Internet Safety Tips For Kids

It's important to be aware of dangers on the internet, especially where your children are involved.  Here is some very important information, courtesy of the Hubbard Township Police Department, that can help you keep your children out of cyber-trouble.

Internet Safety Tips

·     Keep your home computer in a common area of the house: NOT in your child's bedroom.

·     Supervise your child's computer activities.

·     Advise your children never to give out their age, name, phone number or any other information that could lead a possible predator to your child's school or neighborhood.

·     Teach your children to never agree to a telephone call or personal meeting with anyone they meet on the internet.

·     Teach children never to send pictures of themselves or anyone in their family to anyone.

Signs of Risk:

·     Your child spends large amounts of time online advising you it's for schoolwork.

·     Your child receives lots of calls from people you don't know.

·     Your child becomes uneasy when you enter the room or quickly changes the computer screen.

·     Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from people you don't know.

·     Your children have a free website e-mail address that can be accessed from any computer without your knowledge.

Parental Controls:

·     Never let your children have their "own" password - you must be able to check their e-mails and e-mail address book.

·     Review your recycle bin often.

·     Review the document history file.

·     Review your "history" file to find out what sites your child has visited.

·     Perform a "find" function on your computer to locate image files and movie clips.

·     Review your child's diskettes - they may not be "games".  Check for hidden diskettes because subjects send images of themselves or pornography and tell children to save the images to diskettes and hide them.

Safeguards:

·     Talk openly to your child.

·     Set rules with your children for computer use.

·     Limit access to the computer only when you are home.

·     Some commercial online services offer "parental control features" to block areas you feel are inappropriate for your children.

·     Know your child's "internet friends" as well as you know their other friends.