Safety and the sixth grader

Last time I mentioned letting your child surf the web. This time I need to mention something that seems obvious, but could be overlooked. It is important to monitor your sixth grader’s use of the internet. Remind them to use safe practices, such as not sharing personal information. Just because we have taught them about internet safety for kids in the past doesn’t mean that they don’t need reminding.

There are other places besides the internet where we need to remind our children to be safe. Sixth graders are growing more independent, and at the same time the world is becoming a more dangerous place.

Review with them the rules of the house, what they are allowed to do, what they are not allowed to do. I’ll give you an example of this. My sixth grader is perfectly capable of heating something in the microwave, or even putting something in the oven, like chicken nuggets. However, I had never told her that the rules had changed since she was little. The rule then was that she was not to touch the stove, or the microwave.

She came to me a while back and asked if I could reheat her tea. I told her to put it in the microwave for one minute. Her look said that was clearly surprising. “You mean, I have permission to use the microwave?” It seemed obvious to me that she would know that the rules had changed, but to her, it apparently was not. As they get older, the rules will change, and they need to know what the new rules are so that they can play the game!!