Oak Park Elementary Schools - District 97

Monitoring Computer Usage ||Guidelines for Parents
Kids Rules for Online Safety || Resources

Monitoring Computer Usage

Some techniques that parents can use to monitor their children's use of the computer and the internet:

  • Do not allow your child to access the Internet from his bedroom. Locate any connected computers in a room that is easily accessible to all family members.

  • Get to know the computer services your child uses.

  • Check whether your child has created his own Web site without your knowledge. To do this, try looking for his name on search engines that scour the entire Internet. Enter his full name in quotes to avoid false hits.

  • Do not allow your child to arrange a face-to-face meeting with another computer user who is unknown to you.

  • Never respond to messages or bulletin board items that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or threatening.

  • Warn your children about accessing inappropriate materials on the Internet. Teach them to act as their own censor when you are not around. Remember that computers at school or in the home of a friend may not be childproofed against pornography. (District 97 does filter for pornographic and other content, but no filter is perfect.)

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sklogosmall.gif (8696 bytes)Guidelines for Parents

Parents of Teens : Check out SafeTeens.Com

By taking responsibility for your children's online computer use, parents can greatly minimize any potential risks of being online. Make it a family rule to:

  • Never give out identifying information-- home address, school name, or telephone number-- in a public message such as chat or bulletin boards, and be sure you're dealing with someone that both you and your child know and trust before giving it out via E-mail. Think carefully before revealing any personal information such as age, marital status, or financial information. Consider using a pseudonym or unlisting your child's name if your service allows it.

  • Get to know the services your child uses. If you don't know how to log on, get your child to show you. Find out what types of information it offers and whether there are ways for parents to block out objectionable material.

  • Never allow a child to arrange a face-to-face meeting with another computer user without parental permission. If a meeting is arranged, make the first one in a public spot, and be sure to accompany your child.

  • Never respond to messages or bulletin board items that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, threatening, or make you feel uncomfortable. Encourage your children to tell you if they encounter such messages. If you or your child receives a message that is harassing, of a sexual nature, or threatening, forward a copy of the message to your service provider and ask for their assistance.

  • If a meeting is arranged, make the first one in a public spot.

  • Should you become aware of the transmission, use, or viewing of child pornography while online, immediately report this to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-843-5678 or visiting the CyberTipLine online. You should also notify your online service.

  • Remember that people online may not be who they seem. Because you can't see or even hear the person it would be easy for someone to misrepresent him- or herself. Thus, someone indicating that "she" is a "12-year-old girl" could in reality be a 40-year-old man.

  • Remember that everything you read online may not be true. Any offer that's "too good to be true" probably is. Be very careful about any offers that involve your coming to a meeting or having someone visit your house.

     

  • Set reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use by your children (see "My Rules for Online Safety"). Discuss these rules and post them near the computer as a reminder. Remember to monitor their compliance with these rules, especially when it comes to the amount of time your children spend on the computer. A child or teenager's excessive use of online services or bulletin boards, especially late at night, may be a clue that there is a potential problem. Remember that personal computers and online services should not be used as electronic babysitters.

  • Be sure to make this a family activity. Consider keeping the computer in a family room rather than the child's bedroom. Get to know their "online friends" just as you get to know all of their other friends.

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Rules for Online Safety - Children

1.

I will not give out personal information such as my address, telephone number, parents' work address/telephone number, or the name and location of my school without my parents' permission

2.

I will tell my parents right away if I come across any information that makes me feel uncomfortable.

3.

I will never agree to get together with someone I "meet" online without first checking with my parents. If my parents agree to the meeting, I will be sure that it is in a public place and bring my mother or father along.

4.

I will never send a person my picture or anything else without first checking with my parents.

5.

I will not respond to any messages that are mean or in any way make me feel uncomfortable. It is not my fault if I get a message like that. If I do I will tell my parents right away so that they can contact the service provider.

6.

I will talk with my parents so that we can set up rules for going online. We will decide upon the time of day that I can be online, the length of time I can be online, and appropriate areas for me to visit. I will not access other areas or break these rules without their permission

7.

I will not give out my Internet password to anyone (even my best friends) other than my parents

8.

I will be a good online citizen and not do anything that hurts other people or is against the law.

Rules one through six are adapted from the brochure Child Safety on the Information Highway by Lawrence J. Magid. Printed copies are available free by calling 800 843-5678.

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Resources

Some useful resources as taken from SafeKids.com (www.safekids.com):

SafeTeens.Com (www.safeteens.com): Teen safety and lots of good teen links. By the people who bring you SafeKids.Com

GetNetWise (www.gnetwise.org): The closest thing to an industry standard for child safety advice. The site's Safety Guide was written by SafeKids.Com founder Larry Magid

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.missingkids.com)

FBI's "A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety" (in English and Spanish) (www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide)

SafeSurfin.Com (www.safesurfin.com): A safety site from America Online that includes an Internet Driver's Ed quiz, tips from teen actors and other celebrities and useful links.

NetParenting.Com (www.netparenting.com): Designed to "brush you up on the basic features of the internet that you and your child may or may not know."

Disney's CyberNetiqutte Page (disney.go.com/cybersafety): An entertaining comic that helps teach families cyber safety

U.S. Dept of Education Parents Guide to the Internet (www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/internet): A pretty detailed but well organized guide. Good introduction to the Internet itself.

Children's Television Workshop Safe Surfing Page (www.ctw.org/parents/techtips)

Enough is Enough (www.enough.org): A non-profit organization that lobbies and educates against illegal pornography and child predators.

Kids Online: Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace (www.protectkids.com): A web site with advice and sample book  chapters by Internet child safety advocate Donna Rice Hughes

Parents' Guide to the Information Superhighway (Children's Partnership) (www.childrenspartnership.org)

Police Notebook from University of Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (www.ou.edu/oupd/kidsafe)

SmartParent.Com (www.smartparent.com): A resource dedicated to educating parents on the Internet

Safe Surf (www.safesurf.com):An "organization dedicated to making the Internet safe for your children." Offers one of the rating systems.

Internet Content Rating Association (www.icra.org):  "ICRA's aim is to protect children from potentially harmful material while protecting the free speech rights of content providers. ICRA owns and operates the RSACi rating and filtering system."

Adequate.com Rating Service (www.adequate.com/adequate/ratings)

PBS.org ­ Web 'Rules of the Road' (http://pbskids.org/bts/license/)

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