Yesterday, I was speaking with a school principal after I finished a Cyber Safety Workshop for her 150 5^th graders at her elementary school. We were discussing how important this education is for her students, and how disappointed she was at the lack luster turn out for the parent workshop I did the prior week.

“Every parent of every child in your class should have been there last week,” she exclaimed.

We only had about 25 parents show up to the well-publicized workshop. This kind of turn out is not unusual. If by sheer coincidence, there was a cyberbullying incident at the school just before my workshop, we would have had a packed room. Interesting, the parents who do attend the workshop are blown away, and insist we schedule another workshop next month so they can get the word out. They can think of 10 parents who need to be at that workshop. The second class is usually better attended. Parents are tired and overworked. I should know, being a parent of two boys, 12 and 14-years-old. But, why aren’t parents attending a class that will help them make the Internet and social media a safer place for their child? After investigating thousands of cyber related crimes and other incidents, I have discovered that most parents are living under false assumptions about the Internet and their children’s part in it.

Lie #1. It is not that big of a deal. The National Crime Prevention Council reported that more than 80 percent of students surveyed said they either do not have any set boundaries about what they can do online by their parents, or know how to easily get around them. Nearly 100 percent of parents that I talk to after I learn about an issue with their child’s online activity, have no idea what is going on in their child’s online world. They gave their teen or tween a smart phone with no parental controls or restrictions. They are flabbergasted to find their child has created multiple social media accounts ...