I’ll be the parenting expert to a special Dateline series that starts this Sunday.
Coming up on Dateline is a parenting series that I urge you to watch. The first of the series airs this Sunday night, April 15 at 7p/6 c on “Stranger Safety” reported by NBC’s Natalie Morales. I’m the parenting expert for two parts of the series and was asked by Dateline to review the tapes and share crucial parenting tips on air. I’ll also post those tips in this blog. TODAY.com and DATELINE.com will post as well.
“Dateline’s” hidden cameras in each hour special captured children as they make critical choices about stranger safety, drunk driving, cheating and discrimination. Parents watched their kids in those scenes to discover surprising, revealing scenarios unfold. Almost every parent each time always assumed “My kid would never do that…” and was usually in for a rude awakening. My advice: “Don’t be so quick to say, “Not my kid!” You’d be surprised as to how most kids do respond.
I encourage you to watch this series with your children. These are the kinds of child-raising concerns that keep parents up at night with worries, but what is good news is that experts will also offer concrete advice that will help parents teach their kids how to do the right thing and help prepare kids for these situations in real life. I, as well as other experts, will offer better ways to teach your kids critical skills so they will be more likely to make wiser as well as safer choices. Here is the upcoming series:
Sunday, April 15 at 7p/6c: Stranger-Danger
While stranger abductions are rare, all parents worry about keeping kids safe. Does your child know what to do when approached by a stranger?
• We test elementary school kids as they are invited for a private tour of an ice cream truck – will they remember what their parents have taught them about never getting into a vehicle with a stranger?
• And giving out personal information in the digital age can be dangerous—will some young teens tell a stranger their names and addresses, even though they’ve been warned not to? Anxious parents will be watching, and our experts will be standing by to offer advice about what to tell kids.
Sunday, April 22 at 7p/6c: Driving
Giving your teenager the keys to a car is one of the scariest moments of parenthood. Will they make safe choices? Teens make decisions in what appeared to be three potentially dangerous situations:
• Will they text while driving, even though they’ve promised not to?
• Will they get into a car with a teen they think has been drinking?
• What about with a driver who says he is high?
Sunday, April 29 at 7p/6c: Cheating
Experts say cheating in schools is an epidemic, but most parents think their kid would never do it. From using cell phones to look up answers on a quiz to changing scores in an athletic drill, parents watch to see if their kids will be tempted to cheat. You’ll be surprised!
Sunday, May 6 at 7p/6c: Discrimination
This generation of American kids is the most diverse in history, but do teens know what to do when confronted with racial and ethnic discrimination and do they understand how hurtful it can be? In partnership with theGrio.com and NBCLatino.com, teenagers are placed in situations where they will have to make some tough decisions. Will they base those choices on religion and/or the color of someone’s skin or will they treat everyone equally? Their parents watched … and learned powerful lessons that apply to all of us.
The series, available for purchase after it airs, can be found at datelinenbc.com.
Tune in and watch! I guarantee you’ll learn (and so will your kids if you watch together).