Keep Your Child Safe On-Line

Tips for keeping your child safe online
1 Tell your kids:
>> Never share names, schools, ages, phone
numbers, or addresses
>> Never send pictures to strangers
>> Keep passwords private (except to parents)
>> Don’t open any mail from strangers
>> If something mean or creepy happens,
immediately get a grown-up
2 Visit only age-appropriate sites. Check out the
site before your kids visit. Know what features exist –
chat functions, game play, virtual worlds.
3 Search safely. Use safe search settings for young
kids or filtering software to limit inappropriate
exposure.
4 Avoid strangers. Tell your kids that people aren’t
always who they say they are in cyberspace. If
someone they don’t know talks to them (outside of
controlled environments like Club Penguin), tell
your kids they shouldn’t respond.
5 Be a good cyber citizen! Remind kids that an
Internet playground is still a playground and they
need to play nice. A good rule of thumb: If they
wouldn’t do something in real life, they shouldn’t
do it online. Show your kids where they can report
mean behavior or unkind content.
6 Online cheating? It’s still cheating and it’s a
no-no – pure and simple.
7 Keep the computer in a central place where you
can see what’s going on.
8 Establish limits on the amount of time they
spend online. Use a family media agreement. (Free
at commonsensemedia.org)
9 View your own habits carefully. You are their role
models.
10 Set clear rules beforehand. But mostly, be involved
and have fun!