Safety
AROUND YOUR HOME

Safe web surfing

Rebecca Douglas

Keeping our kids safe is a full time job. We have car seats, seat belts, bike helmets and kneepads. We teach children to beware of strangers and how to handle matches safely. While we can't keep the world safe for children, we keep trying. One of the newest concerns for child safety is surfing on the Internet. The kids seem to know a lot more about the Internet than the grownups. What do we need to know?

There are many wonderful places on the net for children to explore. Children need good Internet skills to survive in their world, and they enjoy the experience of finding information, solving problems and discovering new ideas. But while at its best, the Internet is a good place for children, it can also be a dangerous and negative place.

Recently while searching the Internet for information on child safety, I found some wonderful sites for children and parents. Using web browsers can lead you to them. Some of my favorites were www.larrysworld.com and www.safesurf.com. However, I have to report at one website primarily for children, I also found profanity and violence. It was scary to see how easy it would be for children to visit the site and perhaps even interact with individuals most parents would clearly not approve of. On the positive side, this site did provide an option of parental control that would have limited children's access.

The problem is most parents or grandparents may not know how to take advantage of the parental control options, or may not know where the kids are surfing. Here are some general guidelines for adults to think about and simple rules to share with kids before getting on that information highway.

For parents and adults

Use the parental controls available on your commercial online service. You can buy computer software that will filter out adult sites on the Web. Look for these parental controls on the Internet. There is a lot of information out there.

Place the computer in the family room where you will know what is going on. Check the screen periodically and let the kids know you are interested in what they are learning. Let the children teach you about the Internet. They will enjoy the time spent with you and you will both learn a lot.

Monitor online time. How many hours are the kids surfing? It can become addictive and not just for kids. Set limits on the number of hours spent online.

Check your phone bill. Check out any unfamiliar numbers on your bill. Adult bulletin boards are easy to access by phone.

Spend time with the kids. Ask where they like to go online and who their email friends are. Warn children that sometimes adults act like kids on the net and give false information about themselves.

Set rules for children to follow. When kids have clear rules they understand, they are more likely to follow them.

Rules for kids online:

• Stay away from strangers, just like on the street.

• If anyone uses nasty language, or says anything that makes you uncomfortable, log off right away. Remember, if this happens, you didn't do anything wrong, just get out.

• Never give your real last name, phone number or address to anyone online. Log off if anyone asks for this.

• Never agree to meet with anyone you meet online. Tell your mom or dad if someone wants to meet with you in person.

• If you find yourself in a place for adults only, leave right away. There are lots of fun kid places to visit on the net.

Rebecca Douglas is an extension educator, Family Life, at the Springfield Extension Center.

14 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING AUGUST 1998