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Net Safety for Children
Parents: Is your child safe online?
The internet provides children and teenagers with a fantastic and valuable
resource. There are a large number of great websites from useful learning and
research tools, to fun sites with chat facilities so kids can talk to friends
online, making it a productive and exciting experience for them.
The internet however, is an environment of immense diversity made up of a
wide array of people and whilst it has its many advantages it can also carry
dangers with children being targeted for crime and exploitation.
By the start of this decade, about 24 million children between the ages of 10
and 17 were using the Internet regularly, and that figure will no doubt keep
climbing. The growth of the Internet presents some special child safety issues
for parents. There is increased need for parents to educate themselves about the
serious potential dangers to their children from going online.
Consider that surveys have shown that while online:
- One child in seventeen has felt threatened or harassed.
- One child in five has received a sexual solicitation.
- One child in four has been exposed to unwanted sexual material.
Most never tell parents about such encounters. Children are also exposed to
other risks from online use. Some are using the Internet as a source on how to
find illegal drugs, instructions for making explosives, a place to view
pornography, or other improper activities. Parents simply must monitor the
Internet usage of their children carefully.
Here are some tips for parents to help make the Internet safer for your
child:
- Consider keeping the computer in a family room rather than the child's
bedroom, making this a family activity under your supervision. Familiarise
yourself with their "online friends" just as you would their other friends.
- Use your computer's History button. It will tell you which web sites
your child has visited recently.
- Make sure your child knows not to send out personal information such as
names, addresses, phone numbers or identifying information such as the name
of his or her school.
- Tell your child never to send a picture of him or herself without your
permission and that they should never open email from someone unless it's
from someone they know well.
- At the very least, keep track of files your child downloads to the
computer. You could share an email account with your children to oversee
their mail and consider joining your children when they are in private chat
areas.
- Get to know the Internet and the services your child uses. If you don't
know how to log on, ask your child to show you. Have your child show you
what he or she does online - you might be surprised at how much you can
learn from your kids!
- Use parental controls provided by your Internet Service Provider to
block out access to inappropriate web sites or getting into an unsupervised
chat. Some online services and Internet Service Providers allow parents to
limit their children's access to certain services and features such as
adult-oriented web sites and "chat rooms" and bulletin boards.
- Remind your children they are not just potential victims. They must also
be aware that they can be held responsible for their actions online.
Children must be made to realise that anything they send out or post on the
Internet can be viewed by people around the world. They should not post
anything that could be harmful to someone else. In some cases, children have
been charged with committing crimes online. In particular, threats of any
kind should never be made.
- Set reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use in discussion with
your children and monitor their compliance with these rules. Post these
rules by the computer as a constant reminder.
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