Having a cell phone is a privilege not a right, and I can revoke the privilege.

I can pick it up and look at your text messages any time I choose.

If you password protect it, I must know the password.

After her younger son got his phone, she picked it up and looked at the messages, but she couldn’t understand what they were about. Why? Because her son and his friends were using a different language — Text Lingo. (I don’t really know what kids call the shorthand language they use for texting each other; I just named it Text Lingo.)

She said she asked her son what some of it meant, and he told her. Well, he told her SOMEthing. If the phrase “IWSN” had been in the text, do you think he’d have told her that?

In any event, I gave the mom the link to the LRNTheLingo app that I blogged about here (and the meaning of IWSN is revealed). Maybe that app will help her keep up with what’s going on in her sons’ texting world.

The grandson, just over two years old, keeps asking for Curious George, so the grandpa keeps reading it to him. Now, of course, the grandson takes a much more active part in the reading, filling in blanks when there’s a pause, delighting when a page is turned and he sees a favorite picture, anticipating words that are about to be spoken. There are so many lessons being learned and messages going on between these two people, I can’t even count them.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

Unfortunately, not all stories about children being lost in stores turn out so well.

Losing track of your child is one of the scariest things a parent can experience. You’re looking at a pair of jeans at JC Penneys, or in a bookstore looking at a book someone recommended to you, when all of a sudden you turn around and your child is no longer next to you. Children have a tendency to wander off, usually without realizing the seriousness of what they are doing. They could be just around the next rack of clothes, but by being anywhere other than by your side, they care you half to death. Why is this so frightening? The unfortunate answer is that some people have decided to take advantage of lone children that they encounter. While rare, these kidnappings do happen.

Have you ever been in a department store and heard “CODE ADAM” come over the loudspeaker and wondered what it was?

CODE ADAM was developed by John Walsh, host of America’s Most Wanted, as a way to help save children from being kidnapped as his son Adam had been. Most retail stores and other public establishments train their employees in the process and practice of Code Adam.  When a store employee is told of a missing child, the employee is trained to ask three questions:

What is the age and sex of the child?

What is the child wearing?

What color shoes is the child wearing?

The information will be broadcast over the loudspeaker of the store informing customers and employees alike that a child is missing. Employees may block the exits while they search for a child matching the description. If the child is found, the announcement “Code Adam Canceled” will be broadcast. If the child is not found after ten minutes, the store manager will call the police.

This morning, I was in a national retail store. I saw the CODE ADAM sign on the door. Since there were several children in the store, and it was very busy with holiday shoppers, I was glad that the employees had been trained in a system to help locate missing children. I hope they never have to use it.

Here is a partial list of department stores, retail shops, shopping malls, supermarkets, amusement parks, museums and others who participate in the Code Adam program.

The photograph here is of the same grandfather and grandson, now 23 months old, sitting on the same sofa, both still enjoying each other’s company, both still laughing and playing and learning that reading is, indeed, fun.

It looks like neither the grownup nor the child is paying attention to the book, but you can be sure there is plenty of learning going on.

I wonder if the child has discovered the magic of looking up his grandfather’s nose!

It’s called So You’re 18 and addresses issues that new adults need to know and think about — employment, voting, drunk driving, marriage, military service, for example. It’s not riveting reading (it’s written by lawyers, after all), but it is written so that real people can understand it.

You can download a pdf of the pamphlet from the VSB website, or you can call/write/email me, and I’ll send you a hard copy. It’s free.

Sandra Rohrstaff, 515 King Street, #330, Alexandria,Virginia 22314; 703-260-6070; Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com; www.RohrstaffLaw.com.

More than 25% of children say they are bullied at school! Nearly one-quarter of public schools report that bullying is a daily or weekly problem.

Your child might be a victim of bullying if:

• She is afraid to go to school or do organized activities with classmates
• She has unexplainable cuts or bruises
• Her clothes, books or other belongings are damaged or missing
• She often cries or seems sad

It’s often hard for children who are being bullied to talk to a parent or other adult, but it is very important for them to tell.  Create an atmosphere of trust with your child so you can help her. If you think your child is being bullied, you can help:

• Ask your child to tell you about the bully. Listen carefully. Let her know it’s not her fault.
• Teach ways to deal with bullies. Teach her to walk away or find an adult. She should not react to the bully. Hitting back won’t end the problem and may get her in trouble (even if she didn’t start it).
• Encourage her to make friends at school.
• Talk with the teacher or principal if the bullying doesn’t stop. They have a responsibility to stop bullying. Find out if the school has a program to prevent bullying. If not, suggest they take immediate steps to develop one.

Yesterday, I posted a blog about bullying that features a bullying prevention program being used in Frederick County, Maryland.

If your child is being bullied at school and you need more information about her rights and the responsibility of the school, I will be glad to provide you with information that is helpful to you. You can contact me at Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com, give me a call at 703-260-6070 or you can contact me through our website, www.RohrstaffLaw.com.

Childhood bullies often grow up to be adult bullies. Maybe you’ve even run across one. If bullying is a problem at your child’s school, go to the principal. Your child has a right to be safe at school.

From working in Barnes and Noble I have learned about Code Adam, the process of locating a missing child in a retail establishment or a public place.  We train regularly in executing the procedure, just in case.  We did it every night for a month before the Harry Potter release party back in 2007.  However, I had never actually done one until last weekend.

Last weekend we had a parent come up to us saying that she couldn’t find her two little girls.  I was the one who received the information and had to make the overhead page…”Attention Barnes & Nobles customers, we have a Code Adam, etc…”.  We found the girls very quickly, but still I was shaken for hours afterwards.

I wrote the article explaining what Code Adam is and why it exists for you to share with parents.  I was very impressed by the customers in the store that day because everyone froze and was silent while we looked for the girls.  I think it’s helpful for parents to know that this procedure exists.

Stephanie wrote an article with more information about CODE ADAM that I posted on my firm’s website.  Here is a link to the article she wrote. Thanks, Stephanie, for helping to spread the word.

However, some apps have devious purposes.  Growing numbers of apps provide Caller ID Spoofing. We rely on caller ID and don’t question that the person on the phone is the name that appears on the screen.  However, spoofing apps allow the user to choose any number they want to appear on caller ID instead of their own, to completely disguise their voice so as to remain unrecognizable, and one spoof app allows users to fake texts and emails. Our children are trusters, but they can no longer automatically believe what the caller ID tells them.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article (along with a 6-minute video) that featured SpoofCard, one of the most popular of the spoofing software versions, that told stories from users about how they use the device.  Even though the site details useful applications of the device in the section on legality, not one legal use is included as an actual example.  The examples from customers are all personal pranks or spying on “loved ones.”

Possibly the most dangerous use of this technology is that the spoofer is able to check another person’s voicemail without their knowledge.  Many cell phone carriers allow the user to check their voicemail without a password by calling their phone number from their own phone.  If a spoofed caller ID of your number calls your number, the spoofer is also connected directly to the voicemail box.  To keep this from happening to you, make sure you have use a password to access your voicemail.

Congress is moving forward in making this practice illegal.  The House passed the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007, but it was never made into law.

The Federal Communication Commission has detailed its current view on caller ID and provides a number to call if you believe a caller ID has been falsified.

Find out all you can about caller ID spoofs. I know it may cause eye rolling by your children, but please talk to them about not assuming the caller whose ID they see on their phone may not be who they think it is. This spoof is no joke.