Monday, February 21, 2011

Online Safety Tips for Parents

Just how safe are your kids online? Get this spine-chilling statistics:
•Child pornography is one of the biggest industries in the Internet. In the 2008 report of Internet Watch Foundation, there are over a thousand child pornography domains.
•The NJOV Study in 2007 revealed that more than 70 percent of the crimes were caused by teens meeting up sexual offenders in many different occasions for sex.
•In “Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later,” in 2006, over 3 percent of the young Internet users have encountered aggressive sexual predators, who would be calling, sending them gifts, and keeping in touch with them incessantly.
Simply put, the Internet is no longer a safe place for your kids. But since you cannot avoid them from getting exposed to the technology, your next best step is to practice these safety tips:
1. Discuss the risks with your kids. Plenty of the children are gullible. They cannot easily determine the difference between good and bad guys. It is then your responsibility to educate them. Talk to them about the dangers of talking to strangers, especially online, as well as the various risks associated with online use.
If you need help, there are several materials—pamphlets, brochures, and booklets—that you can download from parent websites and family organizations.
2. Activate parental controls. Block websites that are non-child-friendly. Do not provide them with administrative privileges in computers.
3. Encourage them to talk to you. This is the best time to build a stronger relationship with your children. You want to make sure that they’ll be willing to share information with you, such as their Internet activities. So the kids don’t feel threatened or insulted by your invasion of privacy, you can chat with them casually about what they have been doing online.
4. Watch out for tell-tale signs. Be very observant to any changes in the behavior or personality of your children. If they suddenly become quiet and aloof, prefer to spend a lot of time online, go home late at night, seem to be talking to someone you don’t know over the phone, or receive presents frequently, then you should be wary. Something could be seriously wrong.
5. Be a good example. It’s so easy for kids to make your own Internet habits as an excuse. If you don’t want them to check certain websites, then make sure you don’t either.
6. Internet with your kids. Sit with them when they’re doing online research for their homework. Keep yourself online too when they are.
7. Create a computer network. By doing so, you can check on the files and other programs installed in your children’s PCs. You can keep track of cookies and history of their Internet users. Sounds like an invasion of privacy? Not really, especially if your children’s safety is on the line.
8. Know the sexual offenders close to your home. There’s a comprehensive database of sexual offenders, and you can use it to determine those who could be living very close your homes.
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