Making Sure Your Kids Stay Safe Online
The Internet is a source of priceless information and a great tool for social networking. With children, especially teens these days having almost unlimited access to the Web, it can also be a great source of danger. The dizzying rise of social networking sites has come with its own share of problems. These sites are a known haunt of sex offenders, waiting to prey on unsuspecting victims. Here’s what you can do as a parent to make sure your child is safe online.
Keep your computer in a common area of the house accessible to all.
Internet accounts MUST be in your name with all passwords and user IDs controlled by you.
Make use of blocking devices to filter out unwanted content.
Teach your children about the dangers of giving out personal information online – names, addresses, telephone numbers, school names etc. Tell them to never email a picture of themselves to strangers online.
Talk to them about the dangers of meeting up with people they’ve met on the Web. If they want to meet these cyber friends, insist that they have a chaperone, you or another adult.
Teach your children never to respond to offensive chat, or email. Tell them to avoid sites or chat rooms that make them feel uncomfortable.
Make use of parental controls to restrict websites. Internet Explorer provides some control options.
Some internet service providers provide internet control software packages. Use them.
Discuss Internet use with your children. Encourage them to share what they are doing online.
Start young. Victims of online predators are getting younger.
Some networking sites like MySpace have begun using security controls to weed out predators, but the best protection can only come from you.
For more information on how you can prevent cyber predators from getting anywhere close to your kids, check out the Online Safety Guide at http://kids.getnetwise.org/ and http://www.netsmartzkids.org/uyn/index.htm
Filed under: Discipline
