Back to School Internet Safety Tips

It's that time again!! Kids are heading back to school next week, so check out these tips, courtesy of Kiwi Commons and Kiwi Seminars, that will you keep your kids safe and smart online.

1.  Encourage an open dialogue with your child to keep up with their online activities (e.g., sites and services they visit) and online friends.  Encourage them to come to you with anything they find threatening, upsetting or unusual online.  When they do, keep calm and don’t resort to pulling the plug on the Internet as a sole solution.

2.  Monitor social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Xanga) your child joins.  Pay close attention to their friends network and personal information, photos and videos they’ve posted on their personal profiles and blogs.  Keep in mind that social networking sites are a prime locus for cyberbullying, sexual predation and profanity.

3.  Hammer out rules of online usage (e.g., daily or weekly time limits, sites and activities that are prohibited) with your child by drafting up an Internet Use Agreement or Contract.  Emphasis is on “agreement”.  Be open to resolutions both of you can settle on.

4.  Teach your child about netiquette (i.e., ethical behaviour online).  Bad netiquette includes bullying, threatening others and spreading gossip.

5.  Go over the “thou shall nots” of Internet use.  This includes never sharing personal information (e.g., name, address, phone, school name) whether that be through registration forms, instant messaging, emails or social networks.  Also, teach them to never share photos with strangers, never meet an “online friend” without permission, and never open email attachments from an unknown source.

Read the remaining 5 tips here.