How to Keep Kids Safe on the Net
Computers are an crucial component of everyone’s lives, including our kids . With computers and the internet as ubiquitous as TV , how do you teach your children to use the internet properly? After all, with the interactive feelt of the internet, your child will come into contact with many other people if you allow her to browse online or send email. So how can you teach your child proper internet and email etiquette ?
Email is not quite like snail mail . Often email comes across differently than a letter and its back and forth nature can lead to some miscommunications . Here are some rules you can review with your child to make sure she understands how to use email effectively.
- Update Your Address Book Regularly – people change email handles all the time now , so be sure to update your address book with new emails and delete the old ones.
- Only send messages to those you want to – with the auto-fill option and confusing screen names, you want to stress that your child should be careful when filling out the To section of the email. They’ll want to double and triple check that the email is only going to the people they want it to.
- Beware the Reply All function – teach your children the difference between the Reply option – where the email only goes to the person who sent it and the Reply All option, where the mail will go to everyone on the list. Usually its not necessary to reply to all.
- Avoid Spam – Sure your kids may know about the processed meat in a can, butSpam just ins’t somehting in a can, so teach them about spam on the internet. Chain letters, jokes and sob stories have been making their way around the internet for years, but there is no reason you children need to keep the chain going. Before they forward something they think is funny to their whole address book have them stop and think if it’s appropriate to do so, and if it’s just spam that will clutter up an in box
- Emails can go anywhere – More so than a physical letter , emails can be sent to anyone, anytime . Be sure to tell your kids on the importance of not putting anything in an email they wouldn’t all eyes to see – like “I can’t stand so and so…” They may think emails are personal , but as parents well know, that’s not really the case at all.
- Watch out for Cyberbullies – sometimes, your child will be the victim of inappropriate things on email or the Internet – make sure your kid feels comfortable telling you about anything inappropriate – from peers making rude comments to emails from strangers . And do something about it – contact the email sender, the website, even school officials. Suggest your child change his or her email or social networking account, or better yet, take a rest from email and internet until the situation blows over or you have gotten to the bottom of it.
Internet methods can be tricky for both parents and kids , but it’s critical that you teach your children the dos and don’ts of email and social networking so they learn the proper way to use these great technological tools.
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Tags: cyberbullying, cybersafety, internet safety for kids, internet safety kids