Talk To Kids About Internet Safety

You already know to talk to your children about drinking, drugs, smoking, and sex. But have you discussed Internet safety with your kids?

Don't assume that the person your young child or teen is chatting with is safe, just because they found the companion in the Webkinz site or in a Christian chat room. If they don't already know the person, they do not really know who is on the other end of the conversation. And neither do you.

It doesn't take long for youthful prey to inadvertently (or purposely, thinking they are safe) give away their schedule, school, or location.

Here are a few suggestions for helping your kids stay safe online:

Monitor their online activity by looking over their shoulders at the screen. You're not being nosy...you're being a responsible parent.

Check the computer's browsing history (including temporary Internet files and cookies) to see what websites have been visited. If there are no sites in these sections, your children may be hiding their browsing habits.

Use filtering software.

Know the passwords to your kids' social networking profiles.

Talk to your children about identity theft. Explain what it is and how it can happen.

Tell your kids what constitutes "personal information." If your child has already given out her age and hometown, then sends a picture of herself next to the school's mascot, a predator could easily find her school, follow her home, and then know where she lives.

Warn your teen about downloading free software. Downloads that seem harmless could possibly contain malicious code, sexual images, or computer viruses. Some illegal downloads destroy your programs or corrupt certain types of files. Others commandeer the information in your data files for the sole purpose of stealing your identity.

For more quick safety tips and information on software monitoring programs, check out the Digital Doctors website.

Child Safety Videos Available on MonkeySee.com

In February 2008, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and how-to website MonkeySee.com added a series of online child safety videos to their catalog.

The professionally produced videos contain tips every parent should know on topics ranging from Internet and school safety to child identification to abduction prevention.

MonkeySee videos are broken into short segments, allowing parents and caregivers to watch separate NCMEC videos in the series, choose topics of interest, and pick up where they left off.

NCMEC and MonkeySee are using the power or online media to help protect children and inform their guardians about potentially dangerous situations.

Helpful Links:
www.monkeysee.com/missingandexploited
www.missingkids.com