Setting the Guidelines:
Setting good, reasonable guildelines with your children will go a long way to keeping your children safe. Here are some points to remember:
1) Browse the Internet with your children. Get to know what they do online, where they visit, who their online friends are. Perhaps, have a list of friends they may be allowed to speak with regularly; all others they must have your approval before they can speak with them on a regular basis. Perhaps, know their email passwords and account information to Yahoo, Hotmail and others.
2) Make a hard rule they may never be allowed face-to-face meetings with anyone they meet online. Many predators pose as children or as “good” people and then slowly gain the trust of children. If they insist then make a point that you are to accompany these meetings and the meeting will be in a public place.
3) Get to know their “online” friends much like you would wish to meet their real world friends. Your friends have a significant impact on your lives and how much more so this holds true with your children’s friendships.
4) Inform them never give out personals, pertinent information such as home address, phone numbers, what school they attend, what team they play on, when the parents are at work, when they are alone, credit card information, etc. This includes giving out any personal information with online promotions and contests, “free” offers and popular social network websites such as www.myspace.com or www.friendster.com.
5) If they receive any email or encounter any harassing or bullying messages tell them to never respond to them and encourage your children to speak with you. Get them to talk to you when they encounter anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. If you receive any harassing or sexual messages forward them to your ISP. Never click on the links in the email messages that are unsolicited. The links which state “click this link to unsubscribe” from unsolicited emails are simply a way to notify the spammer that you have read the email and, thus, will be sending your more spam. If the spam contains any child pornography report this to NCMEC CyberTipline at 1800-843- 5678 or visit www.cybertipline.com.
6) Use good Internet Security and parental control software. Do not rely on these as a 100% safeguard measure. Use them as tools to assist you in keeping your children safer.
The Internet can be a scary unknown world with many hazards but it doesn’t have to be this way. I’m not here to scare you into thinking the Internet is a big, bad world. I’m here to give you a dose of reality. Take control and guide your children to practical and safe online activities. Be involved with their online activities as you would in their schoolwork and in their outdoor, extracurricular activities. Use the computer as one more way to develop and strengthen your relationship with your children. Gain their trust and make them understand that you are doing these things because you love and care about them. Happy Internet surfing!
Regards,
Victor Kimura
Helping keep your kids safe online.
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