Safe surfing: Tips for securing your child's journey through
cyberspace
The Internet can be a powerful
educational tool and a way for children to connect with people
around the world. With the click of the mouse, children can
see sloths in their rainforest habitat, work together with
fourth graders in Sweden on a classroom project, or search
online encyclopedias, dictionaries and libraries all over the
world. Yet it can also bring them into close contact with
inappropriate images and information and can be a potential
source of exploitation. Here are some suggestions that you can
use to help make sure your child’s journey through cyberspace
is enriching and safe:
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Develop some family rules on computer and
Internet use and post them in a visible place. These might
include such reminders as: the time of day and length of
time your children can use the computer; not to give out
personal information (such as home address, telephone
number, parent’s work address or telephone number, the name
and location of school, or photographs) without parental
permission; not to respond to e-mail from strangers; to
never agree to get together with someone met online; to tell
parents right away about information that makes your child
feel uncomfortable; not to download anything from an unknown
person.
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Look into blocking software or filters.
All of the major online services provide programs that
parents can use to limit their children’s access to
information on the Internet. Also available is web-filtering
software that blocks access to sites that contain language
or content that the user designates as off-limits.
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Place the computer that your children use
in a common area of your home.
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Be in or around the room where your
computer is located when your children are using the
Internet alone. This will allow you to provide guidance and
to occasionally check on what they are viewing.
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Surf the Net along with your children and
visit their favorite sites or chat rooms.
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Have your children use child-friendly
search engines when looking up a topic or doing homework.
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Bookmark your children’s favorite
websites to provide easy access.
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Make sure your children are only
exchanging e-mail with people you and they know.
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Make sure that your children only use
chat areas that you have previewed and supervised.
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Be aware of other computers your children
may be using. If they are in the homes of friends, talk with
their parents about their family rules on computer and
Internet use.
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Internet accounts should be in the
parent’s name with parents having the primary screen name
and controlling passwords, blocking and filtering devices.
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Children should not complete a profile
for a service provider. If using a chat room, children’s
screen names should be nondescript so as not to identify
them as children.
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If you suspect online "stalking" or
sexual exploitation, report it to the police. The National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children
(www.missingkids.com) has a system for identifying online
predators and child pornographers and provides information
to law enforcement investigations.
