Safety Handout:Internet Safety & Your Child

How old should your child be before you start thinking about keeping your child safe on the Internet?
When she’s starting to use Chat rooms?
When he starts using search engines to collect information?
I have observed many parents starting on the road that could lead to danger.
Learn how to start your child on the safest road to Internet safety and at what age you should start.
1. Starting Early
I have seen children as young as four being sent to another room to play on the family computer on their own. This is setting a policy in place that this is how computers are used. Start in the safest way possible and make sure you know what your child is accessing and have the computer in a room where you can see what they are doing.
2. Set a good example
Be careful about what you put on the internet yourself. Today many parents are putting their family photographs on the Internet and also giving away more information about their families than they realize. People will find your site and can use the information provide for things you would rather they didn’t.
3. Talk to your child
As soon as your child can communicate make sure you spend time daily listening and talking to your child. If you have this built into your relationship it will be much easier to have conversations about keeping himself safe on the Internet. He will also feel secure in talking to you about what he’s doing on the Internet.
4. Positive reinforcement
When talking to your child about the Internet use positive reinforcement and not negative. Encourage the good thing your child is doing telling her what you want him to do rather than majoring on what you don’t want him to do. “These are sites I want you to access” rather than “Don’t go on these sites”.
5. Keep up to date.
Make sure you understand what is happening on the Internet. New innovations are happening all the time and if you don’t understand this technology your child will and so will others people who you would rather didn’t contact your child.
Extra child Internet safety tip. Make sure that your Internet provider includes a filter that can be locked to stop your child accessing certain types of sites. Then make sure it’s on all the time. As you child gets older may want to purchase some sort of monitoring software. And you can view one here.
Advice from Maureen the English Nanny with over 25 years of experience.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/