As a parent you live for your kids. Those little faces staring up at you with love and a sense of pure trust. Well, unfortunately in today's world the "My Dad can beat up your Dad!" is just not enough anymore. There's more stalking your child than the boogeyman and this time he's taking notes.

I'm sure you're like me. I would move the world for my children and I would hunt down anyone who tries to hurt them. However, I'm not only passionate about my children's safety - I'm also smart!

I believe in prevention and I'm sure you do too. Do you lock your doors at night? Would you ever put your child in a car without a seatbelt or a carseat? Of course not!

So in today's digital world I not only lock my doors at night I also monitor and protect my family's online information. I refuse to be a victim only because I didn't take the simple steps necessary to protect my own. These steps always starts with first understanding that the danger even exists. So, let me do for you what took me months of research to do for myself.

Let me show you some of the very real online dangers facing your children today:

• Identity Theft - There are ruthless criminals looking for every bit of information they can to make money. If you are not careful, your child's private information can be found, purchased and exploited by identity thieves. If you are not monitoring your child's credit now, then your child's financial future is in jeopardy. Look at on your online habits, do you blog? Maybe you posted a blog about your child's birthday party. That's a free tidbit for the persistent identity thief. Ensuring that the entire web is free of your child's private information is something you absolutely must take care of...now. Your child's entire future is at stake.
   
• Social Media Phishing - If your teen or preteen uses social media, he is at risk of social media phishing. Let's say you have a teen or preteen and he/or she has a social media profile on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. You're sure that your kid has more out there, but you lost track after Facebook. You think there's nothing to worry about because, "Hey, my kid's profile is on private. Nothing bad can happen." That is absolutely NOT TRUE. A private profile, does not equate to a safe profile. It is not difficult for any stranger to create a fake profile to befriend your child, then phish for private information for the sole purpose of exploiting your child. Once your child accepts this stranger as an online friend - all bets are off.
   
• Cyberbullying, harassment & manipulation - The quick exchange of information and social interaction online means that cyber-predators are not the only danger your children face on the internet. Your child's problems with classmates can migrate to the virtual world. A child in their preteen or teen years is at a sensitive stage in their development, which can make any sort of cyberbullying or harassment extremely difficult to them. There have been many reported cases where a child (maybe a classmate) or even a grown-up has bullied and manipulated another child online, and the end results is rarely good. The unnecessary and tragic case of Megan Meier is a strong example of that. 13 year old Megan Meier was manipulated and bullied into committing suicide by Lori Drew, a parent of one of Megan's classmates. Lori Drew created a fake myspace account to trick the unknowing 13 year old.
   
• Cyber-stalking - If your preteen or teenager has a blog, a micro-blog (like Twitter) or a social media profile... then he or she is at risk to cyber-stalking. Your child can be stalked by ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, pedophiles or bullies. Keeping track of what your child posts online or even limiting what your child posts can help prevent many problems. Your child may inadvertantly post identifying information, which can help a dangerous stalker figure out where your child is located.
   
• Images Going Viral - These days, most teenagers have a cell phone. And some preteen or teenage girls (or guys, but mainly girls) are feeling the pressure to be older and (from what they are tricked into believing) more sexy... so they end up being pressured to take "sexy" camera phone pics and sending them to their boyfriends. This is such a sad and scary thing to imagine... because not only does a parent have to worry about the image being shown to an entire school, you then have to worry about that image being shown to the entire world just because it is that easy to publish an image online.
   
• Defamation and Libel - Kids can be mean, and oftentimes say things where they don't realize it can truly harm the reputation of another. Before the internet, a teenage girl can be branded a slut... but these days, not only will the kids talk about her behind her back, but they potentially can call her a slut online - where everyone can see it. This may make it difficult for a teenage girl, when she starts looking at colleges. It is far too easy for anyone, and I mean, anyone to say anything online. Not knowing and not being aware of what's out there can cause a great deal of damage if not caught in advance. If you catch it now, you can resolve the issue, before it becomes a catastrophe.
   
• Guilty by association - As much as you try, you can't keep your teenager away from every party. And, your teenager may have good sense, but if he or she goes to a party and is photographed amongst others who don't have good sense... your child could be guilty by association. Can you imagine finding an image online where there are a bunch of teenagers doing keg stands, and there's you underage teenager partying with the rest? Drinking or not, it doesn't matter. What if it was worse? What if your child was drinking or experimenting somehow... and it was captured on photograph, then published online. Wouldn't you want to know about it and have the opportunity to have it removed, before it gets in the way of your child's opportunities?

Online Reputation Management is extremely vital in this day and age. You need it, your child needs it... anybody who wants a shot at success needs it! You can't afford to NOT protect your child's reputation. Your child deserves a shot at success, just like anyone else! And you are the one who can make sure your child has that shot!

Katie Sams Mother of 3 and Online Business Owner