How To Enjoy Surfing the Internet
Without Fearing the Bad Stuff
DON'T TYPE TO STRANGERS …
September is Keep Children Safe on the Internet Month in Michigan. June is National Internet Safety Month, so you might be wondering why lighthearted thoughts of summer also bring up concerns about our children's activities on the internet. Keith Dunn, a former member of the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, puts it this way, "Online…predators know that school is out and kids are online all hours of the day and night. Since I found that most of them use work computers, this allows them an opportunity to talk to a large number of children online during the predator's working hours." The internet is certainly an amazing place. No other tool in the history of education comes close to its speed and versatility. However, just like when your children are surfing the waves of the ocean where they must be aware of hidden dangers, the same is true in regard to surfing the web. Mr. Dunn has been warning and training parents, teachers, law enforcement and other community organizations about online dangers since 1999. His web site, KDCOP.COM, offers helpful information that can be downloaded for free, including the "Internet Chat Dictionary" and "Internet Safety Guide for Parents".
The FBI reports that child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children through online means is the most significant crime against children it presently confronts. The more research that I conducted for this article, the more amazed I became at how enormous this problem has become! The following statistics might amaze you:
- 60% of all web-site visits are sexual in nature
- There were 14 million pornographic web pages in 1998. There are now 260 million identified pages of pornography
- 40,000 expired domain names have been porn-napped, which is when a porn site buys an expired domain name to capture all of its previous visitors when they visit what used to be an appropriate site.
- Many domain names are purchased by porn rings to purposely bring innocent people, including children, to their web sites through misspelling words such as toys, or taking a popular .com site and using the same first part using .net or .org.
- Pornography is the biggest problem, but certainly not the only one. Severe hate sites and violent themes are rampant on the web. The most recent heartbreaking abuse of the web is called cyber bullying, where kids will use web sites, instant messages, BLOGS and email to verbally attack one of their peers – and encourage others to jump on the bandwagon of abusive behavior.
Most studies agree there are around 50 million kids and teens online, and all experts agree that the best safety tool is the parent. Try to be there when your child is on the internet, and don't locate the computer in an isolated part of the house. You can't be hovering all the time, however, so make sure your child knows these basic rules:
- Don't give out personal information
- Choose a screen name that doesn't identify any personal information
- Don't share your password with anyone except your parents. Not even your best friend
- Do not respond to unwanted, mean, offensive or threatening email, chat room dialogue, or instant messages
- Don't send pictures of yourself to someone you don't know
- NEVER agree to meet someone you met on the Internet
- Remember people online may or may NOT be who they say they are
- Promise to tell an adult if you ever feel uncomfortable while online.
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There is also a lot of public help out there to combat this ever growing threat. In 1998, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was approved, which required age limitations on adult sites. The United States Congress also designated i-SAFE America, Inc., a non-profit Internet safety education foundation, to bring Internet safety education and awareness to the youth of the nation. i-SAFE is devoted to empowering students to take control of their Internet experiences by giving them vital knowledge that will enable them to act safely and responsibly. Visit www.isafe.org for more information.
There are also many filters, browsers, and programs that aid parents in protecting their children, yet still give them the opportunity to take advantage of the many wonderful resources on the Internet! We believe so strongly in the need to protect our children that we give you the Mommy Magic Internet Safe Browser to try for free! Click on the link to download . Feel free to email this to your friends!
There are other tools that assist you in keeping your children safe on the Internet. Compare these to the many added features you get from the Mommy Magic Internet Safe Browser and you will see why we have worked with Children's Educational Network for the last 2 years to develop a comprehensive browser designed specifically to keep your children safe! We know that in order to keep them safe, the browser must provide functionality way beyond basic filters!
It must be powerful, affordable, easy to use!
And now, we are proud to offer this amazing technology to you - right here FREE!
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