A Message to Parents and Kids
The internet, like any other tool, can be used safely or dangerously. By being informed and by communicating with each other, kids and parents can build the foundation for responsible and safe internet use.
The internet is a never ending source of information and excellent tool for homework. Children and teenagers also spend much time on-line talking to people in Seychelles and around the world via chat rooms and instant messaging.
However, the Internet does have dangers, unsupervised children can gain access to inappropriate information or images or have contact with people who could place them at risk. In the same way you monitor, who your children associates with; as a parent, you have an important role to play in helping your child keep safe on the internet
Before the public availability of the Internet, most parents' concerns about their children's safety was limited to the world outside of their homes. Aside from concerns about inappropriate content on the television, most parents felt as though their children were protected as long as they were within the confines of the house. However, with the prevalence of networked home computers in today's world, parents are presented with new concerns about the safety of their children. This infrastructure provides a window for child predators and coarse materials such as pornography or propagandist information to work their way into a child's life.
The fact that crimes are being committed online, however, is not a reason to avoid using these services. To tell children to stop using the Internet would be like telling them to forgo attending school because students are sometimes victimized or bullied there. A better strategy would be to instruct children about both the benefits and dangers of “cyberspace” and for them to learn how to be “net smart” in order to better safeguard themselves in any potentially dangerous situation and parents should ensure that they educate themselves about methods of protection in regards to the Internet.
If you have cause for concern about your children's online activities, talk to them. Also seek out the advice and counsel of teachers, technicians, and other Internet and online service users that you know. Having open communication with your children, using computer resources, and getting online yourself will help you obtain the full benefits of these systems and alert you to any potential problem that may occur with their use. If your child tells you about an upsetting message, person, or web site encountered while online, don't blame your child but help him or her avoid problems in the future. 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.
Beyond these basics, there are some specific things that you should know about the Internet. For instance did you know that there are chat areas, newsgroups, and web sites that have material that is hateful, is violent, or contains other types of material that parents might consider to be inappropriate for their children? It's possible for children to stumble across this type of material when doing a search using one of the web sites that is specifically designed to help people find information on the Internet. Most of these sites, called “search engines,” do not, by default, filter out material that might be inappropriate for children, but some offer a child-safe option and some are designed specifically for use by children. Never respond to messages that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, threatening, or make you feel uncomfortable. Encourage your children to tell you if they encounter such messages Instruct your child not to click on any links that are contained in E-mail from persons they don't know. Such links could lead to sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate web sites or could be a computer virus. If someone sends you or your children messages or images that are filthy, indecent, lewd, or obscene with the intent to abuse, annoy, harass, or threaten you, or if you become aware of the transmission, use, of child pornography while online immediately report this
to the police or your internet service provider.
Visit www.safetech.sc for more tips on Internet safety.