How to Childproof the Internet

Video Transcript

"I'm a parent, and I know a lot of you out there are as well, and you're wondering the same thing as me. How do I protect my child when they're using the Internet? I'm Chris Cook with Security Awareness Incorporated. There are a lot of hazardous places for a child to go on the Internet. A lot of bad things can happen to them. What you need to do, to start out with, is sit down with your child. Explain to them some of the things that are out there. Not in specific terms, but they need to know that there are things out there that are inappropriate for somebody their age. In an adult term, we're talking about pornography, hate sites, racist sites, stuff like that. You need to let them know that if, by chance, they happen to come to something like that and they're unsure of what they're looking at, they're going to know that it's something they shouldn't be at. They...just tell them to close it. Click the X in the upper-right hand window and let you know. You also probably want to buy some blocking software for your computer. There are many of them out there, such as Net Nanny, that will help you block Internet sites that your child shouldn't go to. Unfortunately, a...not all sites interface with these types of programs. So the next best thing to do: monitor your child's usage of the Internet. You need to know what they're doing on the Internet and where they're going. Give them a list of set...you know, safe places to go. They may have sites that they need to use for school, they may have sites that they're trying to do to socialize with their friends. And that brings up another topic. When they're placing information on the Internet about themselves, you need to let them know not to put personal information. Never put your first and last name together. Never even use your last name, if possible. Never put your address, your location, or even your city. A lot of times, people will put pictures on websites such as MySpace that will be able to glean...somebody would be able to glean information from. You can go to a lot of teens websites and figure out what high school they go to, their friends' names, and get a lot of information from them. It's called MySpace hacking. So they need to be aware that people are out there doing this kind of stuff. So talk with your child. Be open and honest with them about it, and help them protect themselves as well. I'm Chris Cook with Security Awareness Incorporated."