Guiding Parents Through Brave New Cyberworlds

by Marcia Z. Nelson, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 2/28/2007

The rapidity with which MySpace and other social networking sites have grown in popularity among teens, combined with the danger of online predators, has equally rapidly produced a need for books for parents wanting to know how to ensure their kids' online safety. With 31 other books to her credit, former youth pastor Connie Neal had another valuable credential for writing her latest volume: her two teenagers use MySpace. Neal's MySpace for Moms and Dads: A Guide to Understanding the Risks and Rewards, out this month from Zondervan, helps parents follow the author into what might be an unfamiliar world filled with promise and peril for kids.

Neal researched and wrote quickly, attending conferences that drew all the experts she needed to question. "Every cyberspace expert I listened to or interviewed said the best defense against social networking dangers is an informed and involved parent," she said. "If you want to make sure your teen is safe it is very easy if you are willing to do it."

Social networking also holds rewards, as Neal knows from the experiences of her two teens. Her daughter was able to raise money for a mission trip to Nigeria and communicate efficiently with friends and supporters. Her son, a musician, has heard from as far away as Australia about original music posted at his site. "If we parents learn to use this technology, we can outwit the predators," Neal told RBL from Seattle, where she was visiting a college with her son and promoting the new book. "We can take the power and use it." She has speaking engagements scheduled in Illinois, Texas and southern California, as well as media in her home area of Sacramento.

Other experienced authors are being tapped by religion publishers to address this new need. Popular evangelical author and counselor Stephen Arterburn (and Roger Marsh) have produced Internet Protect Your Kids: Keep Your Kids Safe from the Dark Side of Technology (Integrity, Mar.). Less an Internet guide and more a manual for understanding the psychology of today's wired teens, Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a MySpace World (Baker Books, July) by Chap Clark and Dee Clark draws on the expertise of two youth and family specialists who are also parents of three children.