Cybersafe Kids: A Parent's Guide
The Internet has opened up a wonderful world of information for anyone with a computer and a connection! Your children will learn alot about computers, but just as you wouldn't send a children near a busy road without some safety rules, you shoud not send them onto the information superhighway without "rules of the road." Too many dangers, from pedophiles to con artists, can reach children (and adults) through the internet.

GettingStarted
Explain that although a person may be alone in a room using the computer, once logged on to the Internet, he or she is no longer alone. People skilled in using the Internet can find out who you are and where you are. They can even tap into information in your computer.

Set aside time to explore the Internet together. If your child has some computer experience, let them take the lead. Visit areas of the World Wide Web that have special sites for children.

Controlling Access
The best tool a child has for screening material found on the Internet is their brain. Teach children about exploitation, pornography, hate literature, excessive violence, and other issues that concern you, so they know how to respond when they see this material.

Choose a commercial online service that offers parental control features. These features can block contact that is not clearly marked as appropriate for children, including chat rooms, bulletin boards, news groups, discussion groups, or access to the Internet entirely.

Purchase a "blocking" software and design your own safety system. Different packages can block sites by name, unacceptable word search, and other parameters. The software can also prevent children from giving out personal information.

Monitor your children, and the time they spend online. If a child becomes uneasy or defensive when you walk into the room or when you linger, this could be a sign that he or she is up to something unusual or even forbidden.

Tell your Child . . .

• Tell them to always let you know immediately if they find something scary or threatening on the internet.
• Never to give out their name, address, telephone, password, school name, parent's name, or any other information.
• Never to agree to meet face to face with someone online.
• Never to respond to messages that have bad words or seem scary or just weird.
• Never to enter an area that charges for services without asking you first.
• Never to send a picture of themselves to anyone without permission.

What You Can Do in the Community
Make sure that access to the Internet at your child's school is monitored by adults.

Know your child's friends and their parents. If your child's friend has Internet access at their home,talk to parent's about the rules they have established. Find out if the children are monitored while they are online.

Make sure that your child's school has an Acceptable Policy (AUP). This policy should include a list of acceptable and unacceptable activities or resources, information on "netiquette"(internet etiquette), consequences for violations, and a place for you and your child to sign. Your family can design it's own AUP for the "home " computer.

If your child receives threatening e-mails or pornographic material, save the offensive material and immediately contact the user's Internet service provider and your local police department.

If you come across sites on the Internet that are inappropriate for children, send the addresses to online services that offer parental control features. Internet sites advertising "protection software" will also accept submissions of addresses. They review these for inclusion in their protection software releases. Even if you do not subscribe to the service, or own the protection software, your may help protect other children in the future.