Author: Steven Aitchison
The owner of this blog. Proud father, doting husband, blogger, hire me as freelance writer, and addiction worker
The internet is a fantastic way for us to communicate, quickly and easily and is questionably responsible for changing our lives over the last 20 years. There is no doubt is can help us gain knowledge, communicate, bank, shop, sell, make money, be creative and to express ourselves. However, for every good there has to be a bad and the internet is the same. No matter how we interact as human beings there are still those among us who are evil at heart and prey on the innocent.
We have to think the unspeakable before we can protect our children and there is no better place to try and hide than behind a telephone line or satellite dish with hundreds of miles separating us.
I was at a talk at my son’s school the other night and I am still amazed at how many parents don’t know what their children get up to on their computers. It’s not because we are not concerned about our children it’s because of the technology, we are scared of it and don’t have the inclination to learn about it: ‘it’s for the young’. Tell me this; if you had to learn how to use computers and the internet to save your child’s life, would you do it? That’s how dangerous the internet could be, so it’s better to learn as much as you can.
Here are 10 ways to keep your child safe online
- The most important thing to do is talk with your children about safety online and how important it is for them to talk with you about anything that happens whilst on the internet. It is important for your children to understand that you are trying to protect them and talk with them about some things that have happened in real life to other children and how you want to prevent this happening to them. Advise your children that you don’t want to invade in their privacy but you will be keeping tabs on what they do online from now on.
- Make sure you are the administrator on the computer and create another user account for your children which you will have control over. This means your children will be restricted as to what they can view and download.
- The first thing to do is put a filter on what your children can and can’t access online and what type of sites they can view. Windows Vista has a parental control built in however there is other software out there which can help to keep children safe online, the most popular is ‘Net Nanny ‘.
- Learn what your children are learning. Get to know sites like Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, and create a profile on them to get to know them better.
- Learn how to use MSN messenger, AOL Messenger, Google talk etc. Insist that your children record their conversations so you can scan them at a later date. This sounds very intrusive but I would much rather keep my children safe and have them think I am being a pain. Learn how to record conversations in these messenger services and check on them weekly. You don’t need to read every detail of the conversation, you are there t protect, not to spy. I have advised my children they can still talk how they normally talk on these messenger services and they will not get into trouble, within agreeable limits of course.
- Keep your child’s computer in a communal area within the house. If locked in a room there are unscrupulous people who can get your child to do something that they don’t want to if they know they are alone in a bedroom.
- Remember that older children are curious about sex and relationships and the internet can be a safe way to explore this. If you find inappropriate content on the computer and it is not illegal and disturbing don’t worry too much. Try and remember what you were like as a teenager and how curious you were.
- Check the sites your children are visiting by clicking on Control + H whilst in the browser they usually use. This will give you an idea about their surfing habits.
- It’s not so common these days but make sure if your children enter chat rooms that they do not stumble in over 18’s cat lines. Also advise your children not to chat in the private rooms available on these sites, especially with people they do not know.
- Know who to report any abuse that may happen on the internet. The first port of call is obviously the police if it is serious enough. However there are websites you can go to report abuse:
Virtual Global Task Force
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
DFES funded Parent’s Centre on Bullying
Internet Watch Foundation
Other sites you might be interested in:
http://safekids.com/
http://www.getnetwise.org/gnwtv/
http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/
http://www.netfamilynews.org/
http://www.parentscentre.gov.uk/usingcomputersandtheinternet/
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There’s a great piece of software available for free that filters websites. It’s called K9 Web Protection and it works just as well as any you’d pay for, in my experience. http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ I recommend it to all of my friend with children. Just fantastic.
I don’t have kids, but I think there are two things parents need to do.
#1 Educate yourself on the different technologies and sites.
#2 Talk to them. Get involved in a friendly way. Let them show you how it all works.
Hi Bryan, thank you for the download link, I checked it out and it looks a great piece of free software.
Thanks Marc and Angel, always appreciate your comments
Good tips here overall.
I was really hit by some of the remarks after Safer Internet Day from the teens in Europe who were invited to attend. I’d love to hear your remarks: http://www.covenanteyes.com/blog/2008/03/14/european-teens-speak-out-about-internet-safety-%E2%80%94-will-their-suggestions-be-heard/
As parents I think, it’s important that you have knowledge about “online” issues. Talk to your children about the things that they should and should not do. Thanks for the post, this tips could help a lot.
Hi Guy, I think a lot of parents think nothing bad will. It’s so important to keep an eye on what our children are doing online to make sure they are safe.
As a parent, these types of articles are what I look for…new ways or ideas to help me to keep my children safer online. One such resource that I found (Free) was “How Do I Block MySpace, A Guide for Parents…its found on the website link I put in the website link above (when you click on my name). But, here it is for those who would like to see it written out: http://onlinesecurityauthority.com this website has many great features and is linked to four or five other sites that include information on being a responsible cyber citizen and identity theft. Oh, also their weekly radio show on BlogTalkRadio, (cyberhoodwatch, I believe is their show) where they interview many different people from people in the medical field to software developers to agencies who deal with children who have been victimized to authors of these subjects. Thanks for all the great tips!
You never even touched on the most important rule of all. The only rule that affects a child’s well being is as follows:
Remain anonymous. Do not use your real name. Do not give your real location as anything more specific than your city. Do not meet in-real-life anybody you first met online. Do not tell anyone your real age. Do not tell anyone your gender. Do not post images or videos of yourself or your friends in compromising positions.
Everything else is fluff. My children could have a conversation with Charles Manson or Tom Cruise, and if they understand the importance of my rule, they have nothing to worry about.
If you don’t want your kids to find pornography, or some of the more unsavory sides of the internet, don’t allow them access to any part of the internet. Every single one of the technical solutions mentioned above are easily bypassed, or block acceptable, educational content. The better solution is to instruct your kids on what to do if they see this sort of content – click away from that site, or call for help.
Don’t restrict your kids. Teach them how to take care of themselves. Your kids will understand this medium far more than you will. Help them by showing them how to explore it, not by telling them that they can’t do anything without your permission.
My 6 year old has his first computer. Once he has learned how to read enough to run a google search, I’m putting him on the internet with nothing more than the single instruction I posted above.
I really want to make my site safe… Any services you know about that certificate that your site is safe for children?
Great points. I especially agree with #6. Children, and a private internet connection simply do not mix. Also be aware of strange gifts arriving, or the appearance of a web cam that you did not purchase. Both can be signs of an “online friend”, who is anything but.
I agree with point 1 and 6 specially, this is a very good tip, to have the PC in a visible part of the house, with this they are not gonna be able to access to some sites, but try to talk with them, but this always causes trouble…
Nowadays is just amazing how easy children have access to World Wide Web, they are everywhere, Facebook, MySpace, MSN, I mean everywhere! but I don’t really think this is sane… they must be out there ridding bicycles or playing baseball…
This is the only working Myspace private profile viewer that will actually display a private profile. Many others have claimed they can, but they don’t have the required software to actually operate a private Myspace profile viewer.
Good tips here. Thanks for making the issue bigger than just getting good technology. Parental involvement is key.