Post by HOPE on May 4, 2005 21:13:34 GMT -5
Personal supervision is the best way to protect your child while he or she is online. For those times when personal supervision is not possible the following rules are suggested:
Make it a condition of use that your child must always ask your permission before using the internet.
Teach your child to never give out personal information online including pictures of anyone. Other personal information that should never be given out online includes real names, age, race, address, city, telephone number(s), names or location of his or her school (including the name of the school's teams), family income, names of friends, passwords, credit card information. Information you send or receive over the internet is NOT private.
Be SURE that your child understands that he or she should NEVER enter chat areas or have private chats without your permission.
Your child should be taught that if someone says or does something that frightens him or her, he or she should not respond to that person, but tell you right away. Your child should know to make you aware of anytime he or she feels uncomfortable with ANYONE.
An absolute must is that your child should NEVER arrange a face to face meeting with anyone he or she meets online.
Be sure that everyone in your household knows to not open e-mail from anyone he or she doesn't know. Parents should always be shown any such e-mail.
Remember that people are not always whom they claim or appear to be; sometimes adults pretend to be children.
Using software programs that filter or block access to certain web-sites are not sufficient. Ultimately it's up to you to supervise your child's internet use. Be sure to find out about the safety measures that are used anywhere your child has internet access.