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While the benefits of the Internet far outweigh the risks, it's important to discuss safe internet usage with your child. Many internet safety experts advocate keeping the computer or internet connection in a common room where you can supervise their surfing. Here are some other tips for keeping your kids safe online.
- Be Internet Savvy – Kids today are sometimes more familiar with the Internet than their parents. By being in the know, you can help protect your children from the dangers, and share in the many benefits of the Internet.
- Be Open – Explain to your child the risks on the internet and your concerns. Let them know that supervising them isn't an invasion of their privacy; it's for their own protection. Encourage them to come to you if they come across something that makes them feel uncomfortable or scared.
- Personal and Private Information – Explain why it can be dangerous to give out personal information on the internet and exactly what you mean by personal information. This list should include (but is not limited to) their name, photos, email address, home address, phone numbers, social security numbers, age, and school.
- Inappropriate Material – The Internet is a vast resource for useful information. Unfortunately, even innocent keyword searches can bring up websites that contain explicit sexual, violent, and hateful information. Most Internet Service Providers (ISP) offer free, downloadable filters that prevent access to these sites and limit SPAM (junk email often containing inappropriate content.)
- Harassment – Chat rooms and message boards sometimes attract people who choose to harass others with insults, threats or by spreading rumors. Most websites with chat rooms or message boards provide information for reporting these people. If your child receives harassing or threatening emails, report it to your ISP.
- Financial Information – You should not allow your child to make purchases on the Internet without your permission. Credit card purchases should only be done on a secure server or with an internet payment service like PayPal. Never give credit card or checking account information over email. Look for icons indicating that the website uses software ensuring secure transactions. Explain to your child what can happen if credit card information falls into the wrong hands.
- Get a Free Email Account – Consider obtaining a free email account for your child from a provider such as Yahoo or Hotmail. These types of accounts limit SPAM and do not indicate where your child lives, as a local ISP email address can.
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