Protect Your Kids While They are Online

This Article Is By Yhaoo SAfety

Web Surfing as a Family Adventure

Yahoo! is committed to helping create a safe online experience. With your child in mind, Yahoo! has created Yahoo! Kids and built safety features into many of its services. Yahoo! also complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law designed to protect children under the age of 13 online.

But as a parent or caregiver, only you can judge what constitutes a positive and educational online experience for your child. You need to take an active role in assessing when and where your child uses the Internet and what he or she does while online.

Parenting for the online world is very similar to parenting in the real world. Don't let your child go anywhere unsupervised until you’re sure he or she can handle it properly. Don’t allow your child to talk to strangers, especially if you’re not around. And try to keep an eye on how he or she is spending free time and with whom.

Create a basic safety foundation for your child online by emphasizing two rules: Do not give out any personal information online, and do not set up face-to-face meetings with anyone without a parent’s permission.

Before Your Child Goes Online:

• Learn about the Web. Take a course or ask a knowledgeable friend or relative. Become familiar with how to sign on to web sites, search for information online, and use communication tools such as email and instant messages. Yahoo! Help can guide you through using many Yahoo! products, and Yahoo! Safely’s Parents Guide discusses some risks and safety features of specific products that your child is likely to use.
• Decide where to put your child’s computer. Place the computer that your child uses in the most public area of your home, so you can monitor activity. If your child has access to laptops and cell phones that can access the Internet, establish rules about when and where your child may be online.
• Parental control software. Familiarize yourself with parental control software and any control features of your online service or ISP. Some programs allow you to filter specific sites, a group of sites that the software deems inappropriate, or sites with inappropriate keywords in them. But remember that software is not a substitute for true parental supervision.
• Create a Family Pledge for Online Safety. This pledge should clearly state what your child is and is not allowed to do online. Involve your child in the creation of the pledge, both as an opportunity to talk about the issues that will arise and as a way to get his or her input. With a little awareness and preparation, you can minimize the risks involved in letting your child interact with others online.