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7 Tips for Keeping Kids Safe Online from YouTube Mom, Mindy McKnight

Posted at 7:52 AM, Apr 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-05 09:52:52-04

Mindy McKnight rose to fame with her YouTube channel Cute Girls Hairstyles in 2009, when her kids' hairstyle videos went viral. Since then, her daughters have grown up on the channels and have created pages for themselves.

Having kids that have grown up in the digital age, Mindy wanted to share her advice for keeping kids safe online. She just released a book called, "Viral Parenting" that includes input from her husband and 6 kids.

She shared some of her favorite methods on the show today, including:

o If you have kids online, you must be a parent online.
o We're in the midst of a new digital frontier and as long as we set guidelines from the beginning, everyone wins. I use cellphone and computer contracts with each of my children so that everyone is in agreement on each technology's usage and the consequences when they're not used properly.
o Adapt or die. Technology is not going away, so parents need to be involved in tech and work with kids to figure out how to navigate.
o There is no such thing as digital privacy.
o Teaching your children how to interact with technology is the same as teaching them how to drive a car - you wouldn't give your keys to your 12-year-old, so you shouldn't give them a smart phone and expect them to use it properly.
o Children are networking with their friends all day in order to find ways to circumnavigate rules, but parents need to be networking with other parents so that everyone's children are being looked after. I call my own group my "truth squad."
o Find technology-free time to be together as a family like during dinner or on vacation.

You can follow Mindy on her website, cutegirlhairstyles.com.