Why do we think we can say anything through a computer? Men feel they can hit on young girls, young girls think they can say and post promiscuous things, people feel they can trash talk their teachers or bully other students...what is this phenomenon and how do we stop it? It has become so pervasive in our culture to belittle (including ourselves- have you seen some of these profile pictures people use?!) and bully people online that researchers have given a name to it, "Internet Shaming." Once upon a time parents taught their children not to take candy from strangers, where do we begin with the internet? How do we protect our children from loose lipped online strangers? Or worse yet, their friends?

Perhaps it is naive, but I believe that you CAN monitor and protect your children from predators like 'Josh Evans.' My children will never have a computer in their rooms and as far as I'm concerned, in my house they will have NO SPACE. I'm all for technology but, like anything else, you must set boundaries for your children. Call me old fashioned but what happened to friends calling your house and speaking to your mom or dad first? Now it's laptops at age 4 and cell phones at 6- and we as parents we wonder why we don't know any of our children's friends or act shocked that they would have an online boyfriend without our knowledge.