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| A Puget Sound news compendium featuring the archive of The Seattle Press. | ||||||
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March 27, 2007 |
Some Options for Keeping Kids Safe Online
March 27, 2007
Consumer: How do I keep my kids safe online?
Attorney General Rob McKenna: Start by talking with your children or teenager about the importance of online safety. Next, take simple but crucial steps to help kid-proof your home computer.
Education is a key component in keeping your kids safe online. We teach our kids not to talk to strangers. We need to also teach them about how to safely communicate in a virtual world.
Protect your children by establishing clear rules for Internet use and monitoring their online activities. As sophisticated as children and teens have become in using computers, many don’t realize that the personal information they leave on the Internet can be an electronic footprint for predators to track them.
Your ground rules should include:
· Protecting personal information. Never use your real name online; always use a screen name. Your child’s screen name should not refer his or her age, sex, school, nickname or other identifying information. Don’t provide your address, phone number or birth date to anyone you met online, post personal information on a personal page, or fill out a contest form that asks for personal information. Discourage your child from exchanging photographs with online “friends.”
· Personal safety. Never agree to meet someone in person unless a parent has approved and attends the meeting with you.
· Computer safety. Ask permission before you download software or open an e-mail attachment. Teens aren’t always aware that screensavers, music files and other free software they download can be bundled with unwanted programs that can cause annoying pop-ups, tamper with computer settings or even spy on your computer’s contents.
Whether you have a PC or a Mac, you can limit how your children use the computer. Windows 2000 and XP, for example, were designed for multiple users but your computer may automatically log-on a default user if you don’t alter its settings. You can change the setting by going to the Control Panel and clicking on the User Accounts icon. Create new accounts and passwords for each person who uses the computer, including you. Designate yourself as “Computer Administrator” and set your child’s account to “Limited” (or “Standard” for a Mac). This prevents your child from installing software, altering system settings or accessing your saved documents.
Several software options are available to limit where your child or teenager can go on the Web:
· Blocking software denies access to certain sites based on the specific Web address. Some programs permit you to add sites to the list. The more frequently the site database is updated with accurate information, the better the coverage.
· Filtering programs deny access to inappropriate sites based on certain words or phases. Filters aren’t perfect, however: Some inappropriate content may slip past them, and some harmless sites may be inadvertently filtered out.
· Monitoring software records the computer’s activity and may flag certain sites that have been accessed.
· Kid-friendly search engines are also available. These include http://www.kidsclick.org/ and http://www.yahooligans.com/ and http://www.askforkids.com/.
· You can also restrict your child’s ability to send and receive e-mail or instant messages to only those friends that you approve of. Check your user manual or software provider’s Web site for instructions.
Protect your computer by installing anti-virus software, anti-spyware software and a firewall. Regularly scan your system to make sure it’s not infected and update your security software.
Ask your children how they the use the Internet and learn their online lingo. Teenagers sometimes use codes to alert others that a parent is watching. These include POS “Parent Over Shoulder” and P11 “Parent Alert.” And remember, your home computer belongs in a common room – not your child’s bedroom.
Last, talk to your children about reporting inappropriate contact from strangers. Report contact from an online predator to local law enforcement. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678.
For more online safety tips, visit the Attorney General’s Web site at http://www.atg.wa.gov/InternetSafety/default.aspx, NetSmartz at www.NetSmartz.org or The Internet Keep Safe Coalition at www.ikeepsafe.org.
Attorney General Rob McKenna: Start by talking with your children or teenager about the importance of online safety. Next, take simple but crucial steps to help kid-proof your home computer.
Education is a key component in keeping your kids safe online. We teach our kids not to talk to strangers. We need to also teach them about how to safely communicate in a virtual world.
Protect your children by establishing clear rules for Internet use and monitoring their online activities. As sophisticated as children and teens have become in using computers, many don’t realize that the personal information they leave on the Internet can be an electronic footprint for predators to track them.
Your ground rules should include:
· Protecting personal information. Never use your real name online; always use a screen name. Your child’s screen name should not refer his or her age, sex, school, nickname or other identifying information. Don’t provide your address, phone number or birth date to anyone you met online, post personal information on a personal page, or fill out a contest form that asks for personal information. Discourage your child from exchanging photographs with online “friends.”
· Personal safety. Never agree to meet someone in person unless a parent has approved and attends the meeting with you.
· Computer safety. Ask permission before you download software or open an e-mail attachment. Teens aren’t always aware that screensavers, music files and other free software they download can be bundled with unwanted programs that can cause annoying pop-ups, tamper with computer settings or even spy on your computer’s contents.
Whether you have a PC or a Mac, you can limit how your children use the computer. Windows 2000 and XP, for example, were designed for multiple users but your computer may automatically log-on a default user if you don’t alter its settings. You can change the setting by going to the Control Panel and clicking on the User Accounts icon. Create new accounts and passwords for each person who uses the computer, including you. Designate yourself as “Computer Administrator” and set your child’s account to “Limited” (or “Standard” for a Mac). This prevents your child from installing software, altering system settings or accessing your saved documents.
Several software options are available to limit where your child or teenager can go on the Web:
· Blocking software denies access to certain sites based on the specific Web address. Some programs permit you to add sites to the list. The more frequently the site database is updated with accurate information, the better the coverage.
· Filtering programs deny access to inappropriate sites based on certain words or phases. Filters aren’t perfect, however: Some inappropriate content may slip past them, and some harmless sites may be inadvertently filtered out.
· Monitoring software records the computer’s activity and may flag certain sites that have been accessed.
· Kid-friendly search engines are also available. These include http://www.kidsclick.org/ and http://www.yahooligans.com/ and http://www.askforkids.com/.
· You can also restrict your child’s ability to send and receive e-mail or instant messages to only those friends that you approve of. Check your user manual or software provider’s Web site for instructions.
Protect your computer by installing anti-virus software, anti-spyware software and a firewall. Regularly scan your system to make sure it’s not infected and update your security software.
Ask your children how they the use the Internet and learn their online lingo. Teenagers sometimes use codes to alert others that a parent is watching. These include POS “Parent Over Shoulder” and P11 “Parent Alert.” And remember, your home computer belongs in a common room – not your child’s bedroom.
Last, talk to your children about reporting inappropriate contact from strangers. Report contact from an online predator to local law enforcement. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678.
For more online safety tips, visit the Attorney General’s Web site at http://www.atg.wa.gov/InternetSafety/default.aspx, NetSmartz at www.NetSmartz.org or The Internet Keep Safe Coalition at www.ikeepsafe.org.