Online Family Safety Tips
The following list is a succinct look at all the tips discussed in this learning center.
|
Adult Content and Pornography
Talk to your teenagers about adult content and pornography online, and direct them instead to
positive sites. Use parental controls to restrict kids from access to adult-oriented materials.
|
Chatting
Set rules for safe chatting. For kids under 8, disallow access to all chat rooms. Older children
(8 – 12 years) should use well-monitored kids' chat rooms. Encourage even teens to use
monitored chat rooms. Learn what chat rooms your kids visit and sample them to see what
kinds of conversations happen there.
|
Cyber-Bullies
Talk to your kids about cyber-bullies. Teach them to ignore cyber-bullies and to play games
with rules or settings that limit cyber-bully tactics. Ensure that your kids do not engage in cyber-bully tactics, even in retaliation.
|
Email
When your children are young, they should share a family email address rather than have
their own email accounts. As they get older, you can ask your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
to set up a separate email address, but your children's mail can still reside in your account.
Find out what kinds of email safeguards exist in places outside the home where kids often
use the Internet.
|
Fact and Opinion
Teach your children that not everything they read or see online is true, and encourage them to
ask you for help in distinguishing between fact, opinion and outright fiction. Encourage critical
thinking, especially in terms of biased or hateful content.
|
Gambling
Talk to your kids about the potential risks. Use parental controls in Windows 7 to block
access to gambling sites.
|
Gaming
Educate yourself about the games your kids play. Observe the game environment and the way
your kids play. Play with them and model good behavior. Ensure that your kids maintain a
healthy balance between time spent playing online and offline. Use parental controls to restrict
access to games you deem inappropriate. Remind kids that privacy should be protected in
games as it would be anywhere else on the Internet.
|
Hateful Content
Explain that kids have social responsibilities online as they do offline. Teach them to recognize
and avoid hateful content. Note that sites that promote bigotry, racism and hatred are often
cleverly disguised with innocuous Web addresses. Other sites are marketed as humorous but
actually contribute to cruelty and xenophobia. Use parental controls to restrict access to hateful
content.
|
Making Friends Online
Ensure that your kids communicate online only with people known to them and your family
to help limit their contact with unsavory elements. As kids grow older, they are bound to make
new friends online. Kids and teens may think they "really know" the person they're interacting
with based on the information those users post. If your child only knows someone online,
ensure that they do not meet them in person on their own.
|
Modeling Good Behavior
All family members should act as role models for young children who are just starting to use
the Internet. Maintaining a healthy balance between your online and offline activities is a great
way to encourage kids to do the same. Playing games with your kids is an excellent
opportunity to model good behavior.
|
Parental Controls
Use parental control tools to block access to inappropriate content, monitor the amount of
time and the times of day your kids spend online. Windows 7 comes with a suite of parental controls.
Consider downloading Windows Live Family Safety or using other independent parental control software
as a means to supplement the standard Windows 7 parental controls.
|
Piracy
Piracy is often strictly enforced and can result in thousands of dollars in fines as well as
confiscation of your home computer. Talk to your kids about piracy. Use parental controls in
Windows 7 to block downloads. Show children how to download legally.
|
Positioning Your Family Computer
Consider placing the family computer to a central area of the home where it can be easily
monitored and observed. Talk to your kids if they insist on closed-door Internet sessions, or are
unusually secretive about Internet use — this may be a sign of an inappropriate online
relationship.
|
Privacy
Tell your kids not to reveal personal information about themselves or their family online. Even
seemingly innocuous information like age and gender can be dangerous when revealed to the
wrong audience. Discourage young kids from filling out online profiles on social networking sites
like MySpace, Facebook or Windows Live Spaces.
|
Rules for Internet Use
Lay out rules for Internet use that establish clear expectations for your kids' online habits.
Include things like the amount of time kids are allowed online, what types of content are
appropriate and who it's okay to chat with as well as proper online conduct and good Internet
citizenship. Work with your kids to draw up an online family safety contract that your whole
family can agree to and sign.
|
Social Networking & Blogging
Educate yourself about the social networking and blogging sites your kids frequent. Check the
site content monitoring policy and age limits. Inform your kids that any information they post
may be difficult to remove, and review their profile and/or blog to ensure that they are
maintaining a safe level of privacy.
|
Social Responsibility Online
Talk with your kids about the Internet and encourage them to see it as a shared, open
environment in which they have social responsibilities just as they would in any physical
environment. These responsibilities include refusing to take part in illegal activities — such as
piracy or gambling — and ensuring that online interactions are fair and friendly.
|
Supervision
Use age-based guidelines to determine the amount of supervision your children may need.
Parental control software is a good option for times when you can't supervise your children in
person. By building a good online safety foundation when children are young, you can
confidently encourage new freedoms as children grow.
|
User Accounts
Personal user accounts are the cornerstone of parental controls. Set up an administrator
account for yourself and standard user accounts for each of your kids. Turn on parental controls
and select appropriate settings (content limitations based on age, time restrictions,
etc.) for each of your kids' accounts.
|
User IDs
Many chat rooms, instant messaging (IM) programs, video games, social networks and blogs
require users to create login names or user IDs. Teach your kids to avoid IDs that reveal
personal information or encourage unwanted attention.
|
