Internet Safety: A Guide for Parents

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Internet Safety A Guide for Parents
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Make online a family activity

• Put your computer in the living room or family
  room.
• Keep the internet out of your childs bedroom, it
  makes it easier to monitor the internet
  exploration.

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Make sure your children understand what
is appropriate for them to explore on the
internet.

• Give specific sites they can visit.
• Dont overreact when a child is exposed to
  offensive material, guide them.

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Educate your child about the dangerous
side of the internet.

• Give precautions about chatting with strangers.

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Downloading should only be done with
permission.

• Your child may not understand what they are
  downloading.
• Your computer may not be able to handle the
  download.

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Let your child know that no personal information
is to be given out.

• This includes phone number, address, last name,
  etc.
• Unknown people on the web are strangers.

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With your child write internet rules and
post near computer.

• This includes where/who to go to for help as well
  as informing someone when viewing inappropriate
  material.

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Limit the length of time on the internet/computer.

• Help them find a balance between computing and
  other activities.
• People should be their best friends an companions.

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Learn about the internet so you can
enjoy surfing with your child.

• Sharing sites, information, etc can be a
  wonderful experience with your child.
• You can find sites that fit into their interests.

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Make sure your child is comfortable coming
to you with questions.

• If you are trusted you will more likely be
  approached when problems arise.

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Keep kids out of chat rooms unless
they are monitored.

• Kids very often will reveal less when they know
  you are nearby.

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Show your children how to use and
evaluate information they find on
the internet.

• Not all online information is reliable.
• Remind your child not to copy online information
  and claim its their own.

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Help children understand the nature of
commercial information.

• Steer them to noncommercial sites and other
  places that dont sell products.

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Use libraries, community groups,
after- school programs to help
educate about the internet.

• This can only help everyone.
• Clearly laid-out rules, regulations, policies,
  etc would be discussed.

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Teach your child how to make good
choices, a skill that will last a lifetime.

• Young people will learn how to think critically
  about the choices they will face.

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Guide children to only respond to
emails and instant messages from people they know.

• Many strangers can link into email addresses that
  could contain harmful or misleading information.
• These messages/emails need to be shown to an
  adult.

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• Your child will have a wonderful experience and
  terrific tool after learning how to use the
  internet properly.