Keeping Your Children Safe in an Online World
In our globally connected world, the risks that children face today can be very different from those that we faced as children. Online safety is something that parents, teachers and schools are concerned about. Keeping our children safe begins with talking to them about the dangers. Just as our parents taught us not to get into a car with a stranger, we must teach our children how to keep themselves safe online.Setting Rules
The following are some rules that all children should learn about using the Internet:
• Don’t give away any personal information. This includes your age, your school, your address or phone number.
• Never meet an online friend in person without an adult there with you. Online we do not know who someone really is. I might say I am a 10-year-old boy but really I am a 25-year-old man.
• Don’t give out your password, except to adults in your family or your teacher.
Tips
Here are some tips for parents that can help keep your child safe:
• Put the computer in a high traffic area in your house like the kitchen or family room.
• Talk with your child about what they are doing online.
• Monitor your child’s online activity.
• Be actively involved in your child’s online experiences.
• Let your child know that they should tell you about anything that happens online that makes them feel uncomfortable or upset.
• Get to know the friends that your child has online.
• Have conversations with them about ways to keep themselves safe and establish rules for their online activities.
Remember, even if your child is technology savvy, they still need your guidance. Teach them how to be safe online so that they can protect themselves. Start the conversation today.
Do You Know Where Your Children Have Been on the Internet?
Internet browsing applications keep a record of all websites that have been visited called a history. These histories are a great way to see which websites have been accessed by children in your home.
In Internet Explorer 7
1. Click View — Explorer Bar — History
2. A list of visited websites appears on the left of the screen (History)
• Options will be: today, previous 2 days last week, 2 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago
3. History can be searched and sorted by clicking History at the top of the list
In Mozilla Firefox
1. Click History
2. Click Show All History
3. Click Views — Show Columns to change the information being displayed
4. Click Views — Sort to change the order of displayed results
To learn more and to help your kids learn about Internet safety, visit these websites:
http://www.netsmartz.org/
Excellent website for parents and students. The site has activities that will help you start a conversation with your child about online safety. Netsmartz 411 provides on- and offline learning activities for parents to facilitate discussions with their children and teens about Internet
safety. Visit “Parent FAQ” to learn more about how and why parents should use NetSmartz.
http://www.getnetwise.org/
Good resource for parents. GetNetWise has resources that show parents how to keep their family’s online experiences safe and secure. There are how-to videos ranging from setting your search engine to filter unwanted sites in its search results to activating your computer’s security settings.