Alex Merton-McCann McAfee’s Cybermum in Australia, Alex, is a mother of four boys aged 9 to 16, who juggles family, work, home life, sporting commitments, hobbies and her children’s ever growing social lives (on and offline). Like many Australian parents, Alex has concerns about the safety of her children, who are growing up in an increasingly online world. Alex’s blogs will be about internet safety issues and sharing her own experiences, insights and lessons to help keep kids and families safe online. To learn more about Alex and McAfee’s Family Internet Safety Centre, go to www.mcafee.com/cybermum, follow Alex on Twitter @Cybermum_AU or email Alex at cybermum@mcafee.com
Last year McAfee undertook some quite revealing research into the online behaviour of Aussie teens. Entitled ‘The Secret Life of Teens ‘ this research report taught us that 95% of our teens are accessing Facebook daily, 31% have broken the law through piracy and a shocking 6% have met up with a stranger they met Read more…
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Communicating with tweens and teens can be super challenging. Some prefer to simply grunt, others go with the monosyllabic strategy and the rest will only speak if it’s about food! I find that I really only have a few minutes a day to share ‘key agenda items’ with my teen boys and it is usually Read more…
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Like all doting daughters, I adore my mother. However, I have to confess – I haven’t yet purchased her well-deserved Mother’s Day gift. But I am not short of gift suggestions, no way. In fact, I have an inbox full of emails offering me fabulous gift options from knives to nighties. So all is well, Read more…
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Get out your diary, there is another day that you have to work into the schedule – Change Your Password Day! And no – there is no obligation to buy a flower, pin or a wristband – not that I ever have a problem with purchasing them! Tuesday 7 May 2013 is Change Your Password Read more…
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It can be fun ‘checking in’ at your favourite restaurant on Facebook, sharing pics of your hotel room on Instagram or buying and selling items on eBay. In fact – it can give you quite a buzz. But did you know that ‘geotagging’ (sharing your location via your pics or videos) can put you and Read more…
Tags: cybercasing, cybermum, geotagging, Location services, posting videos online, sharing pictures, social media
Our crazy dog Harley is such an important part of our family. He holidays with us, eats with us and has even been sprung sleeping on the boys’ beds! Shocking, I know! Harley was a spontaneous purchase from a local pet shop about 5 years ago, however the ‘times they are a-changin’. Many families now Read more…
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Regardless of your IQ remembering your personal collection of passwords is hard work. With experts telling us we need a different password for each site and that we then need to change them every 6 months, well – it all becomes too hard!! There is absolutely no doubt that a strong and complex password is Read more…
Tags: Alex Merton-McCann, boys, Cyber safety tips, cyber security, cybermum, cybersafety, emails, encrypted text file, families online, How Secure Is My Password?, identity theft, Internet Safety, IQ, keeping kids safe online, McAfee, McAfee SafeKey Password Manager, memory, mobile security, mother of boys, mothering, mothering advice, Mummy blogger, online grocery ordering, online safety, parental advice, password manager, passwords, personal information, social media, symbols
As a parent, you may have mixed view about social media. You may LOVE it when checking out fashion or recipe boards on Pinterest but HATE it when your teen refuses to get off Facebook at 10pm on a school night. But regardless of your opinion – there is no denying that social media is Read more…
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My four boys detest cleaning up. The groans, grunts and comments come thick and fast: “No-one else’s mother makes them clean up like you do”. “I’m sure the UN would consider this illegal – it’s forced child labour”. Well, too bad boys – clean-ups are here to stay!! But with school holidays just a few Read more…
Tags: Alex Merton-McCann, boys, captain of football team, child labour, cleaning up, cyber education, Cyber safety tips, cyber security, cybercriminals, cybermum, cybersafety, digital reputation, emails, facebook, Facebook clean up, Facebook friends, Facebook likes, families online, foul language, identity theft, Internet Safety, keeping kids safe online, McAfee, mobile security, mother of boys, mothering, mothering advice, Mummy blogger, News Feed, online reputation, online safety, parental advice, personal information, photos, posts, school captain, school holidays, social media cleanup, tag, untag
Some days my children make me proud and other days, well – let’s just say they give me palpitations! But after 16 years in the job, I have resigned myself to the fact that the big highs and big lows are just part of the parenting rollercoaster ride. But as far as lows go – Read more…
Tags: Alex Merton-McCann, Barbara Coloroso, bullying, cyber education, Cyber safety tips, cyber security, cybermum, cybersafety, emails, empathy, facebook, families online, Internet Safety, keeping kids safe online, McAfee, mobile security, mothering, mothering advice, Mummy blogger, my child is a bully, online safety, parental advice, parenting, restorative justice, The Bullied and The Bystander, The Bully, what to do if your child is a bully
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