Teaching our Kids Internet Safety
These days the internet is something that most children are familiar with from an early age. My own children play games on the internet every day and started to at about age five. Children seem to spend more time on the internet as they get older with about 87% of teenagers online everyday. Teens make up half of the world’s blogging population.
Most parents are aware that the internet can be a dangerous place for the innocent, however few realize just how risky it can be.
A 2002 FBI report stated that there is a 100% chance that children who regularly visit chat rooms will encounter a paedophile. Two out of five cases of missing teens in the U.S. is internet related.
That’s kind of scary and many of us think to ourselves, ‘Oh, that only happens in America or Europe’. But in reality, 17% of internet pornographic material involving child sexual abuse originates in Asia according to a 2010 report by Internet Watch Foundation.
Children often share personal information about themselves, their families, their school or where they live without considering whom they are talking to online. A tiny tidbit of information, such as the name of their school, can be enough of a clue for a cunning paedophile to locate them.
So, as parents, what can we do to keep our kids safe? According to the The Safe Surfin’ Foundation in the U.S. and Internet Watch Foundation based in the U.K., parents can best protect their children by educating them about how to use the internet safely and wisely. After all, the internet isn’t going away and with smart TVs, iPods, smart phones, iPads etc at home and computers all around, we are all increasingly online.
The following points are an excellent basis from which to start:
- Don’t believe everything that people say to you online – it pays to be suspicious.
- Remember that it’s very easy for people to lie about who they are online.
- Don't make assumptions - Paedophiles make it their mission to learn the language that kids use online so that they can pass themselves off as the same age.
- Never reveal any personal information in a chat room, forum, or on-line form such as: address, school, town, team you play on, street name, phone number, or email address.
- Always use a gmail or hotmail email account with a made up name. If someone starts to harass you, change to a new account with a different identity.
- Always use an on-line identity instead of your real name. This can be quite fun as you can dream up some cool pseudonyms for yourself (just remember to write them down somewhere to avoid lost account usernames).
- Be careful when filling out profile forms. Just because there are fields that ask for personal information doesn’t mean that you need to give it. Just leave them blank or fill in with xxxxx.
- Keep all information, like hobbies for example, very general. Don’t give details like your name, city, or school.
- If you have a YouTube account, use a made up name and don’t allow comments.
- If somebody you met online wants to meet with you, you should tell your parents or a trusted adult immediately.
- You should never meet with someone that you met on-line by yourself. Always ask for an adult to help you to arrange a meeting, if the person is indeed genuine (this is super important).
- Tell a parent if any one harasses you or if there is any inappropriate content in a chat room or forum.
- Don’t post anything that you would find embarrassing later. This includes photos, videos or comments. Stuff has a habit of biting you later on if you are not careful and something you thought was funny when you were six, can be really embarrassing when you are 16.
It’s easy to over-react and try to ban the internet or limit time spent online but knowledge and awareness is the best weapon we have against the predators out there. Your kids might say that you are being paranoid or over-protective, but just by opening the subject up for discussion, you can educate your kids and help keep them safe online.
Internet Watch Foundation and Disney Online have collaborated to create a good guide for parents on internet safety, you can visit it here.
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