Tips for keeping Your Child Safe Online

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The Internet in Your Home

• Spend time with your child online. Learn about his or her favorite sites
• Keep the computer in a “public” area, not in your child’s room
• Limit the hours your child is allowed online

Your Internet Service Provider

• Determine what parental controls are available through your Internet Service Provider and use them
• Report to your Internet Service Provider if your child is harassed online or if he or she receives any communication that is inappropriate or makes him or uncomfortable or afraid
• Become familiar with your Internet Service Provider’s rules regarding online behavior and ensure that your child follows them

Email Safety

• Don’t allow your child to give his or her password to anyone except you
• Tell your child not to send private or secret information via e-mail
• Don’t allow your child to open attachments from anyone he or she doesn’t know

What to Tell Your Child About Internet Safety

• Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you meet online
• Never upload pictures of yourself to the Internet or an on-line service to people you do not personally know
• Never give out identifying information such as your name, home address, school name, or telephone number
• Never download pictures from an unknown source, there is a good chance they could be of a sexually explicit nature. Picture files usually end in .jpg, .gif, .jpeg, or .png
• Never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or harassing
• Anything you see or read online may not be true

Your Child May Be at Risk if...

• …he or she spends large amounts of time online, especially at night
• …you find pornographic material on your child’s computer
• …your child receives phone calls from men you don’t know or is making calls to numbers you don’t recognize
• …he or she quickly turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen when you enter the room
• …he or she is using an online account belonging to someone else
• …he or she receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don’t know

Chatroom Safety

• Tell your child to never tell anyone where he or she will be or what he or she will be doing at any given time
• Tell your child to never “go private” into a private chatroom
• Tell your child to tell you if anyone asks personal questions, such as questions regarding what they are wearing or what they like to do

Tips for Teens

• Never tell online friends where you will be or what you will be doing
• If you play sports, never tell online friends the name of your team or where you will be playing
• If you have a job, never tell online friends where or when you work
• Know the rules for online behavior of your Internet Service Provider. Failure to follow them may result in penalties
• When you’re in a chatroom, remember that not everyone may be who he or she says they are. A person who says “she” is a fourteen-year-old girl may really be a forty-two-year-old man
• A friend you meet online is not the best person in whom to confide about problems you may be having at home, with your friends, or at school

Internet Safety Outside the Home

• Monitor the access to the Internet your child has outside the home such as at friends’ houses, PDA’s, and cell phones
• Monitor what your child’s friends are posting about the identity of your child

Monitoring Your Child's Online Behavior

• Require your child to share his or her passwords with you
• View any accounts your child may have with “friend” sites such as MySpace and other sites and let him or her know you are doing so
• Monitor email accounts and the history feature on your browser. An erased history may be an indication that your child is at risk