Internet access can give children an academic edge, help them explore their interests, and stay connected with friends and family. The Internet can also be a dangerous place and if not properly supervised children can be exposed to inappropriate material and even become victims of online predators. However, with proper precautions and supervision your child family can enjoy the benefits of the Internet.
- Place computers with Internet access in a central location in the home.When computers are in a central location, they can be easily monitored, but if placed in private places such as bedrooms, children can quickly close inappropriate websites when they hear their parents coming.
- Get rid of the webcam.Webcams can be a great way to communicate with your friends and family, but leaving a teen unsupervised with a webcam can lead to your child’s strip show debut.
- Decide what online activities are age appropriate.Chat rooms, instant messaging, and websites such as YouTube, Myspace, and even Yahoo can be particularly dangerous for anybody under the age of 16. Any place where your child can be contacted privately by strangers is a potential lurking ground for predators. However, instant messaging and Myspace has become a popular form of communication. A reasonable compromise may be to allow your child to instant message/Myspace only people that they know in real life, and not new internet friends.
- Discuss online behavior rules with your child.Write them down clearly and post them near the computer as a reminder. Instead of threatening your child that breaking the rules will mean that they must go to time-out, tell your child that breaking the rules will mean they lose internet privileges. Be clear about what your child can and cannot do online and be sure to emphasize the importance of keeping personal information private. Children should never tell anyone online their address, phone number, full name, school name or show anyone pictures of themselves.
- Invest in monitoring and filtering software. There are programs that can help you monitor your child’s activities and block inappropriate websites. However, be aware that these programs do not replace a watchful parent and can easily be disabled by computer savvy teens.
- Keep a close eye on behaviour. Check your browser history frequently. Finding that the browser history has been cleared may be a sign that your child has been up to something they shouldn’t. Check your child’s favorites. Visit the websites they visit and see what it’s like for yourself.
- Be aware of the warning signs that something is wrong.If your child quickly closes programs whenever you walk into the room or becomes very secretive about what they do online they are sending up a huge red flag that they are doing something they shouldn’t. Be especially wary if your child begins receiving phone calls that they are secretive about or starts receiving gifts in the mail from people you don’t know.
- Talk to your child.This is probably the most important step. Talk to your child about internet safety and what can happen when people are not careful online. If your child goes online this is just as important as talking about smoking and drug use. Keep talking about it even if you think your child is being safe. Ask them about what they do online, who they talk to, what they saw. Show interest in what they do.
- Remember that your job is to keep your kids safe, not to be their best friend. They might be angry at you for restricting their actions online, but it’s worth it.
A few sample safety rules . . .
| Type of Info | Examples |
| Personal contact information | - Addresses and phone numbers could help potential burglars or stalkers locate you much more easily.
- Identity theft is made simpler by every piece of information the thief can obtain. |
| Financial information | - Do not post pictures of cheques or credit cards.
- Do not post account numbers, or even the name of your bank or credit card companies. - Do not make comments about your finances, even in general. |
| Password or password hints | - Do not post your password to Facebook or to any other accounts.
- Do not post information that could give crooks information about your Password Hints. Some common ones include your mother’s maiden name, your first pet’s name, or the name of the street you grew up on. |
| When you will be or are away from home | - Do not post comments about going out of town for the night or week. It will give others an idea of when your house will be empty.
- Do not post photos while on vacation, as again, potential burglars will be able to tell they have time to pay your home an unwanted visit. - Consider avoiding “checking in” to places, as this is also a record of when you aren’t home. |
| Anything you don’t want others to share |
- If you don’t want everyone to know about something, do not post it. Others can share your status or photos, or save them and send to whomever they choose. - Complaints about work or other people are likely to get back to your employer or the other person, and that can hurt your job or your social life. - If you have any doubts about whether a comment or photo is appropriate for public viewing, it is best to not post it. |
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