Useful Internet Links For Parents to Explore

Useful Internet Links For Parents to Explore
Parents. The Anti-Drug. (www.theantidrug.com) Keep your children drug free. This site offers helpful information for parents from the National Youth Anti--Drug Media Campaign.
 
Parents.com (www.parents.com) is the official Web site of Parents magazine. Like the magazine, there is a special focus on pregnancy, infants and early childhood, including safety tips and special sections on behavior and values (including advice). Other features include online chats, advice for parents, "parent-to-parent" tips and a special section that markets parenting books.
 
Parentsunite.org (www.parentsunite.org). This site is sponsored by the National Parenting Association, an organization founded by author-activist Sylvia Ann Hewlett to give parents a greater voice in the public arena. The group sponsors surveys, provides information on public policy and other issues related to parents and children, and promotes private and public initiatives that give parents practical support.
 
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com). The center supports parents, children, law enforcement, schools and the community in recovering missing children and raising public awareness about preventing child abduction, molestation and sexual exploitation. Resources include guidelines for communities in choosing a program to teach personal safety to children, child safety in amusement/theme parks and reports about online victimization.
 
The NetSmartz Workshop (www.NetSmartz.org). The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, has developed fun and interesting materials to help teach children (ages 5-17) how to be safer when they are online. The materials include animated online activities for kids, as well as materials for teachers and parents.
 
SportsParents (www.sportsparents.com). This site is published by the editors of Sports Illustrated and includes a wealth of practical articles on such topics as nutrition, coaching, equipment and sports pscyhology. Some useful articles include "Ten rules for parents on the sidelines," "Travel teams: What every parent should know," and dealing with "nightmare parents." A lively, easy-to-navigate site.
 
FamilyEducation Network (www.familyeducation.com). This site has tons of pages and links to explore. Interesting areas include "tricky topics" to discuss with your teen, "mom at the movies" reviews, features and articles by age and grade, the best homework help, questions to ask a tutor, and parenting challenges. Also worth a look are the back-to-school reviews (a link to CNET) of computer hardware, software and wireless products. There's a substantial e-commerce component to this Web site, but it's offset by pretty solid content. This is a "busy" site--visit the site map first to get the lay of the land.
 
National PTA (www.pta.org). The oldest and best-known parent-teacher organization includes regular updates of news and features, and visitors can subscribe to a free weekly e-mail newsletter. Bulletin boards and "idea sharing" for fundraising, recruiting membership and "hot topics" are hosted by PTA cyber-partner, the FamilyEducation Network (see above).
 
Entertainment Software Rating Board (www.esrb.org). Wondering if the computer game your child wants to buy or rent contains violence or is "age appropriate"? Visit this site to find out more about the content of video and computer games. The rating system was established in September 1994 by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the leading trade association for the interactive entertainment software industry. ESRB ratings represent the views of typical consumers with no ties to the industry, exercising their independent judgment on how a title should be rated.
 
PAX (www.paxusa.org) is an organization that is dedicated to ending gun violence. PAX points out that children in the United States are now more likely to die from guns than from all natural causes combined. Among the efforts of PAX endorsed by the AFT is its ASK (Asking Saves Kids) campaign, which urges parents to ask relatives, friends and neighbors if there is a gun in their house before sending their children over to play.
 
Related Link:
http://www.aft.org
Source: American Federation of Teachers, AFLÊCIO website