Do you know what your kids are up to when they're online? Are they properly clued-up about their online safety? Employ as many of these simple rules as you can to ensure your family is websafe.

See The Pattern
Be aware of when your child is on the internet and what sort of sites they visit. Ask them to show you what they're up to. If their patterns of usage change, you'll be more aware of it.

House Rules
Agree rules with your kids on how they should use the internet – make sure there are clear guidelines on the sort of sites you don't expect them to visit.

My Favourite Things
Encourage your children to list their sites in a Favourites folder so you can see where they go on a regular basis.

Open Up
Be open to any issues they have. If they end up on the wrong website by mistake or inadvertently sign up for dodgy material, they must be able to feel they can talk to you about it.

Keep Online Friends Online
Speak to your kids about Online Stranger Danger. Make them aware of the fact that their online 'friends' may not be who they appear to be.

Mindful Eye
Insist that only moderated chatrooms are used – research and draw up a list and make sure your children are using these chatrooms.

The Information Age
speak to your kids about the issues surrounding the sharing of personal information, particularly their full names, address, school, mobile phone number or anything else that could be used to identify them. Make it a fun game to come up with an online persona for them, which you're happy with.

The Public Good
Avoid having computers in bedrooms – make the place where they access the internet a much more public part of your home.

Phone Aware
It may be worth getting a contract for your child's mobile phone so you can monitor their calls.

Publish And Be Damned
Do your children understand that everything on the internet is fair game. If they publish a photograph or video of themselves on it, they are giving the world the opportunity to change or alter it in any way it wants.

Filters And Spam
Employ a filter to keep your kids from accessing unsafe sites – and make sure you update it regularly. You should also add on a spam filter to keep unsavoury emails from coming through. If your child wants to set up their own email account, use an isp which has a good record of filtering spam.

Look Out
For younger children, consider walled gardens (a way of fencing in kids on the internet, preventing them from wider searches) and the use of child-orientated search engines.

Look Out For...

• children becoming secretive about what they're doing or who they're chatting to
• cds for other ISPs – They can easily be installed on your computer alongside your current ISP, allowing your kids to sidestep all your well-laid plans to keep them safe online
• downloading of material onto disks: this is a way to clear files off the computer so you can't see what they're up to

Useful Links:
For the NCH Net Smart Rules, click here.
Childline's Safe Surfing Tips, click here.
A parent's guide to the acronyms kids use when they're online, click here.
Yahoo Kids – children's search engine, click here.
Ask Jeeves For Kids - click here.

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