Chat rooms, instant messaging, email, social networking sites, groups, message boards, and personal web pages all offer kids ways to meet and communicate with others in cyberspace. But they also offer dangers for the unsuspecting child.
From inappropriate material to cyber-bullying to solicitation by adults, kids can unknowingly put themselves at risk when interacting with strangers online. How can you be sure that your children are safe when they enter a chat room or post a profile on a social networking web site?
You can start by familiarizing yourself with the many options available to children for communicating online. The general guidelines for keeping your kids safe apply whenever your kids go on the Web. But you should take additional precautions when it comes to how and where your kids meet others on the Net.
Restricting the information they communicate
Children, especially teens, may spend hours a day on a computer communicating with others. They can meet strangers who over the course of time can come to feel like true friends. But online friends may not always be who they seem to be, and otherwise cautious kids can let their guard down and reveal more information about themselves than they should.
You can help keep your kids safe online by talking to them about communicating safely with others. Make sure your children understand that they should:
- Never give out personally identifiable information in any conversation, online posting, or profile. This includes their last name, home address, email address, phone number, and school name or sports teams. Even if your children feel safe giving some personal information to one person, and different information to another, they could be victimized by online predators. Some predators create multiple profiles and use them to gather a variety information about a child. Taken together, that information could lead to the child's true identity.
- Avoid posting photos that allow someone to identify where they live, or what school they attend. They should never post sexually suggestive photos.
- Choose a screen name or alias that is used only for chatting and does not contain personally identifiable information. They should avoid names that are sexually suggestive or that might attract inappropriate contact.
- Be assertive. If someone approaches them in a way that makes them uncomfortable, encourage them to end all contact. Ask them to become familiar with the tools and methods available for reporting abusive or inappropriate behavior.
- Assure your children that they can come to you to talk through any situation that makes them uncomfortable, especially if they are afraid or uncertain about how to resolve it.
Urge your kids to share their blogs or online profiles with you. And be aware that some kids may have more than one account on more than one online service. If you're at all concerned, use search engines and the search tools on social-networking sites to look for your child's name, email address, and other identifying information.
Restricting who they communicate with
Consider using software or online tools to help you monitor or restrict who your children chat with. Using Yahoo! Family Accounts, for example, you can edit their Yahoo! Mail Block List and Yahoo! Messenger and Ignore lists.
If a social networking service offers privacy features, make sure your children use them so that they share information only with people they know.
Educate your kids
The best way to keep your kids safe is to surf with them and talk to them about all potential dangers on the Web. Tell them you care and trust them and that they should talk to you if they receive any suspicious communications.
nice tips ...
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