The Internet Can be a Dangerous Place for a Child

If you have a computer in your house, then internet safety is a topic that should be discussed with children right along with alcohol, drugs and sex.

There are so many social networks for kids to get involved with on the internet. The best thing a parent can do is try to be informed about them and be involved. The hardest part is being informed.

With so much competing for a parent’s time, sitting down and learning about social networks and other internet web sites seems like it should be on the bottom of the “to do”  list but what happens to a lot of households is the kids know more about the computers than the parents and that can open up a world of danger.

Donna agrees.

“Part of my problem is they are so much smarter than me when it comes to navigating around the internet,” she said.

When her kids were younger, she talked to them about not talking to or giving information to people they didn’t know. Now that they are older she says she is probably too trusting.

A few years ago an officer from the computer crimes unit did a presentation at . In a few minutes he was able to bring up an Ellington girl’s MySpace page, figure out her full name and where she lived by comments and info on the page and then went to an appraisal site where he could see what her house looked like and even where the bedroom was in the house. All this in a few short minutes!

MySpace is still used by teens, however, the social network now used by most teens is Facebook. There are, however, many out there and kids are using them. It’s a good idea to find out which ones those are.

Did you know that kids as young as eight years old are lying about their ages and making Facebook accounts?

Founded in 2004, Facebook has over 500 million people who now use it. By far, it has countless positive aspects to it. It helps friends and family stay connected all over the world. Earlier this year, the Egyptian uprising and eventual success for the people was credited to Facebook.  

It has also changed how teens socialize.

Experts who study child behavior say parents can use Facebook to help teach their children about making good decisions. Research indicates that about 90 percent of all ninth grade students are on Facebook.

Allison’s kids have computers in their rooms with many homeschool programs on them. The doors have to stay open and she knows all the passwords.

“I check up regularly and we talk about it constantly,” she said.

Teresa’s kids are not allowed to have anything password protected to where she can’t see it if she wanted to. Their computers are located in the house where they can walk by or be in the same room. Both Allison and Teresa have their own Facebook accounts.

It’s not always convenient to have computers in main rooms of the house and sometimes it is just easier to let them have them in their rooms when they get older. According to the FBI, online predators do a lot of their work at night and on weekends. Children online are at the greatest risk during the evening hours.

According to the FBI the signs that your child might be at risk online:

• Your child spends large amounts of time online, especially at night
• You find pornography on your child’s computer
• Your child receives phone calls from men you don’t know or is making calls, sometimes long distance to numbers you do not recognize.
• Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you do not know.
• Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.
• Your child is using an online account belonging to someone else

The FBI suggests ways to minimize the chances of your child being victimized online:

• Communicate and talk to your child about the dangers
• Keep the computer in a common room
• Use parental controls
• Randomly check your child’s online account
• Teach your child the responsible use of online resources
• Teach your child to stay away from chat rooms
• Teach them to never arrange a face to face meeting
• Teach them to never upload photos of themselves to people they do not know
• Teach them to never download pictures from an unknown source

There is no doubt Facebook and other social networks are here to stay. There are some things parents can do to safeguard their children’s online Facebook experience:

•  Do not allow children under age 13 on Facebook. Some experts say 16. Facebook was    actually started for college students.
• Get your own Facebook account. Learn how to use the tools and the privacy settings
•  Ask your child to “friend” you. If they don’t want to, a red flag should go up.
• Some argue it is an invasion of privacy. Some disagree. Come to a happy medium and keep tabs on your child’s page by sitting together periodically if you don’t want to be “friends”.
• Have your child limit their “friends” to real friends. It is not uncommon for teens to have hundreds even thousands of “friends.”
• Teens don’t realize it but the “friends” they have on Facebook are a reflection of who they are. They should choose their “friends” wisely.
• Kids should never “friend” teachers.
• Give kids breathing room. If you are “friends” try to avoid replying to your child’s status updates and never post photos to your child’s page. Staying quietly in the background is the best.
• Teach kids to protect their privacy and use those privacy settings as much as possible.
• Communicate about the dangers and remind your child about reputations. Photos of playing beer pong do not help them get a job or get into a college. Using profanity can also damage the reputation.

For more information on internet safety, click here.