uKnow.com Provides Sexting and Online Predator Prevention Tips and Resources for Residents of Orange County, Florida in Light of Recent News

Arlington, VA (PRWEB) October 31, 2012

According to The Orlando Sentinel, in Orange County, FL, 31 men have been arrested in a child-sex sting. As part of the sting, Deputies posed as minors on the internet and communicated with men that had reached out to them for sex thinking they were young children. While no actual children were harmed from these predators, it could have very easily been real children that these men were in contact with.

In light of this news, uKnow.com, makers of the online child safety product uKnowKids, wants to offer online predator resources and tips to residents of Orange County and surrounding areas so parents can better protect their children from those dangers.

uKnow.com has put together a resources page for online predator awareness that can be found at http://www.uknowkids.com/online-predators/. This page includes a resources tab, where parents can find infographics, tip sheets, and blog entries about ways to keep their children safe from predators online and on mobile phones. These resources will be very helpful for parents in Orange County and surrounding areas. uKnow.com wants to make sure that the community members can keep young residents safe and prevent another incident like this from happening --- with education comes prevention.

uKnow.com’s own co-founder’s son had a scary incident stemming from an online and mobile phone encounter with a child predator. Since that time, Tim Woda has made it his mission to educate himself about internet and mobile safety and spread the lessons he learned to as many parents as possible. He feels strongly that every parent should be aware of their child’s online and mobile activities so stories like his and so many others never have to happen again.

Tim offers these tips for parents to keep their children safe from online predators:

•     Understand the technology that your child is using. Be familiar with all the functions of the technology devices your child is using on their phones, including social network sites, gaming systems, chat sites, etc. Some of these could have messaging and photo-sharing options that you might not even know existed.
•     Communicate house rules. Before your child is allowed internet access, he or she should be well-aware of any pre-established house rules. Discuss your expectations for online behavior and the consequences for failing to meet those expectations. Also let your child know that the internet is full of people that might try and hurt them, and he or she should be proactive in looking out for those people and the tricks they use to try and lure their victims.
•     Be a vigilant parent. Know who your children are talking to and who is trying to talk to them. The more information you have about their interactions online, the better equipped you will be to interfere if anything dangerous should happen. Children should only use the computer in open areas of the house and never closed off in their room. Parental monitoring systems such as uKnowKids are a great way to help out with this task if you think it is too overwhelming.
•     Know your child’s online passwords -- no exceptions!

There are lessons that every parent and child need to learn from the online child-sex sting that happened in Orange County, FL, and Tim and his family know about them firsthand. Tim is open to speaking more about his story and the lessons he learned so parents will take notice and keep their children safe online. If you are interested in speaking with Tim or want more information about sexting prevention, email Callie at charris(at)uknow(dot)com.

About uKnow.com

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Arlington, VA., uKnow.com is the only company that offers a parental intelligence system available for both private-label and consumer use. uKnow.com powers the world’s leading Parental Intelligence Systems by working to help educate parents and protect vulnerable loved ones from internet dangers, including child predators, sexting, and cyberbullying. The company’s technology provides parents with a bird’s eye view of what is going on in their child’s social and digital worlds and arms them with unique tools to protect the safety and privacy of their kids. You can find uKnow.com on Twitternat twitter.com/uKnow_com, on Facebook at facebook.com/uKnow.com, and on the company parenting blog http://www.uknowkids.com/blog.

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