Introducing Kids Internet Safety

The internet is a great time-saving tool.
It allows anyone to access information on virtually any subject 24 hours a day.

It also allows us to communicate with others in varied and expedient ways. Sadly, these advantages also present a severe exposure to our kids and grandkids.

Not only can kids access adult sites of every description, but predators and scammers can access our children.

Chat rooms, social media and email allow a predator to communicate with children and potentially lead them to an in-person sexual contact. The good news is that some things can and have been done to reduce this scary hazard to our children's safety. In 1998, after online predators and scams had aroused the hue and cry of many citizens in this country, Congress passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
COPPA was designed essentially to prevent web site operators from collecting personal information from children under 13 years of age without verifiable parental consent.
Personal information, in this context, includes name, home and email addresses, mobile and home telephone numbers, and hobbies, interests and other information collected through cookies or other tracking mechanisms when they are tied to individual identification information.
The operator must post a link to a privacy policy statement on the site and again at the beginning of the children's portion of the site if the site is mixed. To share information publicly or with third parties, the web site operator must: obtain a signed form via postal mail or facsimile; accept and verify a credit card number; take phone calls from parents on a toll-free line by trained personnel; receive an email with digital signature; receive an email with a PIN or password obtained through one of the aforementioned methods.

Parents can revoke of refine their permission or request a site operator delete their child's information at any time.
Chat room conversations, including both sides, may be requested by parents as well.
Watch for some basic indicators that might suggest that your child has made contact with an online predator.
Aside from the usual teenage responses, is your child talking less with family members or missing meals with the family? Is your child receiving telephone calls or gifts from people you don't know? Is the child meeting someone you don't know? Discuss the rules you set about internet use with your child.
Limit the amount of time spent on the computer each day. For those six years of age or younger, provide continuous supervision.

Place computers in an open, accessible area such as a living room, kitchen or den so that you can monitor what your child is watching.
Inappropriate sites are much less likely to be viewed while parents are in the room.

Check with school officials, public librarians and parents of your child's friends to determine what controls are in place at each of those locations for internet usage.

Let children know if you are going to monitor their email and internet traffic.
Occasionally, check the cookies on your child's computer to see where he or she has visited.
Televisions and cell phones can have a parental control applied which is operated by the parents.
If you're looking for more effective protection measures, there are both hardware and software controls that can be purchased and added to your family's system.
The software types are easier to install and provide both the opportunity to block certain sites form a child's viewing, and the ability to monitor everything the child is accessing in the way of sites and receiving on email.
The email is a very strong tool that presents many advantages and some exposures to children's safety as well.

Watch for signs that your child has been approached online by a predator or a scam artist.

Talk with your child about these dangers, and apply some machine and software controls to greatly increase your child's online safety.