Internet safety for children should be taken seriously. It is hard to imagine how we would manage today in our personal and professional lives without the Internet. Of course alongside all of its wonderful benefits, the World Wide Web has opened up all kinds of new and very real dangers, especially for children. Teaching good online habits early on is vital if children and teenagers are to remain safe.
Internet Safety Tips for Parents and Caregivers
- Place the computer in a family room with the screen facing outwards.
- Use parental controls to restrict access to selected websites, including both unsupervised chat sites and e-mail addresses.
- Use child-friendly search engines or safe search settings on traditional search engines.
- Teach children to immediately turn off the screen or minimize the window on a laptop if they see something that upsets them This tactic also applies to threats or bullying. Then they should tell an adult immediately.
- Alert children to dangers on the Internet by downloading screensavers or wallpapers so that safety messages are constantly reinforced.
- Involve children in putting together the rules for using the Internet. If they actively participate in identifying and working out how to avoid threats, they are much more likely to remember and abide by the rules.
- Teach youngsters never to give out personal information online, including inadvertent information in screen names, and specify what types of information are dangerous.
- Explain to children the dangers of meeting with online friends. You should also let them know that this is unacceptable without the knowledge, consent and presence of either parent.
If this information on internet safety for children was helpful to you, please share it! The more we can help children to be safe on the internet, the better off we will all be.
Also, check out Safetynetkids.org for more help with this topic.