids and kids only, plus it’s also a safe place for them to play!

“What’s New at the Cyberbullying Research Center