Internet Safety Guidelines

Many people use the Internet for everyday activities, like planning a trip or finding a new recipe. However, many parents worry about their children using the Internet due to fears about Internet predators, inappropriate content and other threats. Families need to set some basic Internet safety guidelines for kids. Kids need to understand how the Internet works as a public resource, and how they can safely utilize it.

For younger kids and Internet safety guidelines, parental control and monitoring software can be helpful. Products like Net Nanny, Spector Pro, Safe Eyes and Peanut Butter PC can help in providing a technological solution. However, as kids get older and more skilled at using the computer, these programs can be less effective. Also, no software program is error-free, and these programs can either block the wrong websites or allow harmful sites.

Internet Safety Guidelines

First, parents should warn their children about people who may pretend to be their friends. They should explain to them about grooming and cyberbullying and how to avoid these situations. In addition, children should keep certain information private. The children’s full name, address, telephone number, social security number and email address should be in a profile. The kids also should also not email or share their photos with people they don’t know. The children should only talk to people online that they actually know and trust in person.

Parents should block all chat rooms and monitor IM. Many times, people will try to add users with gender-specific usernames. Kids should not add people on IM that they do not know in person. Children should also set their profiles to private if have a social network profile page.

In regards to Internet safety guidelines and web content, older children must determine which websites are trustworthy. Parents should inform kids that “free” deals that sound too good to be true probably are. Some websites are phishing scams or virus repositories. By using anti-virus software and some filtering programs, parents can help reduce this risk.

Kids must learn about the Internet safety and anonymity. Kids must know the consequences of bad choices, and nothing they post is truly “anonymous” or temporary on the Internet. Parents should always teach their kids to be truthful, both online and in the real world. Parents should discuss with their kids about Internet usage, and check on them periodically. Setting up Internet safety guidelines can also include setting time limits on Internet usage.