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Children and
teens access the Internet in a variety of ways. In
addition to computers in their homes, many children and
teens have access to computers at school as well as
mobile devices such as web-enabled cell phones,
wirelessly connected laptop computers, video game
consoles and MP3 players. While such easy access to the
Internet may be beneficial in terms of learning
opportunities and research for school projects, it also
presents a multitude of challenges for parents in
keeping their children safe online.
Children tend to be more technologically savvy than the
adults in their lives are. Rather than just viewing
content on the Internet, children and teens today are
also contributing content in the form of blogs, photos
and digital video. Most teens also have posted an online
profile on a social networking site like
MySpace or
Facebook, leading parents to worry about the kind of
personally identifiable information that online
predators and other strangers have access to.
According Harris Interactive study commissioned by the
non-profit organization Cable in the Classroom*, 94% of
parents reported that they have taken some action to
ensure their children's safety online. Results from this
study indicate that a three-part strategy may be best
suited to educating children and teens about online
dangers.
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Set Rules for Your Child
The following rules were developed by parents, educators
and law enforcement personnel to help parents protect
their children's safety and online identity:
- Do not share or publish personal information,
such as your full name, address or telephone number
- Do not post photos or videos that could be used
to identify you
- Do not agree to meet someone you met online in
person
- Cheating, stealing, plagiarism and vandalism are
wrong both offline and online
- Tell your parent, or an adult you trust, if
anything you experience online makes you
uncomfortable
Use Parental Controls
Even though children may know a great deal about
computers and methods of accessing the Internet, there
are software programs available to help parents better
manage and control their child's online experience.
Several practical tips and links are provided below:
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Place Internet-connected computers
in common areas of the home, so that you may monitor
the time your child spends online. According to
research conducted by
iKeepSafe.org, more than 25% of students
communicate by using the Internet during times when
their parents believe them to be asleep.
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Install software to filter or
block sites and content that is inappropriate for
children. Programs such as
Desktop Surveillance and
MyWeb include a kid-friendly browser and allow
you to specify which sites and content types can be
viewed by your child. A list of additional filtering
programs and browser software is available at
GetNetWise.org.
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Make sure you have up-to-date
virus and firewall protection and regularly scan for
adware and spyware on your computer. Symantec has
partnered with iKeepSafe.org to provide a
Technical Tutorial for Parents.
Instill Media Literacy Skills
In many ways, the Internet functions like other
communication media including newspapers, magazines and
television shows. In the same way you would teach a
student to evaluate sources for a school research paper,
teach them to objectively consider the motivations and
beliefs held by the author or publisher of everything
they see online.
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Talk regularly with your children
and learn from them about new developments in
communication via the Internet and ask about the
sites they regularly visit. iKeepSafe.org has
developed the
3 KEEPs pledge for children and adults to
reinforce Internet safety principles.
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Help your child realize that they
might not be getting the complete and accurate story
from one source, whether on- or off-line.
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Teach your child to examine the
values and beliefs behind web sites, blogs and
streaming videos. Then ask them to consider how the
comments, images and videos they post online reflect
on them.
Ninety percent of parents believe they
bear a lot of responsibility for ensuring children have
safe online experiences*. However, only 34% see
themselves as very knowledgeable about how to educate
their children to use the Internet safely and
responsibly. If you would like more information about
educating your child on Internet safety, please refer to
this
Internet Safety Fact Sheet.
*
Parenting the MySpace Generation, PTA Back-to-School
Media Briefing, Presented by Cable in the Classroom
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