The Truth, Facts, & Lies team strives to involve parents in everything we do.  The following information is for parents and guardians looking for extra resources and includes conversation starters to use with the youth in their lives. When using the conversation starters, allow your child to do most of the talking. Pose the question and let them work through a variety of solutions. Ask them for pros and cons of their solutions and what they think will happen next.

1. Familiesmanagingmedia.com – information on cell phones, video games & social media; rules for phone use, how to know if you child is ready for a phone/social media
2. Commonsensemedia.org – great for reviewing video games
3. Thatsnotcool.com – memes to use when responding to bullying, peer pressure, requests for nudes, etc

Conversation Starters:

1. Is social media making us unsocial?
2. How can you prevent that from becoming an issue within your peer group?
3. Tell me about the apps you use. (Have your child set up an account for you and teach you how to use it).
4. Tell me about your privacy settings.
5. What are positive ways social media impacts your life?
6. Do you know your social media followers in real life?

1. Pacer.org

1. Joinonelove.org
2. Loveisrespect.org
3. Interactofwake.org

Conversation starters:

1. What does a healthy relationship look like?
2. What are you looking for in your relationships?
3. What would motivate your partner to want the passwords to your phone or accounts? How will you respond?
4. What will you do if you know your friends is in an abusive relationship?
5. What will you do if someone is threatening self-harm?

1. Polarisproject.org
2. Endsexualexploitation.org

Conversation starters:

1. What can you do to decrease your vulnerability?
2. What can we do to decrease the growth of trafficking?
3. What do you think about the way society treats victims?
4. How does social media help a recruiter?
5. Are pornography & human trafficking related?

1. FightTheNewDrug.org

Conversation Starters:

1. Do you feel like pornography represents a real relationship? Why or why not?
2. What do you think are the long-term consequence of using porn to learn about sex and/or relationships?

 At Truth, Facts & Lies, we believe every teen needs to have a plan to remove themselves from uncomfortable situations. With this is mind, we encourage parents to help their teen develop these strategies. Have these conversations when your teen is calm and not currently in the stressful situation. We tell parents, don’t try to teach your child to swim while they are drowning. Give them scenarios about bullying, dating abuse, drinking, etc and let them talk through what they would do in that situation. Ask them what would make it difficult to actually take that course of action and what can you do to help them. Help them develop an exit strategy that THEY are comfortable using if they are at a party or social situation that is dangerous or beyond their comfort zone.