Every Friday is
pizza and a movie night at our house. It’s a great opportunity to get the
family together and just hang out. The last movie we watched together was
National Treasure 2. 
It’s a great story about a family motivated to find the
legendary Native American city of gold, Cibola. Not for wealth and fame but to
clear their family’s good name. I had a treasure I had recently lost so I
watched the movie with heightened interest. My family’s good name wasn’t at
stake but having to call several credit card companies and taking a trip to the
Secretary of State to get a new license was. Yes, I lost my wallet. I had
looked all over the house for it. I’d also gone back to my office and searched
there and looked through my car but no dice. I’m sure many of you can relate to
that sick feeling you get in your stomach when you’ve lost something that’s
important to you. Well the movie got me thinking. The cast of characters in
National Treasure 2 were highly motivated to find the lost city of gold. So
when the movie ended I told my kids I had a treasure for them to find and the
reward was 5 bucks. The $5 was ample motivation as the kids ran off to search
for the lost treasure, my wallet. It wasn’t long until they realized they needed
some more clues to aid in their search. My youngest daughter actually
conducted a rather thorough interview of me, asking me when I’d last used my
wallet, where had I looked for it and so forth. Satisfied she had sufficient
clues she narrowed her search. As I was digging for treasure in our laundry
basket I heard these wonderful words ring out “Daddy I found your
wallet!”. It was my youngest daughter and she was beaming from ear to ear. The relief I felt in that moment
was enormous. Lost treasure found! I was more than happy to pay her the $5
reward.
So what’s the
point of this lost treasure story? Your kids have a valuable treasure, their
innocence, and people are trying to steal it everyday. What is sad is that many
parents don’t realize that treasure thieves are waiting for their kids on the
Internet. Kids surfing the web are a misspelled word or an unwise mouse click
away for loosing part of their innocence. And no treasure hunter can get this
lost treasure back. It’s gone forever. That thought should give you that sick
feeling in your stomach. So many of the parents I’ve talk with over the years
have come to me after the innocence has been lost, asking me what can they do
to protect their kids now. Their motivation to do something to protect their
family came too late. My hope is to try to motivate parents to take action
before the treasure thieves find their kids. So if you’re a parent and have not
taken a least some basic steps to protect your family from Internet dangers
don’t wait another day. Here are the basics:
#1: Get an
Internet Filter (www.safeeyes.com).
#2: Put your
computer in a high traffic area of your home (like your kitchen).
#3: Make sure your
kids know not to give out their personal information online (name, address,
phone number) without your permission.
By the way, after
finding my wallet and collecting the $5 reward my daughter put this sign on
her bedroom door: Wallet Finding Business – Open. It’s amazing what a little
motivation can do.