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Internet Safety .pdf >>
A national survey found the number one topic children search
for on the internet is …SEX. Forty four percent of young
people use the internet to get answers to their sexual questions.
Parents need to protect children from too much information
too soon. There are many things parents can do including blocking,
filtering and using browsers for kids but no filter or browser
can monitor a child like a watchful parent.
What’s a parent to do?
Create a “Family Pledge for Online Safety.” Yahooligans
provides information on blocking, filtering and browsers for
kids. It also lets parents know about safe communication on
line and how to plan against inappropriate material. (http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/parents/)
They suggest that each family discuss the following topics
and create a family pledge.
- Time online – how much time? Is
computer use dependent on finishing homework or chores?
- Location/Supervision – can kids
go online without an adult around? At school, in the library,
at a friend’s house?
- Personal Information – alert your
child to NEVER give out personal information to anyone they
meet on line – full name, address, phone number, school
or picture.
- Web sites – talk about what sites
are okay and which ones are off-limits.
- Meeting online friends – kids
should NEVER arrange to meet an online friend without an
adult present.
- Chat Rooms – explore a few chat
rooms together with your child. Do you want your child to
chat in monitored chat rooms only? Yahooligans gives a listing
of links to moderated chats for kids.
- Inappropriate Material – kids
should NEVER respond online when they feel uncomfortable
or scared. If they have any doubts, instruct them to show
the material immediately to an adult they trust.
- The Golden Rule – Remind kids
to behave towards others as they would like people to behave
towards them. Emphasize that you can hurt another child’s
feelings by what you say in an email or in a public chat
room.
Parents can use a search engine that is suitable
for children.
- Ivy’s Search Engine Resources for Kids (www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html)
lets you search 9 family friendly or general filtered search
engines and 14 kid search engines from one site. It also
lists and links too 26 web guides for kids and 7 specialized
searches for kids.
- Ask Jeeves for Kids (http://www.ajkids.com/) uses “G-rated”
sites and sites written specifically for kids. It lets children
ask questions in plain English – for example, “Why
is the earth round?” It does not provide a list of
sites to explore but returns one site that is most likely
to answer the question.
Mary Lee O’Connell, CRNP - 8/04
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