Keeping Your Kids Safe While They Are Online
- cont'd
by Tina Barraclough
3. Get involved in what your kids are doing online. Ask them to
show you some of their favorite sites. Have them show you what
they like to do when they are online. This will help you
determine if there are any problems or concerns that need to be
addressed with them. Another way to keep a check on which
websites they have visited, click on HISTORY in your browser
window.
4. Down load some filtering software. You can find software
available that can stop your child giving out personal
information such as their name, address, and telephone number.
Here are a couple of filtering software you can check out:
We - Blocker...........Furnishes users with free software that
allows parents to monitor their children's Internet access and
filter out inappropriate sites.
Internet Filtering Software..............This Internet filtering
software is free. There is no obligation, and it will work with
any ISP
Stress to your kids why it is important to keep such information
private.
5. All kids, it does not matter how old they are, can be
vulnerable when they are online. For example, teenage girls, are
at risk from men who lure them into meeting them face to face
after chatting online with them for awhile. Let your children
know never, ever to arrange a meeting with someone they met
online, no matter how safe it may seem to them.
6. Tell them firmly, never to pay money or agree to pay money
for anything without your permission, and never to use your
credit card details without your knowledge or permission. You
just never know who could somehow get a hold of your credit card
details.
7. Also, be sure to warn your kids about online chat rooms for
kids. Sometimes, Adults will pretend to be kids in these chat
rooms trying to lure kids into meeting them. Rather than chat
rooms, I have set up AOL's INSTANT MESSENGER Program for my
kids. This gives them more control over who they allow to be one
of their "buddies' and they're not nearly as visible, as they
would be in actual chat rooms. AOL INSTANT MESSENGER
