Sorting Through The Smog of Blogs Do you know what a blog is? If not, you might want to ask your teen. Blogging has become a popular way for teens to communicate their life to the world. According to Intelliseek, it is estimated that 8 million teens blog on a regular basis (usatoday.com). Websites like xanga.com (“Zanga”) and myspace.com allow anyone of any age to set up a mini website which posts pictures, videos, interests and just about anything else you can think of. These sites are free and only take about five minutes to set-up. Blogging has actually become a teen's own reality show able to be viewed by the world. One of the problems with blogging is that many teens are putting personal information on their site, raising security and safety questions for parents and police. How do you know your teen has a blog? First of all, ask them. Talk about what information they are giving out on their blog site. Remind them that they are NOT anonymous, and what they say could be potentially read by thousands of other people. You want to respect the privacy of your teen, but for accountability purposes, it would be smart to check on a regular basis what your son or daughter is putting on this site. Just a side note, reading the blogs of your teen's friends will give you great insight into things teens deal with on a regular basis and more specifically, what is going on with your teen and their friends. If you suspect your teen is keeping you in the dark about blogging, check www.google.com. It's possible to search names, nicknames, cell phone numbers, screen names, IM and e-mail addresses. You could discover a blog or personal page that makes your teen vulnerable. The bottom line is that parents must be proactive in protecting their teen through communication and prayer. Blogging in and of itself is not a bad thing, but make sure your teen is educated and smart about what they say in their on-line diary read by the world.   PulsePulsePulsePulsePulsePulsePulse Know how computer generation teens feel about communication and its importance: AOL asked teenagers in a survey who they were more likely to share their feelings with? 51% - Parents 49% - Blogs (aol.com) Do you think a school - even a private school - has the right to force students to erase profiles and blogs from the internet? 87% - No, freedom of speech. 13% Yes, for safety reasons. (teenpeople.com)    Living With The Blog  USATODAY.COM listed some recommendations to parents on blogging safety: 1. Treat everyone you meet online as if he were a stranger, even after you've traded information. Lying online is easy. 2. Leave out identifying information like your name, where you work and go to school. 3. Use e-mail addresses that don't use your name and can't be traced to your other online activity. 4. When possible, protect your information with passwords. 5. Obscure identities in pictures. 6. Post only stuff you wouldn't mind seeing on a billboard. 7. Team up with a buddy to check each other's sites for problems.   THE PARENT POVPoint of View Whether or not your teen is blogging, here are some questions to find out some important insights into the world of blogging: 1. Why do you think teens (and adults for that matter) like to blog? 2. Teens are giving out a lot more information about themselves than ever before on their blogs. Do you see any red flags for giving out personal information? Why or why not? 3. If you were reading a blog and something hurtful was said about you or a friend, how would you react? Would you handle it yourself, or would you feel comfortable talking to us (parents) about it?   GOD AND YOUR FAMILY Pray that: 1. Your teen will be careful what they write and say to people and "friends" over the internet. 2. God will help your family protect themselves from information on the internet that is harmful and destructive. 3. God will give your teen wisdom and the desire to guard their heart, mind and eyes from what evil may show them every day. 4. You will have the wisdom to fight and be proactive for the purity and holiness of your family.   VERSE OF THE MONTH "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity." Proverbs 21:23 (NIV) What you say with words, with actions and even on the computer can cause great joy or great heartache. God reminds us that we must guard our mouth and tongue. How do we do this? First, you must think before you speak. James 1:19 tells us that we must be "slow to speak." Ask God to hold your tongue several seconds before responding to a situation. Second, you must control what you see and listen to on a regular basis. The old adage is true when it says "garbage in, garbage out." Third, the only way to truly guard your tongue is to pray constantly. Ask God to give you the strength and wisdom to choose your words wisely, whether written or typed!   DID YOU KNOW... * 19 percent of online teens have blogs and 38 percent read them. About 62 percent of blog-reading teens solely read friends’ blogs while 36 percent read postings from both friends and blog authors they don't know. (whatsnextblog.com) * Myspace.com, a blogging community, has exploded to 34 million users in just two years — and is dominated by 14 to 34-year-olds. (usatoday.com) * Older school-age girls with online access were most likely to keep a blog. About a quarter of girls, ages 15 to 17 did so, compared with 15 percent of boys in that age group. (ap.org)  * A study by Clemson University found that 18% of 3,700 middle schoolers had experienced cyber bullying of some kind in the last two months (July-August 2005). Most of the online perpetrators and victims are girls. (time.com)   TRENDS * Velvet, scarves, fur and long sleeves sum up the winter trends for this year. Layering carries over from spring and fall but with thicker fabrics for warmth. * Winter is filled with lots of bold colors. Purple is one of the hot new hues to check out for both men and women along with absolute black. (mallofamerica.com)      FilmWatch Running Scared - R For pervasive strong brutal violence and language, sexuality, drug content. Action/Adventure Bloodrayne - R For strong bloody violence, some sexuality and nudity. Horror Glory Road - PG For racial issues, including violent epithets and mild language. Drama Brokeback Mountain - R For sexuality nudity language and some violence. (Gay love story) Drama/Romance