child internet safety online
Tips for your child's safety on the internet
17th February 2010
Keeping your children safe online is a concern today for many parents. Ultimately as parents it is our responsibility to ensure their safety. As parents we educate our children of the dangers like crossing roads and never to talk to strangers and if you are weary of your children's well being online, have the same rules applied to using the internet.
The problem we are faced with is children can access computers virtually anywhere so we can't always be there to monitor them. We as adults are aware of the potential dangers that exist on the internet so educating your child and laying down some fundamental rules is a good starting point.
The internet can be used by anyone from anywhere at any time. The internet also gives people the opportunity to be whoever they want to be and that is what makes the internet so vulnerable, because we can make a friend without a face or a voice.
Child safety & Social Networking Websites
Social networking is a fast growing trend and is becoming a way of life especially for children. Social Networks like Facebook and Bebo provide a way for people to interact and communicate with others and share media like photos and videos. The number of social networking sites is growing fast. This along with the different methods of online communication provides an opportunity for anyone to use it inappropriately.
Internet Privacy control
Thankfully social networks are working hard to combat the problem of privacy but the best advice we can give is to be vigilant, monitor your child's online activities and again educate them of potential dangers. Facebook in particular has come a long way in protecting ones privacy. There are a multitude of different options and settings that can be put in place to keep sensitive information private.
It's a good practice to visit the sites your children use and pay particular attention to sites that collect personal information. Read the website privacy policy and, if you don't agree with it, do a search to find a similar site that doesn't request personal information.
Protect your children by Blocking websites and content filtering
On the computer create separate limited user accounts for your children. A limited user cannot change system settings or install anything. As long as you have an Administrator account you have full control.
Websites and specific content can be with blocked with parental controls that come with Vista or Windows 7. For example websites with depiction of alcohol abuse, drug use, gambling, nudity or sexual material can all be blocked so that these types of sites cannot be accessed by that computer. If you run multiple computers in the home the best option would be to purchase a router with content filtering. Any computer that connects to that router would then be protected.
Monitoring your child's online activities
If you cannot physically monitor your child, software can be used to do this for you. Monitoring software works in the background and will store everything that is typed with the keyboard (key logging). It records detailed chats in messenger (msn) plus it will save every site visited and every image viewed. We feel this method is a bit intrusive but some parents insist on monitoring their child's activities and rightly so. If you feel this is an option then we can install and configure the software for you.
10 tips for child online safety
- Never give out a telephone number, home address or email address to anyone online.
- Never use your full name online instead, use a nickname or just your first name.
- Never send photographs of yourself to anyone over the internet
- Think before you post. Sharing intimate details online with people you consider to be friends can backfire and be used against you if you fall out.
- Don’t be fooled if someone is trying to flatter you into romance or friendship online. Whilst this maybe fun some people act nice for the wrong reasons.
- To be 100% safe never arrange to meet anyone in person. If you "have to" make sure you take a friend, let someone know where you are and meet in a public place.
- Never talk to anyone you are unsure about. This includes social networking sites and chat clients like MSN.
- Never arrange outgoings online or on networking sites. This includes meeting up with friends.
- Never give personal information on website forms before reading the privacy policy.
- If you are unsure about a website, do a search for the website name and see if there are any comments, opinions or reviews on that site.