Protect Your Kid’s Identity

Protect Your Kid’s Identity

(NewsUSA) – Sponsored News – Much has been made about protecting your digital footprint lately. (Thank you, Apple and the FBI, for bringing this issue center stage). And, according to tech experts who follow such trends, it would seem that many people are starting to pay attention — especially when it comes to protecting their children’s privacy using encrypted communications.
The argument against encryption goes like this: it allows those who exploit children to “go dark.” While that is true, encryption is also a powerful tool that can help protect children from those same predators, as well as bullies and others who want to harm your kids. In short, encryption is not just for privacy and security, but also for personal safety as well as peace of mind.
Think of it this way: your phone and other digital devices contain almost all of your personal information — your current and previous locations, your home address, information about your family and friends, records of your calls and texts, email messages, and every website you’ve ever visited. This means that all that information is up for grabs. And in the wrong hands, it can also endanger your children.
The good news is that protecting and encrypting your kids’ information has never been easier or more cost-efficient.
The Gabriel app, available at the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, was designed and built with personal privacy and security as its foundation by VirnetX, an Internet security software and technology company.
For only $50 per year for five users (that’s only $4.17 per month), you can be assured that your children’s communications — when they talk, video, chat, text, email, or share photos or documents — are safe and secure.
No one will be able to see, hear, or intercept your kids’ communications other than the parties they are in contact with because Gabriel does not transmit or store its data with any third party — not even VirnetX. It is person-to-person, end-to-end encryption that all but eliminates opportunities for hackers.
Other benefits include:
* Making free voice or video calls or sending IMs (instant messages) to other Gabriel members.
* Receiving spamless email.
* Sharing pictures or files that are immune to interception.
For more information, or to download Gabriel, please visit www.gabrielsecure.com.

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Lady Gaga Stars in New PSA to Support Education and Inspire Positive Classrooms

Lady Gaga Stars in New PSA to Support Education and Inspire Positive Classrooms (371) (NewsUSA) - Students today face not only academic challenges, but also the emotional challenges of stress brought on by negative classroom environments, according to data from a recent survey by the Sesame Workshop. In the survey, 86 percent of teachers and 70 percent of parents reported worrying that "the world is an unkind place for children." In addition, teachers face financial challenges to making their classrooms places where students can succeed. Data from the Education Market Association show that nearly all public school teachers (99.5 percent) dip into their own money to purchase classroom supplies, and many of them spend as much as $400 per year on basic items. To help ease the burden on teachers and foster an atmosphere of kindness and tolerance in the classroom, Staples, Inc., is partnering with music icon Lady Gaga to create a series of public service announcements. The public service campaign includes 15-, 30- and 60-second TV and radio spots in which Lady Gaga encourages positive behavior and attitudes, as well as support for students and teachers in reaching their educational goals. The PSAs also highlight two charities: DonorsChoose.org, which allows individuals to contribute to more than 25,000 classroom projects for teachers across the country; and the Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, to support and empower children, teens, and young adults. As part of its mission to support education, Staples announced donations of $1 million each to DonorsChoose.org and the Born This Way Foundation. "I want kids to love themselves, fearlessly," Lady Gaga says in a video on the StaplesforStudents.org website. The lack of basic school supplies is a chronic problem that can get in the way of children's learning and achieving their goals, she adds. For more information about the campaign and fundraising activities, visit StaplesforStudents.org. Visitors to the site have the opportunity to enter a sweepstakes and win a trip for two to Las Vegas to meet Lady Gaga and see her in concert as part of her 2017 Lady Gaga Joanne tour. Five winners will receive the travel and concert package, and a grand prize winner also receives a $50,000 scholarship, courtesy of Staples.

Protecting Your Kid’s Identity Is Your Responsibility

Protecting Your Kid’s Identity Is Your Responsibility

(NewsUSA) – Sponsored News – If only we could keep our kids in a bubble, insulated from the atrocities the world would inflict on them. Along with the normal worries any parent has for his or her child, you can add child identity theft to the list as well.
According to IdentityTheftFacts.com, on average, victims of child identity theft have roughly $12,000 worth of fraudulent debt. In this way, it is imperative for parents to treat their children’s information in much the same way as they treat their own information in order to prevent identity fraud.
In addition, a recent Child Identity Fraud Report, sponsored by the Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC) and conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, found that 1 in 40 households with minor children (under age 18) had at least one child whose personal information was compromised by identity criminals. All of this is to say that, clearly, this is a problem that parents need to pay attention to.
Couple all of this with breaches affecting children in the commercial sector, such as that at VTech Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based digital-learning toy maker, and you have a recipe for future financial disaster that could go undetected for years. In that case, the company admitted that in December of 2015, names, genders, and birth dates of 6.5 million of its child users were exposed in a data breach. About 2.9 million were U.S. children, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story.
“It’s a predatory crime that affects families,” Virginia State Police Lt. Robert P. Chappell Jr., of Roanoke, Va., told the Deseret News in a phone interview. “I know how to recognize it and the steps to prevent it, as well as how to deal with the emotional aspects of it,” he said.
One such way that parents can protect their kid’s identity is by keeping their digital footprint and information safe and secure. And now there is a simple cost-effective way to do that with the Gabriel app.
The Gabriel app, available at the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, was designed and built with personal privacy and security as its foundation by VirnetX, an Internet security software and technology company.
For only $50 per year for five users, family members are assured that their communications — when they talk, video, chat, text, email, or share photos or documents — are safe and secure.
No one will be able to see, hear, or intercept your communications other than the party you are in contact with because Gabriel does not transmit or store its data with any third party, not even VirnetX. It is person-to-person, end-to-end encryption that all but eliminates opportunities for hackers.
Other benefits include:
* Making free voice or video calls or sending IMs (instant messages) to other Gabriel users.
* Receiving spamless email.
* Sharing pictures or files that are immune to interception.
For more information, or to download Gabriel, please visit www.gabrielsecure.com.

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Toys of the World Celebrate Power of Play

Toys of the World Celebrate Power of Play

NewsUSA) – For most children in the United States, finding a toy with which to play is hardly a hardship. A trip to the toy store with some allowance money, or a holiday or birthday, provides plenty of action figures, model cars, dolls, talking robots and video games. But many children in developing countries around the world cannot afford to buy any toys — and these children often show ingenuity and creativity in making their own toys. To celebrate the power of play, ChildFund International has created a touring exhibition titled, “The Power to Play: From Trash to Treasure,” which displays 350 handcrafted toys created by children around the world. Some of the toys are easily recognizable, like soccer balls and kites. Others are unique to their place of origin, or reveal the social, economic and political conditions in which their makers are growing up. “Our traveling exhibition highlights the resourcefulness and creativity of the children who created the toys,” says Anne Lynam Goddard, president and CEO of ChildFund International. “Thousands of viewers will gain new appreciation for the power of play and its role in childhood development.” Play proves essential to children’s healthy development, helping kids solve problems, test new ideas and gain friendships. So, what kind of toys can viewers expect to see? Warsito and Ade of Central Java, Indonesia make stilts to play a popular game, called “egrang.” “It’s an exciting and unique game, and I love playing it,” says Warsito. “You can tell when a child is an expert in playing this game. He or she must have a good sense of balance and high skill to play it.” Tyrel of Dominica has made his own toys since age eight. “I loved playing with toys, but my parents were not always able to afford them, and the ones that they occasionally bought did not hold together for long.” Nollan, a 13-year-old from Honduras, fashions a toy called “The Trapeze Artist,” which he makes once a year and often lends to siblings and friends. These unique toys are just a few examples of the types of items in ChildFund International’s Power to Play exhibit, which will be traveling to major museums and other locations across the United States through 2011. For more information about the exhibit, or to learn how you can improve the life of a child in need, visit www.childfund.org.

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How To Make Halloween Fun for Parents and Kids

For most parents, Halloween is a holiday that involves taking at least one kid (if not more) trick or treating. While some parents may dread this task and prefer to be the one at home handing out the candy instead of walking through the neighborhood and going door-to-door, these few simple tips can make the evening a treat for you too.

    • Courtesy. There are social norms to be followed on Halloween, just like any other
time, and this needs to be explained to your children. Remind them to say “thank you” and take a piece of candy if offered (even if it isn’t their favorite or first choice), without digging around in the bowl. Second, show respect for the homes and yards of those you visit by staying on the sidewalk or driveway, and not touching any of the flowers, pumpkins, or other holiday decorations (no matter how tempting it may be). Third, avoid houses with lights off, and don’t knock or ring a doorbell more than twice.

    • Control. If you happen to be the parent tasked with escorting (and corralling) a large
group of children, it’s easier to divide the kids into smaller groups of six or seven, and send each to a different house, then have them switch houses. You can tell them this will allow them to hit more houses more efficiently.

    • Comfort. Some parents like (or are convinced by their kids) to dress in costume.
But that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice comfort. Your feet will thank you if you wear decent walking shoes or sneakers to chase your children along the street, and adult costumes that are overdone take away from the kids’ outfits, so keep them simple. In fact, throw on a funny hat or ears and call it a day. Bring something to drink if it’s hot, or sunglasses if you are out with younger children before the sun goes down.

Parents who are smokeless tobacco users can easily enjoy the evening out with a portable spittoon accessory from FLASR. The FLASR portable spittoon is designed to fit into a shirt pocket, and its unique design can be opened and closed with one hand for maximum discretion. Visit www.flasr.com for more information about smokeless tobacco accessories.

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Millennials Are Determined to Lessen Their Kids’ College Debt

(NewsUSA) – Pity the parents of college-bound kids.
According to the just-released 9th annual national “College Savings Indicator Study” conducted by Fidelity Investments, while more parents than ever before are socking away money to finance their children’s college educations — 69 percent nationwide, up 5 percent from last year — they’re still on track to save just 27 percent of their stated goals by the start of freshman year.
Even non-math whizzes can see what’s described as “the challenge ahead” implied by these two numbers: $232 (the median monthly amount parents report saving) and $31,231 (the current average annual cost of tuition and fees at private colleges).
Of particular interest may be the behavior of millennial parents.
This is the generation, born between 1981 and 1997, whose particular revelation from the 2008 recession was how tough it is paying off their own student loans while trying to establish a career (56 percent who graduated with such debt remain saddled with it). So it’s understandable, as the study found, that they “appear particularly determined to help their children” avoid the same plight — specifically, by planning on covering 8 percent more than the 66 percent of their offspring’s college costs than parents overall.
“Millennials have weathered challenging conditions for much of their adulthood, and have adopted smart savings habits at a higher rate than their older counterparts,” says Keith Bernhardt, vice president of retirement and college products at Fidelity.
Here are some ideas you might not have thought of to keep from underfunding your own kids’ higher education:
* Consider opening a 529 Plan. According to the survey, 93 percent of parents using one of these state- or state agency-sponsored, dedicated college accounts say it helps keep them on target. Savings can be used for tuition, books, and other education-related expenses. And the best part? Federal income taxes are deferred on any earnings, and separate state tax deductions may also apply.
* Get with the trend. You’ve heard of wedding registries set up to help finance a honeymoon in, say, exotic Bora Bora, right? Well, it’s the same for college. If you have a 529 Plan through Fidelity, for example, its free 529 Online Gifting Service lets friends and family contribute to your account — with a private dashboard provided for you to send invitations and track gifts.
* Reallocate pre-school dollars. If your child has aged out of day care and afterschool care, that’s an average of $730 in monthly fees that could instead be squirreled away in a dedicated college savings account.
One other finding to emerge from the study: 70 percent of all parents say they need more “guidance” on the whole subject. Among the most popular Fidelity resource is an interactive, online College Savings Quick Check that lets you see how you’re progressing.

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April Fools’ Fake Out: How to Sneak Healthy Twists Into Kids’ Favorites

(NewsUSA) – Sponsored News – As a busy working mom to two young children, Tamera Mowry-Housley, co-host of TV’s “The Real,” understands the daily challenge of juggling her time between home and work. However, family time is of the utmost importance to her, and she still sets aside time to cook meals with her family almost every night. She encourages other parents to reclaim family dinner nights, and there’s no better time to start than summer, when the days are longer and the weather is perfect for backyard dinners.
While it may sound daunting and time-consuming to prepare dinner after a long day at work, it doesn’t have to be. To make cooking easier, the RAGU brand has launched its new line of RAGU Homestyle sauces that have a heartier texture and a bolder flavor. Even the most demanding home cooks would be proud to serve new RAGU Homestyle sauces to their family, including Mowry-Housley.
“I’m a busy mom, but I make it a priority to set aside time to unplug and connect with my family over a meal almost every day — products like RAGU Homestyle sauces help me do that quickly and easily,” said Mowry-Housely. She partnered with the makers of RAGU because dishes made with quality ingredients are must-haves at her family’s table, year round.
RAGU Homestyle Sauces contain no artificial colors, no artificial flavors and no high-fructose corn syrup. “The great ingredients and made-from-scratch taste make me feel good about serving RAGU Homestyle pasta sauce to my friends and family,” added Mowry-Housley.
With its new line of sauces, the RAGU brand is honoring its rich heritage by using the tried-and-true cooking methods inspired by its founder, Assunta Cantisano, who started selling homemade pasta sauce in 1937. Made from a bold combination of vine-ripened tomatoes, onions and fragrant herbs and spices such as basil, oregano, fennel and ground black pepper, the ingredients are peeled, chopped and simmered to perfection. The result is a thicker and heartier sauce that hugs pasta perfectly, making it an easy choice for family meals.
With the variety of sauces available — Traditional, Meat, Mushroom, Roasted Garlic and Four Cheese — there are many summer-inspired dishes you can create. For recipe inspiration, Mowry-Housley recommends watching a delicious grilled chicken parmesan and zucchini noodles recipe video featuring RAGU Homestyle Traditional. The recipe was developed by lifestyle influencer Dzung Duong of the popular YouTube channel “Honeysuckle,” and can be found here: https://youtu.be/S3QVZ6bxt8E.
For more information and additional recipe inspiration, check out http://www.RAGU.com and follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.

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