The internet is a fantastic way for us to communicate, quickly and easily and is questionably responsible for changing our lives over the last 20 years. There is no doubt is can help us gain knowledge, communicate, bank, shop, sell, make money, be creative and to express ourselves. However, for every good there has to be a bad and the internet is the same. No matter how we interact as human beings there are still those among us who are evil at heart and prey on the innocent.
We have to think the unspeakable before we can protect our children and there is no better place to try and hide than behind a telephone line or satellite dish with hundreds of miles separating us.
I was at a talk at my son’s school the other night and I am still amazed at how many parents don’t know what their children get up to on their computers. It’s not because we are not concerned about our children it’s because of the technology, we are scared of it and don’t have the inclination to learn about it: ‘it’s for the young’. Tell me this; if you had to learn how to use computers and the internet to save your child’s life, would you do it? That’s how dangerous the internet could be, so it’s better to learn as much as you can.
Here are 10 ways to keep your child safe online
- The most important thing to do is talk with your children about safety online and how important it is for them to talk with you about anything that happens whilst on the internet. It is important for your children to understand that you are trying to protect them and talk with them about some things that have happened in real life to other children and how you want to prevent this happening to them. Advise your children that you don’t want to invade in their privacy but you will be keeping tabs on what they do online from now on.
- Make sure you are the administrator on the computer and create another user account for your children which you will have control over. This means your children will be restricted as to what they can view and download.
- The first thing to do is put a filter on what your children can and can’t access online and what type of sites they can view. Windows Vista has a parental control built in however there is other software out there which can help to keep children safe online, the most popular is ‘Net Nanny ‘.
- Learn what your children are learning. Get to know sites like Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, and create a profile on them to get to know them better.
- Learn how to use MSN messenger, AOL Messenger, Google talk etc. Insist that your children record their conversations so you can scan them at a later date. This sounds very intrusive but I would much rather keep my children safe and have them think I am being a pain. Learn how to record conversations in these messenger services and check on them weekly. You don’t need to read every detail of the conversation, you are there t protect, not to spy. I have advised my children they can still talk how they normally talk on these messenger services and they will not get into trouble, within agreeable limits of course.
- Keep your child’s computer in a communal area within the house. If locked in a room there are unscrupulous people who can get your child to do something that they don’t want to if they know they are alone in a bedroom.
- Remember that older children are curious about sex and relationships and the internet can be a safe way to explore this. If you find inappropriate content on the computer and it is not illegal and disturbing don’t worry too much. Try and remember what you were like as a teenager and how curious you were.
- Check the sites your children are visiting by clicking on Control + H whilst in the browser they usually use. This will give you an idea about their surfing habits.
- It’s not so common these days but make sure if your children enter chat rooms that they do not stumble in over 18’s cat lines. Also advise your children not to chat in the private rooms available on these sites, especially with people they do not know.
- Know who to report any abuse that may happen on the internet. The first port of call is obviously the police if it is serious enough. However there are websites you can go to report abuse:
Virtual Global Task Force
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
DFES funded Parent’s Centre on Bullying
Internet Watch Foundation
Other sites you might be interested in:
http://safekids.com/
http://www.getnetwise.org/gnwtv/
http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/
http://www.netfamilynews.org/
http://www.parentscentre.gov.uk/usingcomputersandtheinternet/
译文:
10种方式让你的孩子安全在线
因特网是一种让我们快且容易地去沟通的奇幻的方式。它未必是过去20年我们生活改变的原因。毫无疑问，它能帮助我们获取知识，沟通，办理银行业务，购物，出售，赚钱，创新和表达我们自己。然而，事物有两面性，因特网也如此。无论我们人类如何相互作用，相互影响，我们之间仍然有心地很坏的人，他们欺负和陷害无辜的人。
我们必须在保护我们的孩子之前考虑到最坏的情况，没有比在电话线后面或者用圆盘式卫星电视天线把我们分隔几百里更好的地方去尝试去躲藏。
前两天晚上，我去我儿子的学校开座谈会，我很惊讶到底有多少父母不知道他们的孩子在电脑上忙什么。并不是因为我们不关心我们的孩子，而是因为技术。我们怕它，没有兴趣去学它：“为了孩子”。告诉我，如果你不得不学会怎样用电脑和因特网去救你孩子的生命，你会去学吗?因特网多危险啊！所以最好尽可能多地学。
这里是使你的孩子安全在线的10种方式
最重要的是跟你的孩子谈论安全在线的话题，让他们知道跟你聊上网时发生的事情的重要性。让你的孩子明白你是试着去保护他们，跟他们谈论一些真实生活中发生在别的孩子身上的事情，和你想如何防止这些事发生在他们身上，这些是很重要的。告诉你孩子其实你并不想侵犯他们的隐私，但从今以后你会监视他们在线的一举一动。
确保你是网络管理员，为你的孩子创立另一个已经由你监控的用户账号。这意味着你的孩子将在他们看的和下载的东西方面受到限制。
第一件要做的事是对哪些网站是你孩子能链接的，哪些网站是不能链接的，他们能浏览哪种网站进行过滤。Windows Vista 内置一个亲代控制，无论如何都有其他的软件挡在外面，能帮助孩子安全在线。最流行的是‘Net Nanny‘。
学你孩子正在学的东西。了解一些网站，如Bebo, Facebook, MySpace，为了更好地去了解它们，必须先建立一个框架上的认识。
学习如何使用MSN messenger, AOL Messenger, Google talk 等。为了让你能在第二天细看聊天记录，坚持让你的孩子记录他们的聊天内容。这听起来是有侵犯性的，但我更宁愿让我的孩子安全在线，宁愿他们认为我是一个讨厌的人。学习如何用这种通信服务记录聊天内容，每个星期都检查。你不需要阅读完聊天记录的每个细节，因为你是为了保护孩子的，不是做间谍的。我已经跟我孩子说，他们仍然能像往常一样用这些通信服务聊天，不会被打扰，当然是在适合的限度之内。
把孩子的电脑摆放在家里的公共地方。如果孩子被单独锁在一间房子里，被一些没有道德的人知道的话，这些人就会让你的孩子去做他们不想做的事。
记住，年纪大一点的孩子会对性爱和关系感到好奇，因特网是探究这些的一种安全的方式。如果你在电脑上发现不适当，不合法，扰乱性的内容，不需要过多担心。试着去回想你青少年时期是怎样的，对那些有多好奇。
在你的孩子常用的浏览器键入Control + H，检查他们访问的网页。这将让你了解他们的网络冲浪习惯。
这在这些天并不普遍，但确保你的孩子不会无意中进入18岁以上的猫线聊天室。建议你的孩子不要在可进入那种网站的私人房间里聊天，特别是和他们不认识的人聊。
知道向谁去举报发生在网上的陋习。如果足够严重，首先想到的，很显然，应该是报警。然而，你还可以到下面的网站去举报：
虚拟全球负责小组
儿童剥削和在线保护中心
DFES funded Parent’s Centre on Bullying
互联网观察基金会