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Internet Safety and Kids
In today’s society, children seem to have more technological savvy than many adults. Nearly ten million children kids are on-line and they have no idea what life is like without the internet. How savvy are you, parents, about keeping your kids safe on-line? Do you know what your kids are looking at or who’s contacting them electronically? As parents, you worry about how the dress, how they get to school, who they are hanging out with….do you apply that to what they are doing in cyberspace? With dangers like cyberbullying and predators looking on-line for victims, please take a look at what our children are doing on-line and who and how they are communicating electronically. Educate yourselves and stay on top of today’s technology to help keep children safe and healthy. The following tips are provided by www.Netsmartz411.org, a website for parents seeking information about on-line information and children’s safety.
Safety Tips
*Clear, simple, easy-to-read house rules should be posted on or near the monitor.
Create your own computer rules or print the Internet safety pledge. The pledge can be
signed by adults and children and should be periodically reviewed.
*Look into safeguarding programs or options your online service provider might offer.
These may include monitoring or filtering capabilities.
*Always read a web site's privacy policy before giving any personal information. Also
make sure that a web site offers a secure connection before giving credit-card
information.
*Web sites for children are not permitted to request personal information without
parent's permission. Talk to children about what personal information is and why you
should never give it to people online.
*If children use chat or e-mail, talk to them about never meeting in person with anyone
they first "met" online.
*Talk to children about not responding to offensive or dangerous e-mail, chat, or other
communications. Report any such communication to local law enforcement. Do not
delete the offensive or dangerous e-mail; turn off the monitor, and contact local
law enforcement.
*Keep the computer in the family room or another open area of
your home.
*Get informed about computers and the Internet. Visit the resources section to find
additional information on Internet safety.
*Let children show you what they can do online, and visit their favorite sites.
*Have children use child-friendly search engines when completing homework.
*Know who children are exchanging e-mail with, and only let them use chat areas when
you can supervise. NetSmartz recommends limiting chatroom access to child-friendly
chat sites.
*Be aware of any other computers your child may be using.
*Internet accounts should be in the parent's name with parents having the primary
screenname, controlling passwords, and using blocking and/or filtering devices.
*Children should not complete a profile for a service provider and children's screennames
should be nondescript so as not to identify that the user is a child.
*Talk to children about what to do if they see something that makes them feel scared,
uncomfortable, or confused. Show them how to turn off the monitor and emphasize
that it's not their fault if they see something upsetting. Remind children to tell a
trusted adult if they see something that bothers them online.
*Consider using filtering or monitoring software for your computer. Filtering products
that use whitelisting, which only allows a child access to a preapproved list of sites,
are recommended for children in this age group. NetSmartz does not advocate using
filters only; education is a key part of prevention. Visit the resources section for web
sites that provide information on filtering or blocking software.
*If you suspect online "stalking" or sexual exploitation of a child, report it to your local
law-enforcement agency. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)
has a system for identifying online predators and child pornographers and contributing
to law-enforcement investigations. It's called the CyberTipline®. Leads forwarded to
the site will be acknowledged and shared with the appropriate law-enforcement
agency for investigation.
(http://www.netsmartz.org) |
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Community Activities in December:
• April 1-7th, Spring Break Clean-up
• April 7th, Hermiston Library Egg Hunt, 4 pm
• April 13th, Hermiston City Council Meeting, 7pm
•April 18th, Oregon East Symphony Concert, Pendleton Vert
Auditorium, 7:30 pm
•April 21st, Professional Assistant Day Luncheon at Hermiston
Conference Center, 11:45 am
•April 28th, Hermiston City Council Meeting, 7pm |
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