Child Internet Safety

Making the web kid-friendly

By Leigh Goessl

Teaching children about strangers is not a new concept. However, the popularity of the Internet has increased traditional concerns about kids and safety. In days of past, parents had to primarily worry about how to protect their children from predators when they went outside. Those concerns still exist, but parents of today have the additional challenge of protecting their children from unknown people who come into the home. Not physically into the home, but just the same they come over, they arrive through the network connection. This can be more frightening because if a stranger were to come to the house, your child would be on guard, but with the anonymity the Internet provides, that predator can be anyone he/she wants to be and kids can be tricked a lot easier and fall into a predator's trap.

What You Can Do

There are many ways a parent can effectively monitor and reduce the risks of their child falling prey to the dangers lurking on the Internet. It is inevitable that your child will get access to the Internet, so the best way is to not prevent them from usage, but teach them the strategies and ways to protect themselves. Here are a few tips:

·The first and most important thing is to educate your kids about the Internet. Many children feel safe online and don't realize it's a public area. They often also feel their "buddies" online are trustworthy and believe their "pals" are who they say they are. Now is a good time to explain to your child that some people are not always honest and since you can't see them, they can easily lie about their identity online. Their friend AnimeFan123 may not really be a fellow anime fan and pictures can be stolen, names can be faked and some people do this to pretend to be someone they are not.

·The next step is to install the computer in a common area in the home. Placing the computer in a prominent location is a good way online time can be observed, and more importantly, you'll be able to observe what your child is doing.

·Educate yourself on Internet safety and learn about all the latest trends, especially the social networking web sites, and also become familiarized with the areas that appeal to children.

·Become Internet savvy and learn all the tools and tricks available to customize your children's online experience. Many ISP's and anti-virus companies offer software that contains parental controls. Use more than one form of parental controls if possible. This helps not only shield your children from seeing inappropriate material, it enables you to control your child's online activity. Utilizing parental controls allows you to specify who your child can interact with on buddy lists, by email and what web sites can or cannot be visited. It's important to remember these are just tools, and while they will help customize online activity, nothing is 100% safe or meant to replace supervision. As children get older they tend to become savvier and there are ways to circumvent these tools.

·Set time limits and boundaries so that your children do not become totally captivated with the Internet and do not allow "real-life" friendships become neglected in favor of online buddies and social networking sites.

·Make the Internet a family discussion and participate. Explore some web areas with your kids and show enthusiasm in their online interests. Let him/her share this aspect their life with you. Offline, a parent usually takes the time to get to know their kids friends and what they do after school, so it makes sense to have open communication about what your child is doing online too.

The Internet is an avenue that is going to continue to grow. Its better kids learn the dangers and how to remain safe when they are young so they grow up with these life lessons instilled in them. We regularly teach children about the dangers of crossing the street and about strangers, and in today's world it's essential to teach them the risks of the Internet. This is not something that can be ignored or complacent about, we, as parents, must be vigilant, aware and involved at all times.

While the dangers are very real, there are a lot of rewarding benefits that can come from Internet usage as well. Teach your child the differences when they first discover the wonderment of the Internet and they will grow up with the knowledge of how to stay safe and protect themselves.

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