STOP
Internet
Predators
Photo Source: todaysmama.com
STAY SAFE ONLINE
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Internet Safety for children is something
I find very important. A staggering number
of children, over 5,000 every year, are kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and even murdered, after meeting someone in a chat
room. My mission and purpose is to provide
parents with the resources to help keep
their children safe online.
Eight Tips to Help Your Child
Avoid Online Predators
It is so important to educate our children about the dangers associated with
the Internet, specifically, Online Predators;
being knowledgeable about the tactics used
by these predators, will go a long way to
ensuring their personal safety. Here are
eight tips to keeping your child safe online:
1. Establish limits - Tell them which
websites they are allowed to visit. If
you don’t want them visiting Social
Networks, then explain this to them,
alerting them to the dangers involved.
Most teens love these Social Networks
and that is usually one of the first
things that a teen will do when they
have access to a computer, but Social
Networks are a major hunting ground
for Internet Predators, and they need to
understand that.
2. Surf with your Child - Spend some time
understanding the types of places that
interests your child and see if you feel
that it is safe for them. Do you know a
safer site for them, suggest it.
3. Show them how to keep their personal
information private - Kids don’t
understand the dangers involved when
they share their personal information
and that is when we need to make
sure that they are safeguarding all of
their personal information. Real name,
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| Iowa Fall/Winter 2013-2014 | abusemagazine.org
phone number, address, email, school
information, and gender should not be
identifiable. Internet Predators look
for children of certain ages, gender,
etc; therefore, they unknowingly make
themselves targets.
4. Know who is contacting your child
- Who they are talking to online? Do
they frequent social networking sites,
forums, or play any type of online
games? These are all places with chat
capabilities and they may have come
across a predator and are not even
aware of it. Who is on their Buddy list?
Ask them to show you. If you have ANY
reason to believe that your child may be
talking to people that they shouldn’t,
then please see the products listed in
the “Internet Safety Products “section.
There are products that can give you
a snapshot of the pages your child is
frequenting, passwords, keystrokes,
chat logs, and you can restrict access
to certain websites. They can give you
peace of mind.
5. Ask your child if they have been
approached by anyone that made
them feel uncomfortable - If there
is someone that stands out in their
mind, someone who was particularly
disturbing, they may feel the need to
tell you. I say that they “may” tell you,
because your child may be embarrassed
of the encounter, or feel that they are
in some way responsible. Explain to
them that although the Internet can
be a great learning tool, it also has a
downside; sick individuals whose sole
purpose is to prey on the innocence of
children.
6. Alert them to the dangers of a faceto-face meeting with someone they
have only met online - Thousands of
Source: http://www.luvnbigd1.blogspot.com/