- Do you know your child’s user name, email address and password?? If not, WHY?
Do NOT allow computers in children's bedrooms. Keep computers in an open area of the home.
Is there a webcam attached to your computer??
Insist your children do not give out or post personal information, such as their full name, social security number, home address, location, email address, school name, phone number, date of birth, or real age.
Stress to your children, personal information must remain PRIVATE. Insist your children use a non-descript gender-neutral screen or user name such as Table01 or Internet 5.
When using a social networking site, restrict access to the profile, using privacy settings, talking only to people known in real life.
Never accept unsolicited email, files, photographs, videos or attachments from online strangers.
Google your children
Go online with your children
Register for your own account on MySpace, or other social networking sites, to get an accurate "feel" of the site your children visit.
Passwords should not be shared with anyone, including friends. Do you know your children's passwords?
Remember, what is published or said online today, may come back to haunt you tomorrow. If your child does choose to use a picture, blur or morph it before posting.
Use “netiquette”, or online etiquette. Don’t say things on the Internet you would not say to someone in person, remember the Golden Rule.
When it comes to questionnaires or surveys, parental permission must be given first.
If your child is a victim of cyber bullying or stalking, or knows someone who has been targeted, stress to your children to TELL an adult.
Stress to your children if something online makes them feel scared, uncomfortable or worried, immediately tell a trusted adult.
DO NOT solely rely on parental controls
Talk, and LISTEN, to your children
INSIST your school has a regular Internet Safety curriculum in place!!
INSIST your school has an anti-cyber bullying policy in place!!
THE BEST PARENTAL CONTROL, IS YOU !!
Internet Safety Advisor
4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
I don’t think this is right!
my parents shouldn’t know my pass word
I’ve been using email and msn for a few years now and they where fine with it until I got bebo.
now they think that they should be able to access my page whenever they want.
i think kids should have some privacy without there parents watching
Hi Lauren,
Thank you for your comment. Yes, children should have some privacy, be it on the computer or in other aspects of life. As far as parents knowing children's passwords/log in information, it also depends on the child's age as well as other factors. Only the parents can determine what is right for thier particular child.
I have two teenagers. I have monitored both of my kids, and continue to do so with my 18 year old. Both my children are completely different. One is extremely trust-worthy, the other, not so much. Another way to look at it, if the content of the emails/instant messages, websites, etc is fine, why would someone mind a parent reading the information posted?? Most children, statistically, publish things online they do not want their parents to see.
Privacy is one thing, but when it comes down to safety issues, safety comes first. Period.
I absolutely agree with the response to Lauren. As a mother of 2 beautiful boys I understand privacy is a crucial part of their development but in this society privacy comes with a price that I do not want my children to pay. I too struggled with making the decision to monitor my kids time in the internet. After a lot of thought I decided that their right to be safe outweighed their right to privacy. Luckily I found a way to monitor what they do online without they even knowing I have access to what they see. I work full time and the boys are home alone between 3-6 p.m. which made me real nervous before. Now I get periodic emails with screen shots of my home computer so I can monitor what my boys are watching from work. You cannot imagine how relieved I feel knowing that my kids are safe. Oh and another thing, I do not invade their privacy, I do not read their emails or look at their blogs I simply make sure that they are not talking with strangers and are not visiting inappropriate sites, so far I have seen no signs of either thank goodness. The program I bought is SendMeScreens, there some other tools online that can help parents monitor their kids you just have to make the effort to search. To all parents: Safety beats Privacy any day!!
Hi Monica,
Thank you so much for your comment. There are numerous keyloggers and parental monitoring tools available for parents that send screenshots and a variety of other information, to remote email addresses (work, etc).
Having worked in a school district for six years with thousands of children, children are extremely computer literate and many know ways around parental and school filters.
As mentioned earlier, privacy is important, no matter what the age. But safety is paramount.
I too, have used a vareity of those programs myself. They do provide some peace of mind, but again, keeping ourselves and children aware and educated, is most important.
Thanks!