Cyber Freak

Raising kids is hard. Although there is a lot of advice out there, ultimately, as a parent, you have to choose what is best for your child(ren). One thing we decided early on is that our boys don't need electronics at a young age (video games, cell phones, iPads). As they have gotten older we have allowed them to have Kindles and they have an old school Play Station. But the Kindles have a lot of stuff blocked on them and the Play Station isn't played through the internet so I'm okay with that. Why am I paranoid about that kind of stuff? Because of things such as the Mo.mo Challenge. For those of you who are not aware of this "new" craze, it's a hack (for lack of better word) that unexpectedly infiltrates into kids apps/videos. It gives a detailed description on how to commit suicide and then a creepy looking mom emoji with bugged out eyes pops up on the screen. Our oldest was freaked out about it a few nights ago just by his classmates talking about it at school. And, to my knowledge, he hasn't even seen the challenge in action. He's just heard about it.
Another thing that freaks me out is child predators. I've learned enough to know that they lurk on internet games, try to become your "friend" to get information from you and then use that against you (sometimes in the form of kidnappings). There's enough dangers in the world for children without adding to it when they're in the safety of their own home. I am not naïve enough to think our boys will never experience the dangers of the world. I'm not. But we are doing everything in our power to shield them from it. We are talking to them, teaching them right from wrong and, most importantly, praying for them every day. Parenting is scary. It is hard and I doubt I will ever stop worrying about our boys. But we will do everything in our power to keep them safe because that's what parents do!