Internet Safety
Online Strategies to Keep Kids Safe
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Kids and computers seem to be inseparable in our culture today, and the resources the Internet and World Wide Web bring to us are simultaneously wondrous and frightening. In the same way prehistoric parents worked feverishly to protect their children from the dangers of ever-present danger of traumatic experience and predation, twenty-first century parenting includes the same requirement, including the virtual environment our children occupy nearly every day.
On the Internet, children face threats from three principle sources:
Website Content
Parents generally wish to control the nature of information that reach their children, and when one considers that every kind of information is offered on the Internet through the millions of websites forming the World Wide Web, the task is formidable. In earlier times, access to violent, sexual, and hateful experiences could be controlled for children by avoiding the physical location of those experiences. On the other hand, the beauty of space and other awe-inspiring natural wonders and interaction with the most profound beauty human culture has to offer were also limited to those with the resources to physically reach and personally experience them. We have a duty to bring the best to our children, while simultaneously protecting them from the worst. Fortunately, high-tech tools can serve us in this high-tech environment.
Interactive Technologies
Instant messaging, newsgroups, Facebook, MySpace, Second Life, chat rooms, and other ways for people to connect, provide rich environments for people to learn and find creative means of expression. Often that creativity includes reinvention of personal identity, which can be entertaining in Second Life, but also a frighteningly productive means for adults to prey on the trusting natures of children. Parents need to regulate the exposure of their children to the unknown participants in the thousands of interactive venues on the Web. While law enforcement maintains a constant presence in these venues, like police cruisers in traffic they can’t be everywhere, so parents need to carefully monitor and control their children’s access to these technologies.
Consult these resources regarding security for these providers:
- A Guide to Privacy on Facebook
- MySpace Safety and Security
- Second Life: Safety Tips for Teens and Parents
Privacy
Society is virtually bursting with people wanting something from other people. We control our interactions with those who want things from us by controlling access to us and our identifying information. Most adults appreciate the need to control our names, addresses, and specific identities. Children, again because of their trusting natures, do not. Children appreciate expressions of approval and interest from others, and tend to trust those who express interest in them, and are easily exploited for both commercial and personal gain. Careful review privacy practices with your children, and don't hesitate to share your fears with them.
