March 2011 Parent Newsletter

Interested in what kids have been up to in Yoursphere? Check out this month's newsletter. We've got new contests, new gifts, some media coverage, and a few useful safety tips for parents!

And don't forget to subscribe to the Yourspher For Parents Newsletter at the bottom of the post! 

Internet Safety Tips  The Thin Line that Exists for Educators on Social Networks   UK Police Teaming Up With Teen Volunteers to Stop Cyberbullies      Parents Beware of Topix.com - Another Site to Talk to Your Kids About   New Contests We're asking Yoursphere members to tell us how they make the world a greener place. The member with the most unique answer will win a Terrarium Kit! _______________________ Tell your Yoursphere kid to hurry and submit their caption for this funny lookin' cat. The member with the most creative (and hilarious) caption will win a 1yr subscription to Sports Illustrated Kids or Teen Vogue!  Yoursphere Featured Sphere   Photo Shopped  by Yoursphere member, sabisabisa    This sphere makes it clear to Yoursphere members that when it comes to celebrity photos, things may not always be what they seem.     Yoursphere Review  Live to Dance   by Yoursphere Contributing Writer, Kit   "Live to Dance and was created by Paula Abdul. She, along with Travis Payne and Kimberly Wyatt, judge dancers of any age and any dance style." New Gifts in the Gift Gallery  Remind your kids to redeem their credits for great gifts in the Gift Gallery! Pokemon Black - DS 875 Credits Kitchen For Kids Cookbook 625 Credits  RC Helicopter  750 Credits Check out the rest of the Gift Gallery here! Keeping it Positive in Yoursphere One of our goals here at Yoursphere is to build smart and respectful digital citizens. One way we do that is by incorporating messages throughout the site that remind members to be Internet safety smart.   Yoursphere Bracelets Are Here!  If your child wants one, all they have to do is send us a message in the site with their address and the color they want. If they are under 13, we require that they include their parent's email address.   Parent Newsletter - March 2011 Greetings! We know that online safety is important to you. And we know that's a big part of why your child is on Yoursphere--you have faith in the fact that we make your child's online safety and privacy our priority. Doing this successfully is no easy task, though. In fact, it takes a lot of work from a lot of dedicated people to make Yoursphere what it is today, and what it's going to be in the future. That said, we want to thank you for supporting our mission. You can be sure that we'll continue in our efforts to make the Internet a safer place for your children and ours. Here's a rundown of the latest happenings in, and around, Yoursphere.com. Enjoy!  Yoursphere Featured Member Our new Featured Member program is our way of shining a spotlight on those Yoursphere members who've proven to be positive role models in the Yoursphere community. Members can earn a Featured Member badge and a short interview with the Yoursphere team by being kind to other members, leaving thoughtful comments, and just being an overall active member of the site. This month we're featuring long-time member, Ashley Thee Unruhig-Soul. Here's what she had to say during our interview with her: What's Your Favorite Color: Purple  Favorite Food: Chinese Favorite Music: Alternative Rock Favorite Movie: Nightmare Before Christmas Favorite Saying: Anybody can draw, we all just have different styles. What are four words your friends would use to describe you? Shy, artistic, smart, sensitive. What do you think makes you unique? My personality What do you see yourself doing in the future? Being an art teacher. What's your biggest hope for today's generation? That every one with be able to have the ability to do what they want to do when they grow up. If you were handed $1,000,000 what would you do with it? I'd help schools, by supporting their band and art programs. What do you like most about being a Yoursphere member? That I get to talk with some amazing people. It's really interesting to meet to new people. What do you want people to know about you? That I'm only human. Yoursphere in the Media First Lady Michelle Obama seems to take a similar stance as us when it comes to kids joining adult-intended social networks. We're proud of this, and we think that her public display of this stance is a step in the right direction to push important laws like the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act on more social networks. You can read the full Obama/Yoursphere press release here. Yoursphere Contest Winners "Gnomeo and Juliet Review" Contest - Winner: chanbark Prize: $25 movie gift card   Yoursphere member chanbark sent us the most thorough, and entertaining, review of Gnomeo and Juliet. "3 words you will think when you come out of Gnomeo and Juliet. CUTEST MOVIE EVER." "I Heart My Pet" Contest - Winner: heartless Prize: $30 donation in your pet's name to the American Human Society 12 year old Blue Heeler named Bullet who recently lost his sight. He's running into things, but he's still as sweet as can be. "What Would You Do With A Million Bucks?" Contest - Winner: Leeah Prize: $25 Gift Card to Justice or PacSun Just a snippet from Leeah's answer: "I would start my own charity for deaf children called D.C.F (Deaf Childrens' Foundation) I'd start it because my cousin is deaf and I feel sorry that she cannot hear. I'd give another $250,000 to the unfortunate communities and families around the world." American Idol in Yoursphere  Yoursphere members love the American Idol sphere. They get to keep up with all the news coming out of the 10th season of the show, watch audition videos, and share their votes with each other. See the American Idol sphere here. A few comments from our members: Lauren Alaina better win, she's amazing and wonderful plus she looks like Ke$ha  She can sing pretty much everything!!!!! Go Lauren. Plus I have an amazing friend named Lauren lol i love american idol i wish i can go on there cause i can sing and plus i want to got HOLLYWOOD ill always love the show. but i miss the old judges... Calling All Writers!  Do your kids love to write? If they do, then they'll love this contest. For a limited time only, we're asking Yoursphere members to submit their poems, essays, blogs and short stories to our Young Writers Contest. Winners will join our team of Yoursphere Contributing Writers, have their articles (reviews, blogs, stories, etc) featured on the Yoursphere Teen Homepage, and best of all--they get paid! The deadline for submissions is March 18th, so if your child is interested, tell them to hurry! Disable Geo-Tagging on Your Child's Mobile Device Simply put: Geo-tagging technology allows certain applications on your child's mobile device to track their exact physical location. What kind of apps? Well, Google Maps is the perfect example, but most people wouldn't want to disable geo-tagging on this app because it would render it useless. However, geo-tagging should be disabled on apps that really don't need to know your child's physical location--especially the Camera app. Having geo-tagging enabled on your Camera app tags every photo you take with a global positioning code that leads to your exact location. This is obviously a huge concern for anyone who cares about their online privacy and real-world safety. Here's how you disable it on the iPhone: Go to Settings > General > Location Services >  Now select "off" for all the apps you want to disable geo-tagging on. Note - Keep in mind that these apps will try to re-enable this feature automatically by asking you things like "Camera would like to use your current location"--always select "Don't allow". ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's how you disable it on an Android device: Start the camera app > slide open the menu > select Store Location > turn it off Note - Android isn't as "user-friendly" as the iPhone, so you'll have to go into each app and make sure there isn't a feature similar to Store Location. For a more complete guide, with pictures and all, visit this post in YoursphereForParents.com. Stay Connected! You can find Mary Kay on: Following her on one of these networks is the best way to get in touch with her and keep up with what's going on in and out of Yoursphere. Also, be sure to visit YoursphereForParents, where you can find useful tools and information when it comes to leveraging the best Internet experience for you and your children. As always, thank you for entrusting Yoursphere with your child's online experience and helping us raise the bar for our kids' and teens' online safety. Best Regards, The Yoursphere Team.