The Internet can be a fun place and useful resource for teens. But like other public places, it is also full of risks and potential dangers. No one person can ensure online safety for teens but parents and guardians play the most important role. Parents should make every effort to talk openly with their teens about their online experiences and seek support and advice from other parents, educators, online safety specialists, and teens themselves. Every parent should develop an online safety plan for their teens. Here are some suggestions and guidelines:
Be open with your teens and encourage them to come to you if they encounter a problem online— cultivate trust and communications because no rules, laws or filtering software can replace you as their first line of defense.
Talk with your kids about how they use the services. Make sure they understand basic Internet and social-networking safety guidelines. These include protecting privacy (including passwords), never posting personally identifying information (such as last name, social security number, address phone number or credit card numbers), avoiding in-person meetings with people they meet online and not posting inappropriate or potentially embarrassing photos. Suggest that they use the hi5 privacy tools to share information only with people they know from the real world and never admit "friends" to their pages unless they are certain who they are.
Consider requiring that all online activity take place in a central area of the home, not in a kid's bedroom. Be aware that there are also ways kids can access the Internet away from home, including on many mobile phones and game players.
Try to get your kids to share their blogs or online profiles with you. Use search engines and the search tools on social-networking sites to search for your child's full name, phone number and other identifying information.
Tell your children to trust their gut if they have suspicions. If they feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, they should tell you and then report it to the police and hi5.
Additional information.
For additional information regarding online safety and to learn more please see these other resources: http://www.blogsafety.com and http://onguardonline.gov/socialnetworking_youth.html