INTERNET SAFETY
Valley View Elementary School
Parents Internet Safety Tips
You never know who is watching you!
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Children should not complete a profile for a service provider and children's screen names should be nondescript so as not to identify that the user is a child.
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Teach yourself about the Web. Many public libraries and community centers offer information sessions that cover logging on to the Web, searching for information, and what sorts of places you can visit online (web sites, chat rooms, email).
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Tell your child to NEVER EVER reveal their name, address, phone number or any other personal information to ANYONE online. Once you give out this information, it is impossible to retract.
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Get to know the communication tools that your child may use. Besides surfing the Web, a good deal of a child's time online may be spent communicating and interacting with others. With the establishment of family guidelines, your child can have a safe and fun time participating in this new Internet community.
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Talk to children about what to do if they see something that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. Show them how to turn off the monitor and emphasize that it's not their fault if they see something upsetting. Remind children to tell a trusted adult if they see something that bothers them online.
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Place your family computer in the most public area of your home - the living room, kitchen, or wherever it's easiest for you to monitor their computer use and activities.
Communicate regularly (not just once) with your child about WHAT they do online and WHO they talk to online. If you have actually met the friends they are talking to in person, you'll know it is OK for them to chat with them online. Create a "Family Pledge for Online Safety" that clearly states what your children are and are not allowed to do online. Involve your children in the creation of the pledge, both as an opportunity for you to talk about the issues that will arise, and as a way to get their input and interest in the subjects. We're more likely to follow rules of our own making than those imposed upon us.
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Choose your child's screen name, email address or instant message name wisely - don't' reveal ages, sex, or hobbies.
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Web sites for children are not permitted to request personal information without a parent's permission. Talk to children about what personal information is and why you should never give it to people online.
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If children use chat or E-mail, talk to them about never meeting in person with anyone they first "met" online.
Familiarize yourself with parental control software, and check out the control features of your online service or ISP. Some programs allow you to filter specific sites, a group of sites that the software deems inappropriate, or sites with inappropriate keywords in them. However, nothing is foolproof; new sites are created all the time that may not be caught by the programs. Having a filter program is not a substitute for supervising your child's online activities. Many families find that adding blocking and filtering programs to their regular supervision gives them additional peace of mind.
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We strongly recommend that you actively monitor your children while they participate in online chats (more so than any other online activity).
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Know who children are exchanging E-mail with, and only let them use chat areas when you can supervise.
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If your child receives inappropriate messages or material, or is being "spammed" (receiving unsolicited messages from a person or organization), there are a few steps you can take to deal with the matter. First, let your child know that he/she is not to blame. (You don't want them to be afraid to tell you the next time it happens!) Second, do not respond to the message. (You don't want whoever sent the email to know that it reached an actual person.) Instead, try to track down the company or ISP from which the message originated, and report the inappropriate correspondence.
If your child receives an email message from an unfamiliar address, they shouldn't read it and should tell you about it. If it's something inappropriate and unsolicited, request of the message's source that they delete your child's email address from their database. If this becomes an ongoing problem, complain to your Internet service provider.
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Use technology to help you protect your child. Monitoring software gives you the ability to review your child's Internet usage. Even if you don't look at each and every email or instant message they send, you'll have a good idea if they are making smart choices online.
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Message boards generally list the username of the person who posts a message. Therefore, we encourage you to create an alias for your child so that their true name is not visible on any posted message. This helps to prevent unwanted email replies from random people who're interested in responding directly to posts by your children.
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