Internet Safety - How to Keep Your

Kids Safe Online

More and more children and teens use the internet as a learning aid and as a way of

socializing with their peers. But while the internet is a great tool, its very nature brings

with it some risks. This is why youngsters and their parents should know about safe online

behavior.

As a parent, you should

protect your kids. You can start

by communicating with them.

You need to know what

they're doing when they're

online, just like you need to

know where they go when

they're not with you. Open and

honest communication will

help you to know how and

why your children use the

internet, while respecting their

privacy.

If you keep the computer in an

area like the living room where everybody has easy access, you can encourage

communication with your children. Because it is then easier for you to see which

websites they visit, you may use the opportunity to answer their questions and talk

about web content. You can also monitor the time they spend at the computer.

If you sometimes surf the web with each child, you will have a better idea of which

websites they visit and whether these sites are appropriate for them. This also gives you

an opportunity to chat about internet safety and how to avoid pitfalls. Furthermore, it's

a way for you to build a close, trusting relationship.

Make sure that your children understand that on the internet, people can pretend to

be someone else. Seemingly-friendly strangers can in fact plan to harm them. So, if they

meet somebody in a chat room or on a social networking site and this person wants to

meet them in person, they should only go if you or another trusted adult accompany

them.

Another thing to be wary about is to supply personal information. Your children should

never type in their name, age, contact details, the name of their school or any credit

Get more information and details about how to keep your kids safe when they are

online and out in the world with the help of a reputable Marriage and Family Therapist

today. You can learn from a skilled and knowledgeable therapist that provides

effective family counseling now. Page 2

card information without your permission. By keeping these details to themselves, they

can help limit abuse even by people that they may know.

One of the ways in which to keep personal information private is to use the privacy

settings that many websites have. This is especially useful on social networking sites.

While many of these sites have age limits for subscribers, many children use social

networking sites, even if they're too young to.

Also explain that once something has entered cyberspace, it is almost impossible to

remove. So, they shouldn't upload personal photographs or make remarks that they

may regret later on. Just because someone uses an avatar, it doesn't mean that they're

not a real person with real feelings. Make sure that your children understand what kind

of behavior is unacceptable or inappropriate.

Being clued in about safe online behavior for kids will help them be less vulnerable.

However, let them know that they should tell you or another adult that they trust if

anything inappropriate or scary happens to them online. Your internet service provider

can advise you regarding tools for parental control, how to limit access to potentially

harmful content and even how to block emails from specific senders.