How to Protect Your Kids

What can I do to protect my child online, and help them make the most of the internet?

It is difficult for you and your kids to know what or who to trust when using the internet, especially for those who are not computer savvy. The purpose of this section is to give both parents and kids a few quick tips on how to stay safe when online. While these tips are not fail-safe, they are simple ways to increase your family’s security while online. Unfortunately, there are internet predators that wish to harm your kids. They target young kids with lies and deception. They hack into clean sites and post pornography. They wait in chat rooms to get personal information and possibly contact you children in person. The internet has many opportunities for kids to experiment and possibly get themselves into trouble. Kid’s are trusting by nature and as parents there are things we can do to protect our kids.

Safety tips for parents

Become more computer literate
Keep computer in a visible area.
Keep the computer in a high traffic room (never put computer in child’s room)
Talk with kids about everything online.
No chat rooms. If chat rooms are used use only public chat rooms and message boards with reputable kids sites
Implement all parental controls that limit/prevent access to objectionable sites and email filters that limit the objectionable material from popping up on your child’s screen .
Utilize blocking and filtering software
Utilize monitoring and tracking software
Limit and monitor time on computer
Establish clear online rules
Watch for changes in your child’s behavior
Teach your kids what sites you feel are okay for them to explore and those that are not.
Sit with kids online
Be careful during high risk hours. For example when school lets out
Disable Java and Java script in your browser preferences. This will prevent you kids form getting caught in a cycle of pop up pornography
Use kid friendly search engines

Safety Tips For Kids

Keep your identity private
Never fill out questionnaires or any forms online (no personal info)
Never tell anyone where you will be or what you will be doing even if it is with your family
Never send a picture to anyone
Do not give out your full name, mailing address, your telephone number, name of your school, etc. Also do not give out any of your families information.
No photos- what you upload to the net can be downloaded by anyone and passed around or posted pretty much anywhere.
Never meet anyone you have been talking to online in person
There is no guarantee the people you meet online are who they say they are
Never respond to unwanted email, chats comments, instant messaging.