Safety At Home • Safety At School • Internet Safety 2.0 w/ Brian Mull • Resources For Parents and Teachers • Resources For Young Students

The Internet has become an essential tool for education, communication and entertainment for your children.  At home or at school there are resources you and your children will want to explore.  We are also aware of the  potential dangers when children go online.  Below are some guidelines and resources that parents may use to make their children’s online experiences at home safe, fun, and worthwhile. 

• Establish rules and expectations
• Make sure your children are aware of some of the dangers of the Internet – inaccurate or deceptive information, commercial sites and advertisements, adults who pose as kids, sites that trap you, sites that collect information about you.
• Limit your child’s time on the Internet and let him or her know that an adult must be present. (See below)
• Limit the Web sites they can visit – only sites you approve of in advance.
• If you let them search on the Internet, make sure it is from a child friendly search engine like Yahooligans, or Ask Jeeves for Kids.
• Monitor your child’s use of the Internet
• Young children should not be able to use the Internet without active adult participation or supervision.
• Young children should not have access to the Internet in rooms where they expect privacy or you are unlikely to be available.
• Make sure you convey your set of rules to anyone you trust with the care of your child – regular caregivers, babysitters, and the parents or caregivers of children your child plays with.
• If you want to control children’s access and do not feel comfortable with your ability to monitor your child’s access:
• Set up an account with AOL or ATT Worldnet or MSN or another well-known Internet Service Provider (ISP) where you can have parental controls, which are easy to set and modify.
• You can buy blocking software (provided free from most good ISP’s), but no blocking software is perfect and you need to realize that you may be surrendering your authority to make choices to someone who does not share your values.

When using the Internet at home, we recommend the following resources:

• A Parent’s Guide to the Internet by Parry Aftab (copies available in the library)
• The FBI’s Web site for Kids http://www.fbi.gov/kids/k5th/kidsk5th.htm
• The FBI’s Web site for Parents http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguide.htm
• The Cyberangels Web site  http://www.cyberangels.org/cmd/index.html
• Wired Kids Web site http://www.wiredkids.org/
• The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
• There are a number of Web sites on this law including:
• http://www.copacommission.org/
• http://www.aftab.com/the_children_s_online_privacy_protection_act__coppa_.htm

As the use of the Internet becomes a ubiquitous part of your child’s life at home, you should establish guidelines early and modify your rules as your child grows older.  There is no one-size-fits-all solution to Internet use and the Internet itself is growing and changing as fast as our children.  Its use should be fun, educational and safe.  You can help to make sure it is by establishing and maintaining a dialogue with your child, with other parents, and with the school.