The World Wide Web is a fascinating place. It has obliterated geography
in terms of education and business. It facilitates learning by allowing
kids to see things and experiences aspects of different places they may
never get the chance to see in the non-virtual world. The Internet can
bring people together who otherwise would never know each other and
create a virtual universe that is totally cohesive, with every kind of
information imaginable literally available at your fingertips. Sounds
great, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, the Internet has a dark side. It is full of material
that is inappropriate for children and all kinds of predators. Leaving
your kids alone to fend for themselves on the Web is exactly as
dangerous at leaving them in a crowed airport or shopping mall. You
don’t know where they’re going or who with. The news is
filled with horror stories about kids who have been taken advantage of
on the Internet, but you don’t want yours to miss out on all the
positive aspects of the technology. The first line of defense in
keeping your kids save on the Web is to teach them how to use it
safely.
A lot of online dangers can be dodged simply by reminding kids of
one of their earliest learned lessons: don’t talk to strangers.
The kinds of people who want to harm kids have all kinds of tricks up
their sleeves. They may try to lull your child into a false sense of
security by pretending to be someone she knows. Make sure your child
understands that it isn’t a good idea to give out personal
information such as their address, phone number or the name of their
school. The less information a potential predator has, the harder it
will be for him to actually locate a victim. It might be a good idea to
establish a secret password and share it only with friends and family
so your kid has a way to identify people who are safe to chat with.
Chat interfaces and instant messaging are great tools for keeping
in touch with friends and conduct business, but they are also direct
connections between your child and possible pedophiles and other
predators. Most instant messengers have settings that will only allow
people on a pre-approved list to approach your child. That way you can
let the kids chat with family and friends while keeping the bad guys
out.
One of the most important things you can do is to locate the computer your children are using in a common are such as the living room. That way, they are not tempted to do things they may not otherwise. You can’t watch your kids every minute they are online, and you
can’t always count on them to do what you have taught them to do.
On Windows, parental control software such as Net Nanny and Cyber Patrol is a great back up. On OS X Leopard, there are built in parental controls. Most browsers will allow
you to customize age-appropriate settings for each child in your house.
You can choose what kinds of Web sites you want your kids to access and
block them out of the ones you don’t. It’s a great way to
provide a virtual safety net for your family. If the parental controls
supplied by your Internet Service Provider, check into installing
additional software that will evaluate each site your child attempts to
access. You set criteria by which the software judges each Web page and
assigns a rating, much like a movie rating. Your kids will only be able
to look at sites with ratings you have deemed appropriate.
