The following are some notes from a presentation given by Chad Bates, MS Technology Coordinator to the MS PTA. For greater details, including links to internet safety websites, please download the PDF at right.
Talk to your kids
The best thing that you can do is have an open and on-going conversation with your children about what worries you about the internet and what types of sites or material you would find inappropriate for them to be on. This can start with “anything that you wouldn’t look at with me sitting next to you”, but should probably become more specific as your child grows older.
Remember that not long from now, your children will be in university with unmonitored access.
It is more valuable to your children to help them become smart, responsible users than it would be to block and police access.
Make sure you talk with your children about:
- What worries you about their time “online”
- What type of content you think is not appropriate for them (do they have reasons why they think it should be?)
- Being safe with personal information – personal details are unnecessary. “Your friends already know how to contact you.”
- Avoiding contact with people they don’t know. There shouldn’t be anyone on their buddy or friends list that they don’t know personally.
- Telling you when they are contacted by someone that they don’t know. This openness can help them avoid meeting up with “strangers”.
- Being safe with what other people are posting or saying about them.
- Making their personal spaces accessible to their friends, but not accessible to the public (they will most likely know how to do this)
