Children use the Internet to access online games, look up information for school reports and to meet new friends. There are social networking websites your child can join to meet friends and keep up with the latest gossip, parties and events. While all of this may seem innocent, predators lurk on the Internet for younger children and teens. Predators will try to become friends with your child, often posing as a child, to gain information and access to children. By setting guidelines for Internet use and communication with unknown parties or websites, you can help protect your child from online predators.
Step 1
Install online tools to help protect your child from entering adult websites. Depending upon the age of your child, explain what adult websites are and why they should be avoided. If your child is too young, simply block adult websites or apply online filters to prevent your child from accessing harsh content.
Step 2
Bookmark your child's favorite websites and give him strict rules that he is only allowed to visit bookmarked websites. If you trust your child 100 percent and do not use online tools to limit his Internet access but still have a lingering doubt, check the history on the web browser he used during his computer session. Also, consider keeping your child's computer in a common room so you can monitor what they are doing at all times. Explain why this is needed and how it protects the child.
Step 3
Share and email address with your child to ensure you know about your child's communications. Again, let your child know that this is not being done as an invasion of privacy, but rather, as a tool to keep your child safe.
Step 4
Talk to your child about sharing personal information. Predators posing as children may ask your child if she plays sports, where she lives, what she looks like, what school she goes to or when her parents work. If your child trusts the predator and gives out personal information, the predator can find your house, your child's school or show up at her school sporting events. Teach her the importance of sharing other personal information as well, such as sharing photos of herself. Should a predator obtain a photo of your child, it can easily make her a target for the predator, especially if she shares information about her whereabouts.
Step 5
Show your child appropriate Internet behavior. Spending time with your child while he is online will help him understand which websites are okay to visit and which ones are not. By showing your child how to surf the Internet, it will reduce his chance of encountering a website that is not appropriate such as chat rooms, websites which may contain viruses or other malicious content and pornographic websites.
Tips and Warnings
- Ensure that your child does not have access to information such as stored passwords or user names that belong to adult family members or for mature websites.
Things You'll Need
- Online protection tools
- List of rules
