INTERNET SAFETY FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS

By Gabrielle Kelly and Whitney Hampton

Internet Safety Pledges

"House pledges" or "acceptable-use policies" can help provide clear guidelines for safer Internet use. NetSmartz recommends using the "Internet Safety Pledge" to promote safety discussions and create safer boundaries. The pledges correspond with pictures of the NetSmartz villains for their age group. This will assist children in remembering the Internet safety principles even if they are not able to read the words of the pledge.

Teachers can show a Video on Internet Safety

Playing a internet safety video is a good idea for students because the video can cover things that the may have not say to her class.

Students will also be able to see different examples from the video that will also help them to be more careful while on the internet

Rules and Tips for Children using the Internet

NEVER give out personal information Young children shouldn’t be in chat

rooms Don’t meet or have anyone visit you

without a teacher or parent permission Notify a teacher or parent when you read

anything that makes you feel uncomfortable

People are not who they say that online, if a person say that they are a young girl sometimes it could be a older man

Keeping a Close Eye on your Child and Students

Keep the computer in plan view or open area

Let your child show you the websites they are using

If your child is using e-mail or in a chat room, talk to them about not meeting people from the internet

Any internet accounts needs to be in the parent’s or teacher’s name

Have your child use child-friendly search engines when completing homework

Why is it a Good Idea to use Internet Safety Contracts

Using internet safety contracts are a good way to make share that the students follow the guidelines, and if they break one of the guidelines they will have to deal with the consequence of the contract.

The parents signs the contract as well so they will know the guidelines that the teacher has set for the students when they are on the computer.

INTERNET SAFETY CONTRACTPledge for Students in Kindergarten Through Fifth GradeI, ____________________________________, agree to the following:I will turn off my computer monitor right away and tell a parent,guardian or teacher if anything makes me feel scared,uncomfortable or confused.I will tell my parents, guardian or teacher if anyone online asks memy name, my address, my telephone number or the name of myschool.I will tell my parents, guardian or teacher if anyone online asks meto meet in person.I will never tell anyone online where I will be or what I will bedoing without first talking to my parents or guardian.I will never talk to people I don’t know online.I will never send a person my picture or post it online.I will not use rude or mean language on the Internet.I will help my parents or guardian understand how to have andlearn things online and teach them about the Internet, computersand other technology._______________________ _______________________Child’s Signature Parent/Guardian’s Signature_______________________ _______________________Date DateAttorneyGeneral.gov ©2006

Why Keep the Computer in an Open Area?

Always a good idea to keep the computer in the family room or in a place in the classroom where most traffic is.

Set rules for the child or student what sites to go on.

For a large class make sure that all the of students are on the same program

Block sites that parents or teachers don’t want children on

I f students are saving assignments the teacher should save all the files on one disk

Children using Emails and Chat Rooms

Young children shouldn’t be sending emails or in chat rooms

Children shouldn’t ever give out their real names or address

Never give out your age, and don’t make arrangements to meet with anyone

If anyone writes or says anything that makes a child feel uncomfortable tell a parent or a teacher

Children shouldn’t Meet with Anyone from the Internet

Children should always use a scene name

Never post any pictures of yourself and never tell your login information or password

Never go into detail about yourself or your family

Children should tell their parents when they get a email and never respond to email threats

http://www.pctattletale.com/parenting/12-internet-safety-tips.htm

What Parents and Teachers should be Aware of

Parents and teachers should always check out the sites that their children visit and see what information does the site ask or allow children to post.

Parents and teachers always look over the privacy policy for every site

Parents should be selective and careful about give their child permission to visit websites

Parents should always report a site that is collecting information that is in a violates the law.

Child-Friendly Search Engies

Ask for Kids Yahoo Kids Kids Web Super Kids Super

Search Awesome Library Kids World Kids Konnect First Gov for Kids

Signs of when a Child is Hook to the Internet

Spending large amount of time on-line The child’s turn off the monitor when

their parents come into the room The child is not spending time with their

family The child can be using someone else on-

line account

INTERNET SAFETY FOR TEENS

Teens of this generation are all over the internet, whether it’s the social networks Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Bebo. When it comes for any website, parents and teachers need to look for the safety of these teenagers. Parents need to look at their teens accounts for cyber bulling, cyber stalking, sex predators, and for hackers!

Cyber Bullying and Cyber Stalking

What is Cyber Bullying?!

The website, stopcyberbulling.org, states that cyber bullying is “when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.”

The Facts about Cyber Bullying!

About 43 percent of teen has been victims of cyber bullying at some time within this past year

It has been estimated that about 81 percent of children cyber bullied someone because it was funny.

Almost 30 percent cyber bullies someone to get revenge.

Around 11 percent of teens talk to their parents about cyber bullying.

What is Cyber Stalking?

Cyber stalking is when a person or a group of people monitor the victim electronically, whether it is looking on a social site or a search engine. People who are cyber stalking their victims can also hack in the victim’s account to see what they are up too.

Sex and the Internet

In today’s society, there are plenty of sex offenders on the internet looking for their victims. Some of these predators go to social websites, such as MySpace and Facebook. These predators also get a thrill of looking at teenagers putting inappropriate picture on these social networks, and they would try anything to get to that victim.

What is a Sex Predator?

A sex predator loves to get children, especially teenagers, as the victim. They would do anything to get to that one victim. So what is a sex predator?

Sex predators can go by many names, whether it’s pedophile or sex offender. These people prey on these children on the internet

These sex offenders use the internet as their playground to get their prey. They would usually change who they are on the social network, such as names and age. First they would chat with the victim like friends. Then as the teen warms up to them, some sex predators would try to do certain things, whether it’s certain sex acts, trying to get their address to come over, or getting them to come over to see them.

How Safe is a Social Network for Teens?

Social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace have rules and regulations when it comes for teens joining that social website. Both of these popular websites have safety tips for teens as well as the parent. On the social network, Facebook for example, they suggested that children under the age or 13 not to join and children between the ages of 13 and 18 to get parents permission before joining. These websites also give information on how to make that account as safe as possible.

What can Parents and Teachers Do?

Parents and teachers can do so many things to prevent all of these horrible things to happen to these teens of today.

What can Parents do?

Here are some things that parents can do to protect their teens from fbi.gov.

Talk to your child about on-line dangers, from cyber bullying to sex offenders.

Always have the computer in the most common room of your house.

Monitor your child’s activity on the computer.

Know what is your child’s password on the social network.

What can Teachers do?

Teachers, as well as the school system can help out as well by doing the following:

Teachers should block any social sites on their computer (This can go for the whole school as well).

Teachers can monitor how much time each student is on the computer.

Teachers can also talk to their students about internet safety.

What can Teens do?

First off, teens should tell their adults about if there’s something wrong or something happened on the internet.

Teens should post stuff on social websites with respect. So teens should not post pictures that would send a bad message.

Teens should not give out the following: Full name and address Home or cell phone number Passwords (except to the parents) Social Security numbers, names of family

memebers

In conclusion, in today’s society, we need to watch the kids of today. Parents need to talk and monitor their kids activity on the internet, and teachers need to monitor their students and talk to them about what is internet safety and what could happen if they are not careful.

The End

Resources

“A Parents Guide to Internet Safety”. Federal Bureau of Investigation.www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm 10 November 2009.

“Back to School Advice for Safe and Ethical Social Networking”. www.safeteens.com. Wednesday . 9 September . 2009. 10 November. 2009.

Dowshen, Steven. “Internet Safety: Safe Surfing Tips for Teens”. /kidshealth.org/teen/safety/safebasics/internet_safety.html. Sept. 2009. 10 November. 2009.

“What is Cyberbullying, Exactly?” www.stopcyberbullying.org/what_is_cyberbullying_exactly.html. 10 November. 2009.

“Stop Cyberbullying Before it Starts” http://www.ncpc.org/resources/files/pdf/bullying/cyberbullying.pdf. 10 November. 2009.

http://www.facebook.com/policy.php?ref=pf

Resources

“How Schools can help Eliminate Cyber Bullying”. www.cyberbullyalert.com/blog/2008/12/how-schools-can-help-eliminate-cyber-bullying/. 1 December. 2008. 10 November. 2009.

Christianity and the Confusion. Picture Image.christianityandtheconfusion.blogharbor.com/10 November. 2009.

Post Tagged Predators. Picture Image.kiwicommons.com/tag/predators/. 10 November. 2009.

Resources

“Netsmartz Internet Safety Pledge” http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/pledge.htm

“Rules for Internet Safety” www.ftc.gov “http://www.netsmartz.org/safety/safetytips.htm “Internet Safety Contract” AttorneyGeneral.gov

©2006 “http://www.oag.state.md.us/Reports/

clicksWeb.pdf http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/ntti/

resources/workshops/digital_file/practice.html#lab

Resources

http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/kids-privacy.aspx

http://www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm

http://images.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi

http://www.kidsandcomputers.co.uk/how-do-i-keep-child-safe-internet.html