Your children can learn a lot by going online. By typing in a few letters, they can have access to research websites for school projects, interactive learning games, email and networking sites to talk to their peers and teachers, says the Nemours Foundation's KidsHealth. However, their access to the world puts them in danger of encountering hazardous predators and unsavory online content. Help protect them by teaching them online safety and taking steps to monitor their Internet use.
Setting Rules
Discuss online rules with your children and post them near your household computers as a constant reminder. According to the Nemours Foundation, basic rules may include: never trade personal photographs online, never reveal your personal information---even school name or location---and only use a screen name, never agree to meet anyone from online chat rooms in person, never respond to threatening messages, tell a parent if you had a scary conversation and introduce a parent to any new online "friends."
Monitoring Activities
Your children can follow your rules but you are also responsible for monitoring their online activities. Learn how to block material you don't want them to see, share an email address with younger children, keep the computer in a common area where you can observe online use and monitor your monthly bills for unfamiliar charges, suggests the Nemours Foundation. Also reduce your children's risk of danger by finding out about online protection in other places they might use a computer, such as at friends' houses, at school or at the public library.
Controls And Settings for Parents
Most Internet service providers offer parent-control options and different types of online protection software can aid you in blocking your children's access to dangerous or lewd websites. You may also select a filtering program to restrict the personal information that your children can send out, according to the Nemours Foundation. Other programs can help you track your children's online activity. These programs and controls, though effective, should only supplement your efforts to directly monitor your children's activities.
Signs of Danger
Your children may get in harm's way despite all the protective measures you take. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation some signs that your child may be in danger are: she spends a lot of time online, particularly at nighttime; you find pornography on a household computer; your child receives or makes long-distance calls to unfamiliar numbers; your child receives packages or mail from a person you don't know; your child quickly turns the monitor, shuts it off or changes the screen when you enter a room; your child starts to withdraw from the family.
Getting Help
The FBI says to contact your state or local law enforcement agency, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the FBI if your child or someone in your household has received child pornography, your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows he is younger than 18, or your child has received sexually explicit photographs from someone who knows he is younger than 18. The FBI also recommends that, if any of these situations occurs, you should keep your computer turned off to preserve any evidence for future law enforcement use.
