Internet Safety 101: What Children Online Need To Know

  1. Always keep the computer in a public place. This way you can physically monitor your child’s use. 

  2. Restrict time spent online. It’s not healthy for a child to spend too much time online.  If your child is avoiding other activities to use the internet this indicates that maybe they are spending too much time online. Aside from homework and school activities give your child some personal time but keep track of what they are doing and how long they are spending online.

  3. Stay active in your child’s online life. Get to know their online friends, show interest in what sites they are using.  If they are blogging you may want to know the address so you can monitor the content. 

  4. Learn the technology. If you don’t know something get your child to walk you through it.  Ensure you understand the technology they are using.

  5. Learn the jargon. Children using the net have a whole language of their own. Familiarize yourself with acronyms used in chat and IM conversations.

  6. Talk to your children about internet safety. 

  7. Protect your family’s privacy. Your children should know that giving out personal information online is unacceptable. 

  8. Research internet filtering for young children and teens. There is a lot of content out there that you would never want your child to see. Filtering allows you to select keywords that you want to be blocked.  This means any site with those keywords in their code cannot be accessed.

  9. Monitoring software is also a viable option. If you are worried about your teen or just want to know what they are up to online a monitoring package can be a godsend.  Monitoring software tracks emails, chat and IM conversations, pages downloaded and even keystrokes.  You will feel a lot better about your child’s safety with a package like this. 
    If your child is being harassed online or if there is any strange activity occurring you should report it immediately to your ISP.

  10. Teach your children to so the same. Under no circumstances should your child be allowed to meet unsupervised with anyone they have met online.  If there is to be a meeting you should accompany them to a public place. 

- Internet Safety Tips -

Name:
Email:

We hate spam as much as you do and we will never share your information.