Internet Safety Guidelines
From the July 2001 Education newsletter.


With the recent report that nearly 20% of teenagers have been solicited for sex while in online chat rooms, concern over safe use of the Internet for teenagers is greater than ever. Schools are increasingly concerned about Internet use on school grounds, with many choosing to install filtering systems to prevent access to objectionable content. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has produced a brochure titled "Teen Safety on the Information Highway," available on their web site. They've graciously given us permission to share a portion of it with our subscribers. Educators, feel free to pass this on to parents.

Teen Safety on the Information Highway

Guidelines for Parents:

Talk with Your Teens About What They Can and Cannot Do Online

Be reasonable and set reasonable expectations. Try to understand their needs, interests, and curiosity. Remember what it was like when you were their age.

Be Open with Your Teens and Encourage Them to Come to You if They Encounter a Problem Online

If they tell you about someone or something they encountered, your first response should not be to blame them or take away their Internet privileges. Work with them to help them avoid problems in the future, and remember — how you respond will determine whether they confide in you the next time they encounter a problem and how they learn to deal with problems on their own.

Learn Everything You Can About the Internet

Ask your teen to show you what's cool. Have them show you great places for teens and fill you in on areas that you might benefit from as well. Make "surfing the net" a family experience. Use it to plan a vacation, pick out a movie, or check out other family activities. This may be one area where you get to be the student and your kid gets to be the teacher.

Check Out Blocking, Filtering, and Ratings

As you may know, there are now services that rate web sites for content as well as filtering programs and browsers that empower parents to block the types of sites they consider to be inappropriate. These programs work in different ways. Some block sites known to contain objectionable material. Some prevent users from entering certain types of information such as their name and address. Other programs keep your kids away from chat rooms or restrict their ability to send or read E-mail. Generally these programs can be configured by the parent to block only the types of sites that the parent considers objectionable.

Whether or not it is appropriate to use one of these programs is a personal decision. If you do use such a program, you'll probably need to explain to your teen why you feel it is necessary. You should also be careful to choose a program whose criteria reflects your family's values. Be sure to configure it so that it doesn't block sites that you want your teen to be able to visit.

It is important to realize that filtering programs cannot protect your child from all dangers in cyberspace. To begin with, no program can possibly block out every inappropriate site. What's more, it's possible, in some cases, for the programs to block sites that are appropriate. If you use a filtering program, you should re-evaluate it periodically to make sure it's working for your family.

Regardless of whether you use a filtering program, you should still be sure that your teen follows all of the basic rules listed in this brochure. Filtering programs are not a substitute for good judgment or critical thinking. With or without filters, kids and their parents need to be "net savvy."

Check out The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's web site to read the rest of the brochure or to learn more about Internet safety.The National School Boards Foundation has completed a study on online safety for school-age children. To access the study's findings, see their web site.