nine (9) Tips to Protect
Your Children Online
Talk to your children about the dangers of the Internet including predators, exposure to explicit material and cyber crime. This information would enable them to fend for themselves if questionable situations arise as well as report matters to you with ease.
Always keep the family computer with Internet access in a common location in your home so that you can oversee your children while they are online. Although it is impossible for you to be with your children online every hour of the day, at least you will have a bird’s eye view from time to time of your child’s activities online. Under no circumstances should a computer with Internet access be placed in your child’s bedroom.
Limit the amount of time you allow your children to surf the Web because the Internet can become addictive and the more time they spend online, the more susceptible they are to attracting Internet predators and/or venturing into explicit Web territory.
Insist that your children use search engines designed for kids such as ‘content watch’ and ‘net nanny’. This will protect your family from viewing offensive Web content as these programs are designed to recognize and filter undesirable Web material.
Ensure that both you and your child know all persons attached to their messenger buddy list and discourage your child from engaging in instant messaging with strangers. By taking this measure, you would always have a good idea of who your child is talking to online.
Alert your child on the dangers of meeting online strangers face to face. They may be predators pretending to be someone else or even someone in the same age bracket as your child. Under no circumstances should these meetings take place.
Discourage your child from giving out their name, telephone number, address or any other personal information online. They should also avoid giving out their email address to strangers.
You should always have access to whatever resources your child is viewing online. Ensure that you have access to your child’s email and messenger service. This will allow you to conduct spot checks of your child’s online activities.
Set
reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use by your children.
Decide whether or not to use parental control tools or protective
software such as netnanny,
cyber patrol and
cyber sitter . Discuss these
rules with children and put a note near the computer as a reminder.
Remember to monitor their compliance of these rules, especially when it
comes to the amount of time your child spends online. A child or
teenager's excessive use of online services or bulletin boards,
especially late at night, may be a clue that there might be a problem.
Remember that personal computers and online services should not be used
as electronic babysitters.
Links
http://wiredkids.org/safesites/
Produced by: Research & Planning – Royal Bahamas Police Force