TIP OF THE MONTH

Social Websites

 Most parents are aware that social networking sites are increasingly popular with teenagers. These websites provide and avenue for young people to meet others, communicate, and exchange ideas. Unfortunately, some of these sites have provided access for criminals and potential predators to these young adults. These offenders are able to hide behind a wall of anonymity.

Most of the Social Websites require an email address to establish a profile. Parental permission is usually not a requirement, and there are no safeguards in place to verify actual names and ages of new applicants. Unless the site offers privacy settings for the disclosure of certain information and the user chooses to activate these settings, all the information the user posts on the site may be visible to all other users of the site.

Parental oversight is integral to child safety. If you are considering letting your child use a social networking site, consider this advice:

• Explain to your child that the Internet is public and that anyone may gain access to information that he or she posts on it.

• Discuss Internet risks with your child and set clear expectations about the steps that he or she will take to stay safe online.

• Engage your child in frequent discussions about how s/he uses the Internet and his or her online experiences.

• Remind your child that visitors to social networking sites often disguise their identity.

• View any page your child has set up on a social networking site to make certain that its content does not compromise your child’s safety or the safety of others.

• Know your children’s passwords, screen names, and account information.

• Put the computer in a family area of the household and do not permit private use.

• You should not allow your children to:

• Post personal images, including photographs of themselves, their friends, or their family.

• Post their full name, date of birth, or addresses.

• Post the names of their schools, the names of their teams, or their grade levels.

• Post their calendar of upcoming events or any information about their future whereabouts.

A great resource for social website education is sponsored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children called Net Smartz. Click here: http://www.netsmartz.org/