Posted by Joyce on February 17, 2009 under Internet Safety For Kids, Kids Internet Safety, Myspace | 
WOW! The Internet has been declared SAFE!
Do you feel safer, today? Just knowing I’ve been declared safer by “experts” while I type out this blog post makes me feel…well, disappointed.
I have to be more than a it cynical here. I’m not fomenting paranoia or fear, that doesn’t help with safety. On the other hand, a new report in January, along with its media hyped headlines, can set back online safety, too.
The report is, ironically enough, by the same self-appointed sheriffs of the internet that rode after and rounded up Myspace last year.
“Enhancing Child Safety & Online Technology”, is a report commissioned by 49 state Attorneys General and completed by the Technical Task Force. This report generated eye-catching headlines such as “Internet No Threat to Children.”
I hoping you see headlines like “Study Blasted for Downplaying Online Threats to Children.”
The Task Force reached 4 major conclusions:
1. The belief that predators run rampant on social networking sites has been largely exaggerated.
2. Cyberbullying presents a more widespread threat to kids than predators.
3. More research is needed to fully assess the threat of both predators and cyberbullies.
4. Technology, such as age-verification, will not solve all the problems.
Most of the studies were completed before social networking really took off. There is no way to know the impact of kids on these sites yet. In thier favor, the Task Force does say more research is needed.
Nobody has to stay up at night worrying about their kids being stalked by online predators all the time. We knew that. Don’t get complacent, either. Parents are #1 in the first line of defense to protect your kids online.
Teaching your child the basics of good online safety is one of the best ways to keep them out of scams and traps as they become adults, too. By then, the attorneys generals could declare other things completely safe, too and happily….I could retire!
Posted by Joyce on January 29, 2009 under Busy Parents, Child Safety Education, Children's Internet Safety, Internet Safety, Internet Safety For Kids |
Internet safety for busy parents with not time for more in their lives is a prevalent concern I hear about all the time.
Do you want your child safe whenever they are on the Internet? Of course you do! Tell me, when are you going to carve out time to teach them even the most basic online safety rules? Once you teach them, how much more time are you going to carve out of your day to follow up, monitor and confirm they are, in fact, doing those safety tips?
I’ll do it for you! This is exactly where I’m expert – online safety tips for busy parents.
I’ll transform your child into a pillar of safety online whether they TEXT, PIX IM or FLIX.
Starting Friday, February 6, I’m going to be posting Morning Coffee….eSafety Quick Tips for Busy Parents. In a few short sentences, in plain, simple language, you can pick up an instant safety tip once a week and use it immediately.
These great tips are also going to be presented for parents with tweens, teens and even young kids and for any number of ways they can connect into the Internet.
Read it over morning coffee, or download the podcast to your iPod and listen to it on your way to work!
It can’t get any easier or safer for you, your child or family! Come back every Friday for the best Internet Safety Tips for Kids with Busy Parents.
Posted by Joyce on August 31, 2008 under Internet Safety For Kids |
Internet safety for kids means protecting your child from the violence, explicit language, pornography, sex, nudity, gambling, predators, viruses, spyware, and adware and WHEW! Anything else that might be out there!
These are some of the threats that your kids can encounter while on the Internet. And since you can’t monitor them all the time, you need to find ways to teach your child how to protect themselves from these threats. Here are some of those ways:
1. Teach them to keep themselves safe and secure. Talk to them about personal security while using the internet. Tell them to refuse giving any personal information to people they meet online. Talk to them about avoiding filling out membership and survey forms that would entail them to state their personal information.
2. Set up house rules to limit your kids’ internet access. Talk to your kids about what these rules are and have them agree to stick to them.
3. Discourage them from making personal profiles using online networking websites that can be viewed by anyone. Sites like MySpace create venues for online predators to access different personal information for their predatory purposes. If your kids already have profiles posted on the web, make sure that you know what pictures and personal information they post.
4. If your kids are young enough to use the regular web browser, download web-browsers that are made for kids. They filter bad websites and limit your kids’ access to pre-approved webpages.
5. Tell your child to avoid peer-to-peer (abbreviated P2P) file-sharing softwares. This is because viruses, spyware, and adware can freely enter your computer through these softwares.
6. Use internet filtering software to block bad websites from your computer. Anyone, including you or your child, can stumble upon adult websties.
7. Attend to your kids immediately if they report any uncomfortable online exchanges they have encountered.
8. If they enter chat rooms, tell them to stay in the public room so that the chat room administrator can monitor your conversation. Tell them to ignore private messages.
9. Tell them not to agree to meet personally with strangers they only meet online.
Finally them to approach you whenever they have any doubts on the emails and messages they receive, window popups that appears, and forms they were asked to fill-out. It will keep your child the safest they can be on the web. Internet safety for kids can be this simple!
