PARENTS & CHILDREN TOGETHER INTERNET SAFETY Using computers and the internet Whether doing research for school projects and homework, chatting with friends or playing games, your child is likely to spend ever more time on the computer as they get older. While they may understand computer programs, surfing the internet, chat rooms and multi-player games better than you do, they still need your guidance. The articles and links in these documents can help you to direct them towards helpful resources, while helping you steer them clear of the dangers which exist. Why Work Together? ¾ It’s great fun. There are so many fun things to do together, you’d spend a lifetime sharing them all. ¾ You can improve together. Often, it’s the children who end up teaching the adults. ¾ You get to spend some quality time together. ¾ As a parent or carer, you can make sure your child is safe when enjoying time on the internet and set a good example on how to use it safely and sensibly. WHAT ARE THE DANGERS ? 1. Too Much Time Online You may not realise it, but you and your child could be spending too much time on the internet. It is important to remember that the internet is not a substitute for anything else. Your interests should never be sacrificed to spend extra time surfing the internet. It is recommended that children should take a break every 20 minutes. This is only a guideline, but the important thing to remember is to set age-appropriate time limits on use. 2. PHYSICAL EFFECTS Using a computer for a long time can be hard on anyone physically, so here are some tips to avoid straining muscles and eyes: ¾ If using the internet for longer than usual, stretch your muscles after a while, especially your arms ¾ Look away from the screen regularly to ensure that your eyes focus on different things ¾ Maintain good posture – sit straight, face forward, and not sideways ¾ Make sure the chair is at the right height for the users – arms should be horizontal, top of the screen at eye level ¾ Beware of stray leads that could trip someone and make sure that children do not touch these at all 3. SPAM & VIRUSES Spam is another word for unwanted adverts, which can advertise anything. Often though, they advertise things which are not suitable for children. Here are some tips: ¾ Never give your personal email address out on the net. You’re asking for it to be passed on or sold on to people who flood the net with spam or viruses (harmful programs which can help others to cheat you or steal information, or just simply break your computer) ¾ Check your provider’s privacy policy to make sure your address will be kept safe ¾ A really good idea is to make sure that your provider of the internet (ISP for short) has an anti-spam filter fitted already. If not, you can download or purchase software to help with this ¾ Never open attachments from unknown senders, especially if they contain jumbled letters and numbers in any of the message fields. If they are genuine, they will contact you again. ¾ NEVER, EVER, allow anyone to give personal information to anyone, especially passwords. Your bank or building society should never ask for this information via email, so if they do, contact your bank to check this out. It will possibly be someone committing identity theft ¾ Never respond to spam, even to unsubscribe – it only lets people know that the address is still in use. Some useful links for web safety are listed below. http://www.getsafeonline.org/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/ http://www.besafeonline.org/English/safer_use_of_servic es_on_the_internet.htm http://www.getnetwise.org/ This document has been compiled from information from all of these sites. 4. ONLINE BULLYING maybe one for later in life, when children are using the internet for things like chat rooms and discussion forums. Playground bullying is obviously a very serious problem, however this type of bullying is just as unbearable. If you are told that this is the case, then you should: ¾ Listen, react with safety, and of course don’t tell them to ignore it ¾ Never respond to any bullying emails ¾ Encourage your children to leave chat rooms or areas where this is happening. Report the offender to the website, and also to the police if you feel that it is more than a one-off incident. Most sites where chat is available have moderators who can ban these people from using the sites 5. Unsuitable Images For Children Unfortunately, spam and unwanted programs exist that make adverts and pictures pop up randomly if email addresses and personal computer information gets into the wrong hands. Some tips to avoid your child becoming exposed to this material are listed below: ¾ Be open about what may be on there (using age appropriate language) so that they feel they can inform you if they see anything. This is of course up to you, and you may decide not to adopt this course of action. You know your children better than us. ¾ Search for appropriate sites for you and your children together ¾ Check which controls exist on your provider’s website. You may have very good filters in place already. If not, are you using the right provider? ¾ Try to use child-friendly search engines like yahooligans or askjeeves. 6. SHOPPING Shopping on the internet is becoming very popular, with a huge amount of companies offering discounts for cutting out the middle man. Here are some tips to help you avoid receiving huge bills due to lack of care and attention to the dangers of available shopping and auction sites: ¾ Be sensible – don’t hand over your debit or credit card details ¾ If using the internet, stick to brands you can trust and that you know. Not all sites are secure. A good sign that sites are secure is the little padlock symbol at the bottom right of the screen, and if it says htpps:\, the s stands for secure. ¾ Auction sites are popular and addictive. Do not allow your children to bid on anything on your behalf, or allow then access to set up their own user accounts. You could look for the names of these sites and add them to your blocked sites list when the children use the computer ¾ Use your filter settings to bar any gambling sites. Use key words linked to gambling such as casino, roulette, poker etc 7. ADULTS WHO ABUSE CHILDREN (PAEDOPHILES) Remember, nobody knows what a paedophile looks like. When BT introduced software to block access by its users to paedophile sites, it intercepted 250,000 attempts in three weeks. This is a frightening statistic, and all parents and carers should be aware that this danger exists. Your main worry should be chat rooms, where people masquerade as other children to encourage children to meet and send images of them. After using private chatting (whispering) in the chat rooms, often pressure is put on children to develop the online relationship to things like texting or the telephone. This is called grooming and is punishable by law. This is worrying to read, but it does not mean that the internet is flooded with these people. You do, however, need to be sensible to be safe: ¾ Never allow your child to give out information to others which will allow people they don’t know to contact them offline. ¾ If they have given their email address to a stranger, don’t be too hard on them or they will never tell you if they do it again. Do, however, change the email addresses you use as a precaution. Monitor any messages they get. ¾ Restrict online activity to moderated chat rooms ¾ It might be worth you signing up to a chat room yourself to learn the language of these chat rooms. Remember though, don’t get carried away and the same rules apply to you! ¾ Chat room friends are still strangers. If a meeting has been arranged, go too. You need to know that people are who they say they are. Better still, discourage your child from doing this altogether. ¾ Let your child know that they can tell you if any chat makes them feel uncomfortable. ¾ Any problems, contact the ISP and moderator of the chat room ¾ If any serious doubts about a person’s identity become apparent, do not hesitate to call the police To summarise, here are 10 TOP TIPS to help you be safe: 1. Consider using internet filtering software, walled gardens and child-friendly search engines. Use your browser's controls as some offer differing degrees of security for each family member. 2. Check out what child protection services your Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers - do they filter for spam, for instance? If not, ask them why. 3. Keep the computer in a communal area of the house, where it's easier to monitor what your children are viewing. 4. Tell children not to give out their personal details. If they want to subscribe to any services online, make up a family email address to receive the mail. 5. Children love to chat, but make sure they only use moderated chat rooms and encourage them to introduce you to their online friends. 6. Encourage your children to tell you if they feel uncomfortable, upset or threatened by anything they see online. 7. Involve your children in writing your own family code of acceptable internet use. Remember that what's acceptable for a teenager isn't necessarily OK for a primary school-aged child, so get their input.