Online might rule, but there are rules
Our children completed another year of school. But that doesn’t mean they’re any smarter about online safety.
Just because its summer vacation doesn’t mean rules are on vacation either, especially when it comes to kids and their online Internet activity.
Some kids are going to find they have a lot of time on their hands because many parents can’t afford to send their child to camp, or for other reasons simply choose to have the kids stay home. Other kids looked for summer jobs but didn’t get one.
TV, playing video games and surfing the net will fill a lot of that time. Facebook, MySpace, e-mail, Twitter, online games and draw people into communities online --with total strangers.
My son will be pretty busy with a marine school magnet program and martial arts. But he does go online. I’m pretty confident though, he’s very safety savvy. He’s extremely diligent about the sites he visits.
He implemented programs to protect his data. He does not veer from his usual book marked favorites. He runs software that prevents random sites from popping up. He does not use Facebook or MySpace. He only rarely e-mails family members and friends.
In fact, I’ve learned a lot of online tips from him. We are constantly sharing information about something we’ve learned.
When he first started going online, I constantly repeated these safety tips – and they’re good for anyone of any age:
1. Never give out personal information like your name, telephone number, address, e-mail, or school name.
2. Be cautious: people you chat with online may not be who they say they are.
My top two tips can be found at
What rules and safety tips have you and your children discussed and implemented?
Add your ideas to the list of safety tips with your comments.
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