Safety on the Social Networks Keeping Kids Safe...
to help your kids use social Web sites more safely
days, many kids draw little distinction between real life and online life. They
may use social Web sites designed for children such as Webkinz or Club Penguin,
or social Web sites designed for adults such as Windows Live Spaces, YouTube,
MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and others. Whatever they're doing, they
should understand that many of these Web pages can be viewed by anyone with
access to the Internet.
Kids can use these sites to:
and browse through photos and videos
an online profile
some of the information kids post on their pages can also make them vulnerable
scams, cyberbullying, and Internet predators. Here are several ways
you can help your kids can use social Web sites more safely.
with your children about their experiences.
Encourage your children to tell you if something they encounter on one of these
sites makes them feel anxious, uncomfortable or threatened. Stay calm and remind
your kids they are not in trouble for bringing something to your attention. Let
them know you will work with them to help resolve the situation for a positive
your own house Internet rules
As soon as your children begin to use the Internet on their own, it is a good
idea to come up with a list of rules for using the Internet that everyone can
agree on. These rules should include whether your children can use social Web
sites and how they can use them.
your kids follow age limits on the site.
The recommended age for signing up for social Web sites is usually 13 and over.
If your children are under the recommended age for these sites, do not let them
use the sites. It is important to remember that you cannot rely on the services
themselves to keep your underage child from signing up.
yourself about the site.
Evaluate the sites that your child plans to use and make sure both you and your
site monitors content that people post. Also, review your child's page
that your children never meet anyone in person that they've communicated with
online only, and encourage them to communicate only with people they've met in
Kids are in real danger when they meet strangers in person whom they've
communicated with online only. You can help protect your children by encouraging
them to use these sites to communicate with their friends, but not with people
they've never met in person.
It might not be enough to simply tell your child not to talk to strangers, because your child might not consider someone they've "met" online to be a stranger.
your kids don't use full names. Have
your children use only their first names or a nickname, but not a nickname that
would attract inappropriate attention. Also, do not allow your children to post
the full names of their friends.
wary of other identifiable information in your child's profile. Many
social Web sites allow kids to join public groups that include everyone who goes
to a certain school.
Be careful when your children reveal this and other information that could be used to identify them, such as their school mascots, their workplaces, or the name of the towns they live in. Too much information can make your children vulnerable to cyberbullying, Internet predators, Internet fraud, or identity theft.
using a site that is not very public.
Some Web sites allow you to password-protect your site or use other methods to
help limit viewers to only people your child knows. With Windows Live Spaces,
for example, you can set permissions for who can view your site, ranging from
anyone on the Internet to only people you choose.
smart about details in photographs.
Explain to your children that photographs can reveal a lot of personal
information. Encourage your children not to post photographs of themselves or
their friends with clearly identifiable details such as street signs, license
plates on their cars, or the name of their school on their sweatshirts.
your child about expressing emotions to strangers.
You've probably already encouraged your kids not to communicate with strangers
directly online. However, kids use social Web sites to write journals and poems
that often express strong emotions.
Explain to your children that many of these words can be read by anyone with access to the Internet and that predators often search out emotionally vulnerable kids.
your children about cyberbullying.
As soon as your children are old enough to use social Web sites, talk to them
about cyberbullying. Tell them that if they think they're being cyberbullied,
they should share this information right away with a parent, a teacher, or
another adult that they trust. It's also important to encourage kids to
communicate with other people online in the same way they would face-to-face.
Ask kids to treat other people the way they would prefer to be treated.
of your child's page.
If your children refuse to abide by the rules you've set to help protect their
safety and you've attempted to help them change their behavior, you can contact
the social Web site your child uses and ask them to remove the page. You may
also want to investigate Internet-filtering tools (such as Windows Live Family
Safety) as a complement to, not a replacement for, parental supervision.