Internet Safety Tips For Parents

What Is So Dangerous About The Internet?

Among children ages 10-17, a study* found that:

  • 1/5 have received a sexual solicitation.
  • 1/4 have received unwanted exposure to nudity.
  • 1/17 have been threatened or harassed.
  • Only 1/4 who encountered a sexual solicitation told a parent.
  • 1/4 children who reported were distressed by these incidents.

*Finkelhor et al., 2000

Safety Tips For The Internet

For Parents/Caretakers

  1. Place the computer in a family area of the household and do not permit private usage.
  2. Openly discuss potential dangers of the Internet with your child.
  3. Enter into a safe-computing contract with your child about his or her use of these sites and computer use in general.
  4. Know each of your child’s passwords.
  5. Monitor what your child’s friends are posting regarding your child’s identity.
  6. Often children and their friends have accounts linked to one another, so it’s not just your child’s profile and information you need to worry about.
  7. Enable Internet filtering features if they are available from your Internet Service Provider.
  8. Install monitoring software or keystroke capture devices on your family computer that will help monitor your child’s Internet activity.
  9. Know what other access your child has to computers and devices like cell phones and PDAs.
  10. An interactive educational safety resource is available for children ages 5 to 17 at www.netsmartz.org.

Resources For Information On Internet Safety