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The huge growth on the Internet
in recent years means more people are going online. In schools and
in many homes, children are logging onto commercial services and
private bulletin boards. There are many educational and entertaining
benefits to going online. Unfortunately, there are also risks for
children who use the Internet.
Teenagers are particularly at risk
because they often use the computer unsupervised and are more likely
than younger children to participate in online discussions regarding
companionship, relationships, or sexual activity.
Some risks are:
-
Being
exposed to inappropriate material that is sexual, hateful, or
violent in nature, or encourages activities that are dangerous
or illegal;
-
Providing information or arranging an encounter
that could risk your child's safety or the safety of other family
members;
- Doing
something that has negative legal or financial consequences,
such as giving out a parent's credit card number.
Although crimes are
being committed online, that's not a reason to avoid using the
Internet. Instead, learn how to be" cyber smart" -
to better safeguard your family.
While children need a certain amount
of privacy, they also need parental involvement and supervision
in their daily lives. The same general parenting skills that apply
to the “real world” also
apply online. By taking responsibility for your children’s
online computer use, you can greatly minimize potential risks of
being online.
Make it a family rule to:
- Never give out identifying or personal
information – home
address, school name, telephone number, age, marital status,
or financial information in chat rooms or bulletin boards.
- Don’t
post photographs of your children on Web sites that are available
to the public.
- Inquire about your Internet Service Provider’s
(ISP’s)
privacy policies and exercise your options for how your personal
information may be used.
- If you have cause for concern about
your children’s online
activities, talk to them. Remember – how you respond will
determine whether your children confide in you the next time
they encounter a problem.
- Never allow your children to arrange
a face-to-face meeting with someone they’ve “met” online
unless they’ve
received your permission.
- If you become aware of the transmission,
use, or viewing of child pornography while online, immediately
report this to the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children’s CyberTipline® at
1-800-843-5678 or www.cybertipline.com.
- Instruct your children
not to click on any links that are contained in email from persons
they don’t know. Such links could
lead to inappropriate Web sites.
- Remember that people online
may not be who they seem. Someone indicating that “she” is
a “12-year old girl” could
in reality be a 40-year old male predator.
- Be careful about offers
that involve personally coming to a meeting, having someone visit
your house, or sending money or credit card information.
- Keep
the computer in a family room rather than the child’s
bedroom.
- Share an email account with your children
to oversee their mail, and consider joining your children when
they are in private chat areas.
- Utilize the filtering features
built into the popular Internet browsers and software programs
that block areas known to be inappropriate for children. You
can find information about filtering programs at www.getnetwise.org/tools.
- Know the lingo used in chat
rooms and email correspondence. See
Chat Dictionary here.
The most important thing to
remember is that when your child is online in any kind of public
forum, anyone can read whatever he or she posts. They should never
post anything on the Internet that they wouldn’t want known
to the public. Here are tips to teach your children to help protect
them online.
- Talk with your parents about groundrules for going
online
It’s important that parents and children agree when it
comes to their online activities. This includes when they can
go online, how long they can stay online, and what activities
they can participate in online. Children should be taught that
communicating with parents doesn’t mean that they have
to give up their privacy. It just means that an agreement based
on mutual trust and understanding has been reached.
- Keep your identity private
If your child is in any type of public forum, make sure he or
she avoids giving out his or her name, mailing address, telephone
number, school name, or any other information that could help
someone determine identity. The same applies to information
about family and friends.
- Never get
together with someone you "meet" online
The biggest danger to a child's safety is getting together with
someone he or she "meets" online. Make sure your children
know they can never be positive people they meet online are who
they say they are. Teach your children that if they’re
unsure whether to meet with someone, they should discuss it with
you first.
- Never respond to messages
that are hostile, belligerent or inappropriate
It isn't your children's fault if they get a message that makes
them feel uncomfortable. If they get such a message, they shouldn’t
respond. Instead, teach your child to show such a message to you
or to another trusted adult to see if there is anything that
can be done to put a stop to it.
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