Online research and social networking capabilities make spending time on the Internet very attractive to children and teenagers. While the Internet can be an invaluable tool, using the Internet can expose your family to potential danger from unscrupulous strangers. Following family Internet safety recommendations can help minimize risk when using websites.
Privacy Concerns
Listing your name, address, telephone number or age, or the name of your school or place of employment on the Internet can expose your family to predators and scammers. Encouraging children to use pseudonyms as user names on websites and avoiding giving any identifying information at all when chatting with others on the Internet can help prevent these problems. Using the strictest privacy options on social networking sites and only accepting friends that you and your children know in real life can also decrease exposure to danger.
Predators can find a way to contact children and teens if they happen to enter an e-mail address on a website visible to the public. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recommends that children avoid sharing their e-mail addresses online and to select user names and passwords that don't reveal personal information.
Parental Supervision
Parental supervision is an important part of keeping your family safe when using the Internet. Placing computers in living rooms, family rooms or other parts of the house that allow supervision can help ensure that your child does not visit questionable websites. Monitoring your child's e-mail and social media sites can help ensure that your child does not post personal information. Kids Health suggests sharing an e-mail account with your child to allow for easy monitoring.
Blocking Websites
Preventing children from visiting websites that contain sexual or other dangerous types of material can be a good idea if your child is particularly curious. Kids Health suggests using parent-control options provided by your Internet service provider to block websites that contain inappropriate information.
Chat Rooms
Chat rooms and message boards can allow your child to chat with others about interesting topics or even get homework help. It is important to explain to your children that while people on these websites can seem very friendly, it is impossible to determine if these people are representing themselves accurately. Emphasize that the basic rules of not posting personal information or photographs on the Internet also apply to chat rooms and message boards. While your child may know not to give out his telephone number to anyone on the Internet, he may not know that calling someone who provides a telephone number can also be dangerous. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that sexual predators can use Caller ID to determine your child's telephone number if he happens to call the predator.
Warning
Children are most at risk of becoming the victim of an online sexual predator during the evening hours when predators are most likely to be online, according to the FBI. Warning signs that you child may have been contacted by a predator include receiving phone calls or mail from strangers, her shutting down the computer when you walk into the room, using friends' e-mail or online accounts instead of her own and withdrawing from your family.
