05.20.13

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Child-Safe Searching on the Web

By Debbie Kaika

As parents you can take steps to prevent your children from accessing inappropriate material. There is a great website that talks about child safety on the internet and what tools parents can use to promote internet safety.  I have made a link on our school web site under "Links for Parents" or you can go to http://www.searchengines.com/kids/index.html . Here are some of the tips the website gives:
  1. Monitor, when possible
    Your attentive eye is the best monitoring tool but not always practical. Try to set a time when you can browse the web with your children. Ask them to wait until you get home, or use a tool to restrict access at certain times.
  2. Set strict guidelines
    Educate your children about the dangerous side of the Internet. Give them precautions about chatting with strangers. Remind them that they shouldn't download anything or enter contests without permission.
  3. No personal information
    Tell your children to never give out their phone number, last name, address, etc. Make the connection to the non-virtual world by telling them that unknown people on the web are strangers just like people on the street.
  4. Never meet strangers
    Making the jump from fun conversation in the virtual world to a real live meeting should only be done with parental supervision and with extreme caution, if at all. Instruct your kids that it doesn't matter if the person is nice, or even if he or she is "a friend". Screen names may be faked, especially in ICQ and IRC (types of chat systems)
  5. Make the rules clear and available
    Don't let your kids get away with "Daddy/Mommy, I didn't know that's bad" line. It's a good idea to write down all of your Internet rules on a paper and post it near your computer. This list should include where to call for help or if your child is uncomfortable with something he/she saw on the web.

The above rules should help your kids stay safe, but you may also want to implement parent controls or monitoring programs for extra protection. The web site has a section on Child-Safe Searching Tools. http://www.searchengines.com/kids/safe_searching_tools.html

Other Safety Item to Investigate:

• Parental Controls for Browsers

• Kids' search engines http://www.searchengines.com/kids/safe_searching_engines.html   This section discusses specialized and filtered search engines that may help parents that are concerned about their children using the Internet. Google has a Safe Searching filtering that can eliminate most inappropriate material when searching only on Google. http://www.google.com/preferences.html

• Filtered ISPs (Internet Service Providers)

• Filtering Software

• Kids' Browsers

• Monitoring Tools

• Time Limiting Tools