Many parents have a false sense of security regarding Internet use.
Chat rooms can be particularly dangerous for children.
Internet safety resources help parents protect children from becoming victims of crime.
Predators and criminals have used the Internet to find their victims.
Predators constantly visit chat rooms and assume a new name and age to hide their identity.
Internet safety programs often rely on education and empowerment to make technology a safer place for everyone.
No filtering program will protect your child from all the dangers on the Internet.
Responding to email ads confirms that you have a working account, which often results in more junk email.
Some software programs prohibit certain materials from being accessed from your computer.
Internet safety stresses the following theme: Keep your personal information private.
Internet safety analysts want parents to be aware, not scared.
Internet Safety Month is celebrated each June.
Internet Dangers
Resources
The National Crime Prevention Council is a nonprofit organization that provides training and technical assistance to help families stay safe from Internet crimes.
Safe Kids, one of the oldest Internet safety sites, was established to help parents and teens learn safety tips for social networking.
I-SAFE, a nonprofit foundation, is the leader in Internet safety/cyberbullying education, providing programs/curricula for students and parents.
The Kentucky Center for School Safety is a state agency that provides funding to each school district in the Commonwealth for educating families about safe schools.
Effects on Youth
An alarming number of girls have reported that they’ve been sexually harassed in chat rooms.
Unprepared children are extremely vulnerable to online predators.
These predators seduce children by showering them with attention, affection, and kindness.
Opening spam email attachments could cause a computer to be infected with a virus.
Online “phishing” scams coerce children into revealing personal and confidential identity information.
Warning Signs
Your child turns the monitor off or changes the screen when you enter the room.
Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.
Your child is online a lot, especially at night.
Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from people you don’t know.
Your child has pornography on his or her computer.
Your child is making phone calls to numbers you don’t recognize.
Your child receives calls from strangers.
Prevention Information
What can you do?
Teach your child that saying or doing anything mean, hurtful, or vulgar is wrong.
Ensure your child never agrees to meet face-to-face with someone he or she has met online without your knowledge.
Tell your child never to respond to messages with bad words or weird or scary.
Remind your child never to send any pictures to anyone without your permission.
Monitor the pictures your child puts on the Internet.
Ensure that your child never gives out personal information (e.g., name, phone number, address).
Review all parental control features in the software your child uses.
First, educate yourself and then your child on Internet safety.
Know the dangers associated with the websites your child frequents.