Safe America Kids

Plugging into Internet Safety

The Internet can take you almost anywhere—even where it isn’t safe. Almost anything is possible. You can go anywhere, learn, play, visit, and share photos or videos. There is also no one there to protect kids who find themselves in a dangerous situation.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 23 % of nursery school children in the U.S. use the Internet, 32 % of kindergartners, and by high school, 80 % of children using the Internet. 55% of teens have profiles on a social networking website, such as Facebook or MySpace. A survey of 10 to 17 year olds revealed 34% had posted their real names, telephone numbers, home addresses, or the names of their schools online; 45% had posted their dates of birth or ages; and 18% had posted pictures of themselves.*

The Potential Risks—

• Websites with adult images, demeaning, racist, sexist, violent or false information, and the inability of kids to distinguish reliable information from less reliable.
• Setting up private email accounts without parental permission, inappropriate spam messages, and ‘phishing’ efforts who disguise themselves to access children.
• Posting social networking sites with a profile (indicating age, sex, hobbies and interests); competition to see who has the greatest number of contacts; inability to take back online text and images; and, consequences of being associated with demeaning or harmful information.
• Webcam sessions and photographs are easily captured and saved to be circulated online, with inappropriate images leading to legal implications and unexpected offline  consequences.

Minimizing Potential Risks—

• Choose website search engines designed for kids; search the Internet as a family to find reliable sources of information; and, tell kids to let you know if they find a website that makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable to let parents know.
• Talk with kids about email accounts and risks; research effectiveness of service provider spam filters; and, teach kids not to open spam or emails from people they don’t know (especially with sexual references).
• Use privacy settings on social networks to restrict access on personal access lists; remind kids to only add people they know to contact list; encourage appropriate screen names without personal information; visit social networking websites with kids and discuss safe and unsafe issues; talk about online friends; and, insist that kids never give out information without checking with parents.
• Webcam or photograph postings should be with parental knowledge or supervision and remind kids to ask themselves if they would be embarrassed if family and friends saw the pictures or vides they posted online.

Remember your Netiquette and be nice! Be smart about how your text messages are written and check them before sending. Make sure it won’t be taken the wrong way and create unintended feelings. Never provide phone numbers or pictures of others without permission. You never know where the image might end up!  
                            
*U.S. Dept of Education, “Rates of Computer and Internet Use by Children in Nursery School and Students in Kindergarten through 12th Grade: 2003”; Amanda Lenhart, et. al., “Teens and Social Media”; and Janis Wolak, et. al., “Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later”.
- saferamericakids.org and www.missingkids.com