Internet Safety For Children

Archive for February, 2010

I work with children between the ages of 6 to 18 years old and we recently banned myspace.com because too many of our kids were lying about their age and looking at inappropriate pictures. Do you think that it is too dangerous for teenageers or do you think that it is up to the parents to teach them internet safety?

it is only dangerous for teens because they do not make the right choices. for one, they shouldn’t have been lying about their age. i hope their profiles got deleted for that. plus looking up inappropriate pictures? they should have helped out and reported those pictures instead. as for safeness, it is as safe as you make it. if you don’t give out a lot of information, you are safe, just like if you don’t scream your phone number outloud in public, you are safe.

At school I am currently working on a project about children internet safety. I have created a questionnaire covering many aspects of internet safety. If you have the time and don’t mind doing so, please copy and paste the questions along with the appropriate answer.
Thanks for your time.
Jasmine.

1a. Does your child use the internet at home?
-Yes
-No

1b. If yes, what room do they use it in?
-Living Room
-Bedroom
-Dining Room
-Other (Please Specify)

2. How often does your child use social networking sites?
-Everyday
-More than once a week
-Once a week
-Once a month
-Less than once a month
-Never

3. In your opinion, what are your child’s five favourite online activities?
(Please rate them from 1 to 5 where 1 is your child’s favourite)
-Chat Rooms
-Blogging
-Music
-Instant Messenger
-Gaming
-File Sharing
-Social Networking
-Web Surfing
-Other (Please Specify)

4a. Does your child use instant messenger?
-Yes
-No

4b. If yes, what messenger do they use?
-Windows Live (MSN)
-Yahoo
-AIM
-Ebuddy
-Meebo
-Other (Please Specify)

5a. Does your child use social networking?
-Yes
-No

5b. If yes, what site do they visit most?
(Please rate from 1 to 4 where 1 is the most visited)
-Facebook
-Bebo
-Twitter
-Other (Please Specify)

6a. Has your child ever been bullied over the internet?
-Yes
-No

6b. If yes, what online activity were they bullied over?
-Windows Live (MSN)
-Yahoo
-AIM
-Ebuddy
-Meebo
-Facebook
-Twitter
-Other (Please Specify)

7. Does your child know about safety whilst online?
-Yes
-No
-Not sure

8. What is the gender of your child?
-Male
-Female

9. How old is your child?
-1 to 5
-6 to 10
-11 to 15

Again, thank you for your time. Your answers are greatly appreciated.
Jasmine Sharman.

I’m going to answer this about the rules my parents have on me.

1a. yes
1b. either of the living rooms, or occasionally my dads office
2. everyday
3. instant messenger 1
web surfing 2
social networking 3
music 4
gaming 5
4. yes, windows live
5. yes, facebook
6. no
7. yes
8.female
9. 17

This happens the most at the local level. When it comes to alot of things. Approval of tasers, internet filters at libraries, crackdowns on headshops that sell tobacco pipes, crackdowns on porn shops, crackdowns on strip clubs etc. It is sad that it should have to move up to a federal or state court for some of these ordinances to be declared unconstitutional. Be wary of local politics sometimes. Civil liberties are important.

Agreed 100%! Except, I’ll need agun when we finally get to martail law, and I really can’t keep my kids safe like that…
Anyway, as long as they don’t try to give me a national ID Card (well, they’ve got the protoypic Driver’s License and so forth),
and as long as they don’t try to implant that chip my family member always raves on about,
it’s safe to agree with you.

A co-worker of my husbands (who I have never met in person) has decided to post pictures of my child (who is a minor) to her facebook account. I wrote her a message asking her to remove the picture because I do not feel safe with someone I don’t know posting pictures of my child on the internet. One reason being I cannot control who sees the picture, she has a public profile and anyone in the world who wants to see the picture can. Another reason is that she listed the first and last name of my husband on the picture so they now have my child’s last name. When I asked her to remove the picture out of respect for a parents wishes she refused and became hostile. I don’t believe in posting pictures of children on the internet for their safety. Isn’t it the right of the parent to decide whether or not their child can be plastered on the internet? There is a huge safety loop hole that facebook uses where they can take your pictures posted and sell them to advertising companies, so now not only can she post pictures of my child, but now anyone who wants it can have it and use it. I understand the copywrite laws, that she did take the photo, however she did not have permission to take the photo from both parents, and certainly not to post pictures of a minor online. Does anyone know of any laws I can present to her about posting pictures of minor children on the internet without parental consent? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time and input.
Thank you all so much for your feedback, it just seems unfair that I do all I can to protect my child, then someone can just take photographs without her permission or the permission of the parent, then post them online. Once again I thank you for helping me.

First, there are no laws against posting photos of minors or anyone else on the internet.

Second, you wrote: "…she did take the photo…" That makes the photo her property. She can post it, sell it, do what she wants with it. As long as the photo is neither a compromising pose nor was taken in a setting where the child expected privacy (bathroom, changing room, etc) there is no way to keep her from taking the photo, either with or without permission.

Harsh news, but true.

- Stuart

I got my three children a laptop each for Christmas and they can access the internet via my wireless router. Is it possible to put a password on each laptop to monitor the amount of time they spend online? I don’t want them to be able to sit upstairs for hours on the net as i am worried about internet security and safety.
Many thanks
Gail.

It depends on your operating system and your virus software might be able to help as well. Since it is new, I would call the customer service number that came with it, they can help you!

I want to know which mini van is safe for small children in the rear seat. Maybe a SUV, has to hold 7 people.

You can also try EuroNCAP (www.euroncap.com), it has stricter tests (crashes at higher speeds).

My friend is in the middle of a divorce, when it is finalized he and his ex-wife will have joint custody of their 4 year old. Right now his ex- and her new boyfriend have photos of his/their daughter on their myspace pages, is there anything he can do to make them remove them? with all the sick people on the internet and as much personal info that myspace gives out, he is concerned for her safety.

what he can do is get a profile on myspace himself and then keep filing abuse reports against her, and her new bf. eventually the profile will get deleted by the "top dog" people of myspace, but until then you can’t do much about it. Or another thing you could do actually is nicely send a request to them saying that you don’t want the kids pictures on their myspace for whatever reason. ex. you think the kids might get raped by some random loser/stalker on the street… or whatever, you get the picture. and if that doesn’t work… put wierd pictures of them on your myspace, and say wierd things about them on it.. (i know that last bit wasn’t good advice, but still its what one does when they are desperate.) if the girl and her bf are decent, nice, or even halfway decent or nice, they should take them off myspace, but if they still dont… look to the top of the government hierarchy for some help.

This week is ‘internet safety week’ and campaign messages such as Zip, Block and Flag will be spread, as well as web safety skills being made part of the national curriculum for children from the age of 5 years old.

I don’t know how internet grooming works, but I understand it to be the child trusts the groomer, usually believes they are about similar age, with similar interests and outlook on life and I’m not sure whether this will help this issue.

Also, in my view, children under the age of 13 should not have profiles on social networking sites, and those under the age of 16 should have limited access. Perhaps the schools’ overuse of computers mean that it’s essential for children to have one at home, whereas when I was at school we just used those at school and that was enough.

Could these sites do more? For example require debit/credit card details with a token £1 payment so that at least only adults can register and make a decision whether or not to allow their children to use the site? Although there are ‘report’ button on networking sites I’d imagine they are too frequently used to be a useful tool in tracking bad characters.

Should it be the parents taking responsibility? After all you wouldn’t buy a car and let your child drive it, so why allow a child free reign on the internet?

I don’t think that social networking sites should be the be all and end all of children’s lives. When I was young we made dens in the rocks on the sea wall, hid in fields (albeit trespassing), rollerbladed over any area of flat concrete and played bouncy balls. Computers never figured at all.

www.thinkuknow.co.uk/saferinternetdayuk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/dec/08/code-online-safety

Deighton – children don’t go out on their own and hang about with adults, as far as I’m aware. They go out with their friends don’t they?

I think there should be a legal minimum age and think about 13 is right. This is the age where kids are in secondary school and often their friends do not live nearby so chatting on line is the only way they are in regular touch at weekends and school holidays – and saves me a very very large phone bill!!!

I have access to her account and will only let her chat to school friends. If I don’t know them or they are not at her school, she cannot chat, end of discussion. I also check her facebook account almost daily to make sure that she is not being groomed etc.

I think it is parent’s responsibility but do think that the nominal £1 one off payment would be a great idea as the parent would have to pay that and then there is no chance of a child setting up their own account using a different ID, lying about age etc. It is not just in the home that kids get on the computer though. Many hang around the libraries and use their computers which means that a kid can set up accounts without the parent’s knowledge. That is always a danger.

I do agree that a computer should not be the be all and end all of children’s lives but it is different now. Many areas do not have spaces where kids can play. Kids grow up earlier and want different things and it is not safe for kids to be out on their own. Like you, I used to run wild as a kid – my playground was Epping Forest. I would never let my child do that now. It is not safe. Their friends are scattered over a wider area. Large secondary schools with 200 kids in each year group (as many as 2000 kids in the whole school means a large catchment area so local get togethers regularly outside school times during holidays are not always possible.

1) How old is your child?
2) Which gender is your child?
3) Does your child use the computer at home?
– how long for (each day)?
4) In which room do they normally use it?
5) How often do they use social networking sites?
6) do they have their own phone?
7) do you have any parental control on your pc?

sorry me don’t understand english

I run a couple of sites and I get children that email me "Hi my name is Sara and I’m twelve" AUUUGG!!! I always give them a lecture about Internet safety but it really concerns me. I tell my friends that when they are comfortable letting their child walk downtown alone at midnight, then it’s Ok for them to go on the Internet.

Please explain to me why they are even on the Internet at all? Couldn’t you buy CDs for them? Why do they need to be on the Internet?

Mine aren’t. I don’t think they should have much internet access other than for papers and stuff while you make sure they are researching things until they are 15 or 16 when they can have maybe an hour of free net time.
I remember when we first got internet- I was 13 and my mom didn’t really think I’d do much bad stuff on there but I was pretending to be a 23 year old school teacher. While now that I am 22 I know that was wrong and I know better than to let my kids do it… I feel bad for mistreating my mom’s trust and I know I could have been easily killed. Never will I allow my kids to use the internet unsupervised.

Many parents don't realize the dangers involved with their kids communicating online with total strangers. The number of internet predators is increasing, and many of them are convicted offenders and pedophiles, and are proud of their actions and desires.

Some of these perverts will set up fake identities on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, in order to attract vulnerable children into their groups. As parents, we need do be interactive with our kid's online activities, to keep them from being victimized by criminals and predators.

• Use an alias for social networking sites.

Always have them use a nickname and never post their age, address or phone number on a public page. Even though some sites may ask for this information, it is usually not required, and if it is, they need to drop the site. There are hundreds of social networking sites online these days, so it's best to play it safe.

If they insist on posting a picture, they can use a cartoon image or even a picture of their pet. Pedophiles have been known to post children's pictures and profiles on their own twisted websites. They can just give their friends and family their alias information and they are good to go.

• Be aware of who your kids are communicating with.

Email is another popular method for pedophiles to gain the trust of unsuspecting youngsters. Nobody wants to spy on their own kids, but you need to monitor their email activity, especially if they are being secretive about their contacts. There are many paid services that allow you to reverse search an email address or phone number, and will give you whatever public information is available on that person.

• Use your computer's parental controls.

If you are like most parents, you are the one that paid for the computers your kids use, so you should not feel bad about monitoring the use of them. You should set yourself as the administrator in Windows, where you can control what types of sites are allowed.

If you are not sure how to set up parental controls, just go through the help files on your computer for instructions. Some internet service providers even offer online controls. Do not, under any circumstances, give your kids your password! Today's youth are computer savvy and could easily bypass the parental controls if given access to the administrator's account.

You can do your part as a responsible parent, and help fight crime and perversion, while helping your kids have a rewarding and safe online experience.

f you think someone may be threatening your loved ones, you can quickly check them out for previous criminal activity. All you need is an email address, phone number, name or street address to find any public information available.

Investigate anyone and get the best and most complete public records at http://www.PublicRecordBase.com. Protect your family, friends and yourself. Go to: http://www.publicrecordbase.com/2criminal.html.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_B_Williams
http://EzineArticles.com/?3-Ways-to-Insure-Your-Kids-Internet-Safety&id=2792702

Here’s two good links from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children–
for teens:

http://www.netsmartz.org/netteens.htm

same site designed for kids:

http://www.netsmartzkids.org/indexfl.htm

one more:

http://tcs.cybertipline.com/

Thank you, I have a teen and a pre-teen. I don’t allow them online very often since my teen already showed me how irresponsible she can be online. although she is a great teen otherwise. I feel they do need to know about internet safety.

The government’s website Direct.gov was is disrepute after it emerged that its Buster’s World pages for children had the same name as a porn site.

“Direct.gov’s Buster is a sheriff dog who guides children around games, while Buster of Bustersworld.com is a man who loves pictures men and balloons”, reported The Metro.

“The adult site was registered by BigBoys Balloons in 2000, long before Direct.gov’s effort”.

In it’s less than effusive response, The Department for Children, Schools and Families said it was “clearly a mistake”. All rather embarrassing given that child internet safety is supposed to be a key concern for the government.

Do government bodies actually know what they are doing when it comes to children’s safety?

As it is not possible to click direct from direct.gov on to the porno site, nor would it show up if the child did a google or yahoo search for buster, there does not seem to be a children’s safety problem. On the other hand there is a problem over certain porno people sending out fake e mails appearing to come from some person in the recipient’s address book with a click on link the child is duped into believing the porno link is recommended by his friend or a friend of his parents.

Most of these sorts of hacking abuses seem to originate from within the USA. But disgustingly the US Authorities are doing absolutely B-all to try to identify thev culprits and put a stop to them. Yet the same US Authority is spending millions of dollars of US Taxpayers money trying to extradite a British mental health patient (Gary Mckinnon) from successfully hacking into a US government website to try to find out what lies the US government is putting out about UFOs.

It is the US Authorities you should be directing your flak at on  the subject of internet abuse not the UK government!

Ever wonder how much time your children spend on the internet and what they are doing on the internet? According to recent studies parents in the U.S. estimate their children's internet usage at about two hours a month, when in reality kids and teens spend over 20 hours a month surfing the internet. The most popular activity online is playing games followed by social networking and then online dating.
 
Social networking is a great place for children to interact with families and friends, however it also opens the door for predators. It's unfortunate that such a great tool is so easily abused by predators. Studies indicate that an alarming number of children are being approached by strangers or have an online request for personal information. It is estimated that four out of ten teens receive a request online for personal information and approximately 15% of children have been approached by a stranger online.
 
For parents who think believe that your children only play online games are immune, think again. Many of the online games have integrated messaging/chat built in meaning that your children are interacting with complete strangers.
 
It's quite obvious that parents need to be proactive to ensure that their children and teens are safe from predators on the internet. Parents should use a good monitoring software package to set parental controls. A good Parental software package will allow you to both monitor and control internet usage. It will prevent access to certain sites and will even flag keywords used in chatting and searching. Once installed review the history on a regular basis and see exactly what your child or teen is doing online. If there are areas of concern, you can easily block access and or discuss the issues with your child or teen.

Jordan Weiser
http://www.savingsheadquarters.com

Free Online Threat Scan – Cyber Patrol Parental Software

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jordan_Weiser
http://EzineArticles.com/?Protecting-Your-Children-From-Internet-Predators-With-Parental-Software&id=2736155

Many parents don't realize the dangers involved with their kids communicating online with total strangers. The number of internet predators is increasing, and many of them are convicted offenders and pedophiles, and are proud of their actions and desires.

Some of these perverts will set up fake identities on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, in order to attract vulnerable children into their groups. As parents, we need do be interactive with our kid's online activities, to keep them from being victimized by criminals and predators.

• Use an alias for social networking sites.

Always have them use a nickname and never post their age, address or phone number on a public page. Even though some sites may ask for this information, it is usually not required, and if it is, they need to drop the site. There are hundreds of social networking sites online these days, so it's best to play it safe.

If they insist on posting a picture, they can use a cartoon image or even a picture of their pet. Pedophiles have been known to post children's pictures and profiles on their own twisted websites. They can just give their friends and family their alias information and they are good to go.

• Be aware of who your kids are communicating with.

Email is another popular method for pedophiles to gain the trust of unsuspecting youngsters. Nobody wants to spy on their own kids, but you need to monitor their email activity, especially if they are being secretive about their contacts. There are many paid services that allow you to reverse search an email address or phone number, and will give you whatever public information is available on that person.

• Use your computer's parental controls.

If you are like most parents, you are the one that paid for the computers your kids use, so you should not feel bad about monitoring the use of them. You should set yourself as the administrator in Windows, where you can control what types of sites are allowed.

If you are not sure how to set up parental controls, just go through the help files on your computer for instructions. Some internet service providers even offer online controls. Do not, under any circumstances, give your kids your password! Today's youth are computer savvy and could easily bypass the parental controls if given access to the administrator's account.

You can do your part as a responsible parent, and help fight crime and perversion, while helping your kids have a rewarding and safe online experience.

f you think someone may be threatening your loved ones, you can quickly check them out for previous criminal activity. All you need is an email address, phone number, name or street address to find any public information available.

Investigate anyone and get the best and most complete public records at http://www.PublicRecordBase.com. Protect your family, friends and yourself. Go to: http://www.publicrecordbase.com/2criminal.html.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_B_Williams
http://EzineArticles.com/?3-Ways-to-Insure-Your-Kids-Internet-Safety&id=2792702