MD For Moms Radio, Every Wednesday 1pm (ET) on The BBM Global Network, TuneIn and iHeartRadio or as a podcast on iTunes.
This week on MD for Moms, I’ll be interviewing pediatrician, child safety expert, speaker and advocate Dr. Free N. Hess of Pedimom.com. Dr. Hess is a champion of children in person and online – she has spent countless hours scouring popular websites to learn about what our kids are experiencing every time they login to social media. What she has found is eye opening, scary and incredibly important for every parent to know. Think your kids are too young? Think again – even YouTube kids that is advertised as being appropriate for ages 8 and under has been infiltrated by videos made to scare and harm rather than teach and entertain kids. Dr Hess has uncovered shocking cartoons that are seemingly innocent but have content including suicide, mass shooting, self harm, sexual abuse, trafficking and more.
Dr. Hess’ exposure of these videos made a lot of people angry – people who care more about their freedom to post videos than about the safety of children. She was bullied aggressively online with threats towards her family and herself. We will explore this horrifying ordeal and discuss how to protect our kids from online bullying.
Social media sites have also become a forum for adults to sexually prey on young, unsuspecting tweens and teens using live streaming apps. How can we effectively prepare our kids to avoid such scenarios and to get themselves safely out if someone approaches them? Also, we will delve into social media challenges and the danger these pranks can pose. So much to discuss – we may need more than one show.