Doing Your Part to Keep Your Kids Safe Online

Doing Your Part to Keep Your Kids Safe Online
Courtesy of Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW,
Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com

There are some very positive things that can be found on the Internet. You can connect with friends and family, research information, play games, find jobs and much more. Unfortunately, the Internet can also be a very dangerous place to be. The number of online predators is growing at epidemic rates.

Cyber bullying, child abductions, rape and even murder are a real threat to kids who are not properly taught how to act online. Kids feel safe when they are using the computer because they cannot see or interact with the other person like they would face to face. This causes them to let some of their defenses down and can mean disaster for them and their family.

Some Simple Pointers:

• Keep the computer in an open area of the house. This helps prevent kids going to websites that they may have gone to if they had more privacy.
  
  
• Children will want to have online accounts, but it is always safer not to let them have any at least until they are in high school. If they do have online accounts, have access to it so that you can know who's talking to them.
  
  
• Trust your children. You can monitor their activities while allowing them to maintain a sense of freedom.
  
  
• Set limits as to how much time and what sites they can visit.
  
  
• Maintain open communication with your kids.
  
  
• Know their friends.

Staying safe on MySpace:

• Always remember that everything shared on MySpace is out there for everyone to see. This means that you are sharing private information with people who pose no threat and also with those who could prove to be dangerous.
  
  
• Never give out your phone number, home address, specific whereabouts, or IM screen names. (Be extremely careful what you post and allow your kids to post on social networking sites. Sometimes predators can determine your location simply by looking at the backgrounds of your posted pictures.)
  
  
• If there are things you don’t want everyone to know, do not post them on MySpace.
  
  
• Do not give out information that tells people where you will be at a certain time.
  

There is nothing more tragic to a parent than the loss of a child. Please, let's teach our kids to be safe online and do our part to ensure their safety.

© MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW
Your Internet Safety Advocate and Educator