Top 10 Ways to Protect Your Kids Online
(from
McAfee)
- Monitor your children's use of the
Internet. Put the computer in a high-traffic family area and limit
nighttime use.
- Fortify your computer with strong
security software and make sure to keep it up to date. The
McAfee® Internet
Security Suite guarantees protection from viruses, hackers, and spyware.
It filters offensive content, pictures, and web sites. The anti-virus software
will also protect your computer from viruses and spyware by automatically
scanning email attachments and files downloaded from P2P file-sharing sites.
- Make sure kids understand basic rules
for using
social networking sites such as MySpace and blogs. They should
guard their passwords, and never post personally identifying information or
inappropriate photos. Blogs and social networking sites offer privacy tools
that can be turned on to restrict potentially dangerous users. The sites
automatically provide these protective tools to kids under 15. Kids should
share information only with people they know from the real world.
- It’s imperative that your kids let you
know if they arrange in-person meetings with people they meet online.
Before any such meeting, you should confirm the person’s identity, and you
should accompany your child to the meeting in a public place.
- When using P2P
file-sharing programs, kids should not download files from users whom they
don’t know. They could be downloading infected files, pictures,
games, and music that are inappropriate, or media files protected by copyright
law. Kids should not allow users to upload their music files unless they’re
certain that they have permission to share them. You can disable the upload
feature so that your kids don't inadvertently share files without permission.
The University of Chicago offers instructions for disabling the upload
feature in most file-sharing programs.
- Don’t allow kids to fill out online
forms or surveys. If there is a legitimate site where they want to
register, such as Nickelodeon or Disney, have them come to you first so you
can check the site’s privacy policy and rules of conduct.
- Only allow your children to use
monitored chat rooms, and have them use a screen name that doesn’t
hint at their true identity. As with blogs and MySpace, kids should never
reveal personal information or share photos. Make sure they understand that
people can lie about who they are and that online friends are still strangers.
- Teach your kids to ignore emails and
instant messages from people they don’t know. They should never open
attachments they are not expecting nor click on links in messages. As with
blogs and MySpace, they should not send out personal information. Configure
your child’s instant messaging application correctly to make sure it does not
open automatically when they fire up their computer. Have them turn off the
computer and disconnect the DSL or modem line when they’re not using it.
- Use
browsers for kids and kid-oriented search engines. Children’s
browsers such as
Kid Browser 1.1 do not display inappropriate words or images. It comes
pre-loaded with kid-safe web sites and pre-set word filters. You only need to
make sure you approve, and review the default web sites and words.
Kid-oriented search engines including
Ask for Kids and
Yahooligans
perform limited searches and screen search results. There is a great list of
engines at
Search Engine Watch. The site also tells you how to turn on parental
controls in regular search engines including Google, HotBot, and MSN Search.
- Let your kids find appropriate and
helpful web sites using lists put together by experts in the field.
The American Library Association has a very good list,
The ALA Great Web Sites for Kids.
First Gov for Kids has
government-related children sites and also lists groups of kid-friendly sites.
Fact Monster is an
excellent reference site, packed with information and homework help.
