Internet Safety Tools for Parents

What can parents of 8- to 9-year-old children do to help keep them safe?

Use parental controls on your computer.
Know your child's passwords and screen names by assisting her/him set them up.
Balance the amount of time your child spends online with offline activities.
Ensure that your child is not communicating in chat rooms as these areas are typically unregulated.
Caution should be taken as to whether children at this age are ready to join Instant Messaging (IM) programs (e.g. MSN, Yahoo!, AIM, etc.), or social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, etc.). A high level of adult supervision is necessary.
Keep in mind that most online games or games played through video game consoles with Internet access have an interactive chat component and that adult supervision while playing games is necessary.

Discuss the public nature of the Internet — that the online world is a public place just like the store, the neighbourhood, the playground or going to someone’s house. Set the expectation that you will monitor her/him online to increase her/his safety.
Explain that pictures should only be accepted, taken or sent online with parental permission.

Review with your child the difference between respecting and breaking personal boundaries.
Explain that no one should ask children to take their clothes off (the exception being for medical purposes).
Review "OKAY" and "NOT OKAY" touching.
Teach your child to trust her/his instincts. Use "what if" scenarios to help her/him anticipate possible situations and practice appropriate responses if someone breaks her/his personal boundaries.
Review with your child the difference between a KEEP Secret and a SPEAK Secret. A KEEP Secret is harmless and will eventually come out, like a birthday present; a SPEAK Secret is a secret that children are told never to tell, like someone speaking sexually to them. S/he will need to tell a safe adult about SPEAK Secrets.
Talk about friendship: what it is and isn't. Explain that new friendships online need to be adult supervised and that children should never meet in person with anyone they have first met online without an accompanying parent.
Begin discussions about the concept of anonymity on the Internet and how people aren’t always who they say they are online. Also begin discussions about how people can misuse personal information online.

Teach your child to leave the computer and tell a safe adult if s/he is exposed to inappropriate material online (e.g. sexually explicit or violent content).