Internet Safety

Today most families have at least one computer in their homes, but how can you ensure children and teenagers accessing the internet are kept safe, particularly from those people who might try and seek them out to harm them? So how can you protect your child online? Below are the MumKnowsBest top tips for internet safety:

Always try and locate the computer in a family or shared room, with the screen facing out so you or whoever is in the room can have a good view. Having a computer in a child's bedroom is not a good idea. Learn as much as possible about what your child does online and what sites they visit. Remind them that there is often a minimum age for people subscribed to social networking sites (13 on Bebo, 13 on Facebook and 14 on MySpace). Don't allow your children to enter a chat room for over-18s, and remind them never to reply to emails, instant messages or open attachments from strangers. Talk to your children about the risks of online predators and to be very wary of people they do not know and NEVER meet up with any strangers they have met online.

Explain to your children what information about them is personal: i.e. email address, mobile number, school name, sports club, arrangements for meeting up with friends and any pictures or videos of themselves, their family or friends. Telling strangers their personal information could be dangerous.

Stress that although they may think of them as friends, there's a risk that they're not who they say they are. Look out for changes in your childs behaviour that may indicate your child is being bullied or abused online. These can include loss of confidence, withdrawal from family life, anxiety or argumentativeness, insomnia or lack of concentration.

Talk to your child about the type of site they may stumble across either accidentally or if curiosity gets the better of them. You probably supervise what your child watches on television not allowing them to watch unsuitable programmes, the same thing should apply to the internet. It may be an uncomfortable topic but much more sensible to discuss with your child the possibility that they could possibly encounter pornographic material on the internet just by typing incorrect spelling of a word e.g. if they were looking for information on the girl pop band sugababes but typed in sugar babes they would be able to log onto obscene and very different information not suitable for their age. If they do happen to visit an unsuitable site, explain that they should let you know and not try to hide the fact.

Install parental control and anti-virus software on your computer, there are lots of packages available from most high street stores like PC World.

If you are worried about what your child is viewing on line, check the history of the sites visited. If the history has been deleted ask why. If you do find that your child has been viewing inappropriate content explain your worries and concerns, remember its probably nothing more that natural curiosity.

Ensure that your children do not become Internet addicts by laying down simple rules about time spent on the Internet. Encouraging other interests will also help.

For more informaiton visit

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

www.kidsmart.org.uk

www.kidshealth.org