Talking to your children

A lot of the issues that have been discussed so far which involve the safe use of the Internet involve talking to your children. To some of us this might be a difficult issue but it is something that we have to tackle.

Start now. It is never too late or early to begin.

Make the effort. It is not up to your child to talk to you.

Be open-minded. They must feel comfortable talking to you about everything.

Let them know where you stand. Your actions and beliefs set the tone for them.

Listen. Conversation does not mean only you talk. Give them time to reply.

Tell the truth. You want it from them.

Have patience. Enough said.

Don't set a specific time to talk. Just do it.

Use ordinary situations to make conversation. Anytime is a good time.

Talk everyday. It becomes easier the more you do it.

What do we talk about?

There are five basic areas that you will want to talk to your children about. Some involve personal safety and you'll want to have that conversation with them more frequently. Others you may need to have less frequently, but repeat as your child's Internet usage habits change, for instance if they develop a greater interest in chat or online music forums.

Personal safety: One of the best ways to help protect your child's safety on the web is to protect their identity. While you want to encourage children to express themselves, make sure they know that doesn't include giving away their name, address, age, phone number and other personal information online. All of that can help criminals exploit them and commit fraud. Help your kids create a screen name that doesn't provide clues as to who they are, and make sure that their online profile is blank. Predators can use that information.

Online Predators: Online predators understand children and what they like. They engage them to create familiarity, build trust, then secrecy. Then they break down barriers and intimidate their victims. Just as you talked to them about stranger danger, talk to your children regularly if they use things like chat rooms. Respect their privacy but show interest in their activities and reinforce that you can't necessarily trust people you meet online.

Computer Security: Many children have assigned responsibilities (aka chores) around the house. Make it your child's job to help keep the computer secure. Explain what worms, viruses and spyware can do to your computer and how to tell if you've been infected. Make sure they understand good security behavior, how it's important not to open up attachments from people you don't know, not to respond to spam, and to be careful not to provide information or click on links in spam just because someone asks you to. And make sure that they understand not to change setting in the computer ' s control panel that impact on the browsers anti-virus, anti-spyware or operating system updates, the firewall, and pop up blockers.

Online Bullying: Just as we talk to our children about how they behave in public, they need to understand that they are responsible for their actions on the Internet. Lots of children have been bullied online, and a lot admit that they have done it to someone else. There is a good chance that your child is in one, or both, of these groups.

Plagiarism and Intellectual Property: Children use the Internet to do research and they use it to find music and learn about other entertainment they like. Some take that interest too far, perhaps plagiarizing content for term papers, downloading music and movies illegally. It's important to help them support their needs, that is the need to learn and explore our culture. It's also important to help them understand the value of doing their own work, and respecting the work and property rights of artists. One way is to help them learn effective search techniques; another is to talk to them about their musical tastes, and show them how to meet there needs by accessing legal sites.

 

 

 

 

 

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