1. Tell your child to NEVER ever reveal
their name, address, phone number
or any other personal information
to ANYONE online. Once you give out
this information, it is impossible
to retract.
2.
Communicate regularly (not just once)
with your child about what they do
online and who they talk to online.
If
you have actually met the friends
they are talking to in person, you’ll
know it is okay for them to chat with
them online.
3.
Take computers out of kids’
rooms and put them into public areas
such as the family room. Many parents
think they are helping with homework
by giving the kids a computer, but
it also opens the door to certain
dangers of which they may be unaware.
4.
Choose your child’s screen name,
e-mail address or instant message
name wisely— don’t reveal
ages, sex, hobbies and certainly not
suggestive or sexy names. Predators
are more likely to pursue a child
with the screen name “sexyteen5”
than “happygirl5.”
5.
Use technology to help you protect
your child. Monitoring software gives
you the ability to review your child’s
Internet usage. Even if you don’t
look at each and every e-mail or instant
message they send, you’ll have
a good idea if they are making smart
choices online.
It should be pointed out that the
Internet has changed over time. What
is your primary concern about the
Internet and your kids? Most people
instantly think pornography. Did you?
Porn is certainly a scourge of the
net. However, because of one simple
fact, there is a much larger looming
danger for kids on the Internet. That
fact is that pedophiles, child molesters,
sexual predators and other similar
undesirables never had such a great
way to meet kids as they do now.
Think back to before the Internet.
Let’s say it is 1990. How would
a pedophile meet your child? A playground?
A schoolyard? As a part of some sort
of organization? Most likely. Of course
we teach our children about situations
like this, how to recognize them and
more importantly how to avoid them.
But what about now? How would a pedophile
meet your child? An e-mail? An instant
message? A chat room? Not only do
these great meeting places now exist,
but they also conceal the predator’s
true identity. This is a tactic that
is used to gain children’s trust,
pretending to be a peer and a friend.
This would be much, much harder to
do off-line. It is for this reason
that it is so important that parents
know who their kids talk to online,
and what they talk about.
In my industry, I am often asked “What
about the trust issue?” in regards
to monitoring children’s Internet
activities with software. It is certainly
an issue, no question. However, parents
need to realize that the Internet
is uniquely different than perhaps
a child’s phone conversations
or writings in a diary. A diary is
a child’s own private personal
thoughts. It is one-way communication,
that is the key. Instant messages,
e-mails and chats, however, are two-way
communication. The child can reveal
personal and private information such
as names, addresses and phone numbers
with just the press of a key.
The trust issue also needs to be weighed
against the situation your child is
in. Not all families are created equally.
Some parents have excellent relationships
and communication with their children,
and some do not. Some kids are talking
to their soccer buddies online, and
some are meeting people they don’t
really know. Most importantly, if
you think your child may be talking
to someone who could be an Internet
predator, the trust issue becomes
secondary, and knowing exactly what
is said becomes paramount.
