 |
Internet Safety
|
|
Simple Strategies for Promoting Safe Internet Use - Place your computer in a centralized location in your home such as the kitchen or living room. This will enable you to quickly peek in on the sites your child visits and monitor their online activity. (This is not spying, but supervising your child.) Children are much less likely to engage in risky behavior if they know their parents can view their actions at any given time.
- Almost every Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers some type of parental control. Take a few minutes to find out about the restrictions you can use to help keep your child safe.
- Make sure your child knows not to reveal any personal information (name, social security #, credit card #, address, date of birth, friends names, etc.)
- Spend some time online together so you can point out ads and pop-ups that are misleading. (ie. computer warnings, free $$$, virus alerts, etc.)
- Discuss in advance a strategy for what to do when your child encounters something inappropriate or is approached by someone online.
- Warn your child about the dangers of online predators. Make sure your child knows to NEVER arrange a meeting with someone they met online. Their life and safety could depend on it.
- Be aware of any changes in your child's behavior and increases in computer usage. If you're unsure, ask, ask, ask...
- Watch out for online bullying. Let your child know that it isn't acceptable to tease, harass other kids or have it done to them even if "everyone is doing it" or "it's just a joke".
- Before allowing your child to have a social networking page, make sure you have one and require that they "friend you" so you can monitor their pages for appropriate content.
Get Net Wise
Brief, easy to navigate and well constructed site with information, links, and even online videos showing you how to set the privacy settings on social networking sites like Facebook, My Space, and Xanga.
NetSmartz Teens
Cool animated site with modern videos about social networking. Checkout 'Real Life Stories" as well.
I Keep Safe
Step by step videos on how to do things like set privacy settings in MySpace. Very useful for non tech-savvy users.
5 Tech Secrets Parents Need to Know
Must read MSNBC article for parents.
FBI Publication
United States Department of Justice, FBI's publication "Parent's Guide to Internet Safety"
NY Justice System Publication
A wonderful resourceful website put together by the state of New York's criminal justice system.
Cyber Tip Line 1-800-843-5678
A government-funded CyberTipline from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, staffed 24/7 to receive reports of child exploitation online. This site has terrific resources in the HDOP section and it links to a six page list of online lingo abbreviations used by kids in chats and e-mails.
NetSmartz
Very cool website put out by the center for missing and exploited children. It has high quality videos, links, and resources about current internet risks including cyberbullying and social networking. Covers both internet and cell abuses. Not to be missed by anyone wanting more on these topics!
AOL Parental Controls
A link to AOl's parental resources
Cox Internet Security
Link to Cox's "Take Charge" Parental control system
ABC News
Emotional Testimony From Online Predator Victim
Verizon Safety & Security
Directions and resources for staying safe online and a link to Verizon's parental control features.
Safe Computer Kids
A list of software products that help monitor and protect children's online activities. It also includes program reviews.
Internet Acronyms
Want to find out what your child is typing? This is a great resource to popular abbreviations and acronyms. It even has an easy to use quick translator to help decode the lingo.
Tracking Where Kids Have Been Online
A useful worksheet for helping track the the sites your child has visited or looking for files (images, videos, etc) that might have been saved.
Computer Lab
Exeter-West Greenwich Junior High School
Room J-12
930 Nooseneck Hill Road
West Greenwich, RI 02817
|
