8 Ways to Keep Your Children Safe on the Internet

Talk to your kids about online safety at a young age.

We teach our children not to talk to strangers and not to tell anyone when they are home alone. Unfortunately, they do it all the time online. Just listen to Annie Munoz. Her 12-year-old daughter, Nancy, struck up what she thought was an innocent conversation with someone on a community-based website.

“The person told my daughter that she was also 12 and that she, too, played soccer on her school’s team,” Munoz said. “She considered her a friend and they chatted almost every day after school.”
Nancy never gave out her address. She did, however, share information about the name of her school and her soccer team, the position she played, the number on her jersey, and she often ended her online conversations with, “I have to go because it’s 6 and my parents will be home from work soon.”

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This online connection was able to find out where Nancy lived and went to school, what team she played for, when games were held, and what position she played. This person also knew that Nancy was left alone every weekday until 6 p.m.

This person posing as a young girl was a man the same age as Nancy’s parents. He even went to a few soccer games and looked for the girl wearing a number 7 jersey. Nancy noticed someone new at her games, but didn’t think much about it. Her focus was on the game.

The last time she saw him was when he tried to follow her home. “Someone in our town saw him follow Nancy and confronted him,” Munoz said. “It turned out he was a pedophile who lived in the next town. The man confronting him was a teacher at the school where my daughter plays soccer. The police were called and his laptop was confiscated. They found discussions between my daughter and this man. All of the conversations seemed innocent. Since that time, we monitor our daughter’s online communication. We’re lucky our daughter is safe.”

Most children like Nancy don’t share information about their online interactions with their parents. They are also quite trusting.

Nancy’s parents got the local police to talk to students at their daughter’s school about online safety. Following are a few rules your child should follow:

Talk to your children about online safety at an early age

As soon as they start using the internet, teach them about staying safe. Don’t let them have a computer in their room. Don’t let young children browse without you. As a parent, you need to monitor who they are talking to and what sites they are visiting. As in Nancy’s case, people lie about their identities and can prey upon children.

Talk to them about not sharing their passwords — even with their friends — and ask them which sites they visit. You can also find online apps that will block certain sites that don’t seem safe to you.

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