How to Keep Your Children and Teens Safe Online

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Place computers with Internet access in a central location in the home.

   When computers are in a central location, they can be easily monitored, but if placed in private places such as bedrooms, children can quickly close inappropriate websites when they hear their parents coming. , Webcams can be a great way to communicate with your friends and family, but leaving a teen unsupervised with a webcam can lead to your child’s strip show debut. , Chat rooms, instant messaging, and websites such as YouTube, Myspace, and even Yahoo can be particularly dangerous for anybody under the age of
   16.
   
   Any place where your child can be contacted privately by strangers is a potential lurking ground for predators.
   
   However, instant messaging and Myspace has become a popular form of communication.
   
   A reasonable compromise may be to allow your child to instant message/Myspace only people that they know in real life, and not new internet friends. , Write them down clearly and post them near the computer as a reminder.
   
   Instead of threatening your child that breaking the rules will mean that they must go to time-out, tell your child that breaking the rules will mean they lose internet privileges.
   
   Be clear about what your child can and cannot do online and be sure to emphasize the importance of keeping personal information private.
   
   Children should never tell anyone online their address, phone number, full name, school name or show anyone pictures of themselves. , There are programs that can help you monitor your child’s activities and block inappropriate websites.
   
   However, be aware that these programs do not replace a watchful parent and can easily be disabled by computer savvy teens. , Check your browser history frequently.
   
   Finding that the browser history has been cleared may be a sign that your child has been up to something they shouldn’t.
   
   Check your child’s favorites.
   
   Visit the websites they visit and see what it’s like for yourself. , If your child quickly closes programs whenever you walk into the room or becomes very secretive about what they do online they are sending up a huge red flag that they are doing something they shouldn’t.
   
   Be especially wary if your child begins receiving phone calls that they are secretive about or starts receiving gifts in the mail from people you don’t know. , This is probably the most important step.
   
   Talk to your child about internet safety and what can happen when people are not careful online.
   
   If your child goes online this is just as important as talking about smoking and drug use.
   
   Keep talking about it even if you think your child is being safe.
   
   Ask them about what they do online, who they talk to, what they saw.
   
   Show interest in what they do. , They might be angry at you for restricting their actions online, but it’s worth it.
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   Step 2: Get rid of the webcam.

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   Step 3: Decide what online activities are age appropriate.

4. 4

   Step 4: Discuss online behavior rules with your child.

5. 5

   Step 5: Invest in monitoring and filtering software.

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   Step 6: Keep a close eye on behavior.

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   Step 7: Be aware of the warning signs that something is wrong.

8. 8

   Step 8: Talk to your child.

9. 9

   Step 9: Remember that your job is to keep your kids safe

10. 10

    Step 10: not to be their best friend.

Detailed Guide

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