Keeping
Your Pre-teen Safe Online
As your child gets older, it's inevitable you can't be there supervise
him every time uses the internet. How can you keep them out of trouble
whilst allowing a little independence?
Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean
it's true! Start by teaching your child to be critical of information
on the web and never to open unsolicited emails. Don't allow unlimited
surfing time.
Safe
searching and surfing
Encourage him to stick to reliable sites that you've checked. Suggest
that he search using a child-friendly filtered search engine and teach
him how to use it. The clearer the search instructions, the less likely
he is to stumble on something unsavoury.
Chatrooms
and bulletin boards
Make sure he's using chatrooms that are monitored (24-hours a day) by
a real person, not a computer program. Get to know your child's online
friends. Warn him not to vent his emotions online and to be careful what
he says. Be aware that children in chatrooms use acronyms like 'PA' for
Parent Alert to hide what's going on. Warn him that adults enter children's
chatrooms in disguise and he should never arrange to meet anyone offline
or give out his address or telephone number.
Email
safety
Younger pre-teens should only have e-mail penpals arranged and vetted
by school. If your child has a 'cyber friendship', check everything is
in order. Set up a separate email address for the correspondence. Get
permission to read his emails, trust your instincts, and try to establish
a relationship with the cyberpal's parents.
Look out for danger signs
Is he secretive or nervous when on-line?
Sometimes children use the net for information on dangerous activities
like amateur fireworks or bomb-making, although this is over-hyped in
the media. Remember your child could endanger others on-line or break
the law by posting false information, masquerading as someone else, creating
websites aimed at ridiculing enemies, sending hate e-mail or 'cyber stalking'.
If he breaches copyright by posting pictures or text, you'll have to pay
up.
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