How to Keep Your Child Safe When Using the Internet

The use of the Internet is something that is hardly avoidable. Nowadays, the Internet is a great source for school projects and researches. The Internet has been substituting the use of libraries, especially to those who live in places where libraries have limited supplies of books. The Internet offers thousands of resources with a click of the mouse in the comfort of your own home. But we all know that the Internet is no always a safe place. There are many criminals who are preying on children, not to mention criminals who are stealing people's identities.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Basic computer knowledge
• Perseverance
• Good Parenting Skills
• Watchful Eye

1. Keep your home computer in a place where you can watch over what your kids are doing on the Internet. Make sure the computer is visible to you when your child is using it. A living room, family room and kitchen are great places to keep a home computer.
2. Familiarize yourself with the security features of your home computer. Use password protection so that your child cannot login without you being present. If you have a wireless router, make sure to use encrypted password and add a personal firewall to prevent hackers into getting into your personal information. This information may include your children's information, family pictures from last year's vacation that can be stolen. So having a highly secured home network is very beneficial in keeping your child's identity safe. If you need help in making your home network safe and secure, you can call computer technicians or your Internet Service Providers to assist.
3. Educate your child about internet safety. Your child needs to understand that not because they are at home using the internet that they are always safe. There are child molesters that are always on the internet looking for their next victim. They can pretend to be young individuals trying to befriend your child, so teach your child not to trust anyone, especially strangers even on the internet.
4. Install or turn on a pop-up blocker. There are pornographic sites that sometimes pop up on the internet once in a while to redirect to another site. If you have the pop-up blocker turned on then you can prevent this from happening. Should there still be a pop-up even after the blocker is turned on, educate your child to ignore it or call you to turn the bad pop-up off.
5. Install software to monitor your child's activities. There are spy ware programs that you can install on your computer to monitor your child's activities. Ask your internet provider or a computer technician for the best products out there. There are internet service providers that can offer child safety features by limiting the sites that are accessible for your child.
6. Limit the computer use. If you give an allotted time for your children to use the internet, chances are they will not use it for anything more than school work.
7. Be around when they sign up for social networking sites. There are social networking sites that are popular among kids. MySpace and Friendster are two popular examples. There are age limits to join, but these sites have no way to verify the ages. Some kids sign up faking their ages, so warn your kids about joining these sites without your knowledge. Once they join, warn them about not sharing their username and passwords to anyone, even with their schoolmates. Make sure to get the credentials from your child so that you can check on it once in a while.
8. Do not post your child's photo on the internet. You may be tempted to post a photo of your child on social networking sites. There are sites that are reputable, but your child is better off not having his or her photo published on the Internet. How many times have we heard of children's faces cropped on top of nude pictures which are printed and passed around in schools or posted on the Internet? It can be devastating to kids, even if those are not their bodies, making them feel violated and humiliated. If you really want to post your child's photo, have it posted as "private" as oppose to "public". This way only those you allow or you trust can view them.

Tips & Warnings

• Create a password that is made up of mixtures of symbols, numbers and alpha characters to make it harder for others to guess.
• Passwords should not be birthdays, anniversaries, or anything that can be easily guessed by others.
• Attend workshops offered in your community about internet safety.
• When placing your computer in the kitchen, make sure that it is far from wet spots or close to your stove to prevent electric shock or burns.
• Do not give your password to your child. Always login for them.
• Do not store a copy of your child's birth certificate and social security numbers on the internet.