Talk with your children. Find out how they use social networking sites and make sure they understand basic Internet safety guidelines. Keep communication lines open. Encourage your children to come to you if they encounter a problem online. Cultivate trust and communication. Nothing can replace you as their first line of defense. Be reasonable. Pulling the plug on your child’s Internet activities is rarely a good first response to a problem. It’s too easy for them to “go underground.” Centralize computer activities. Consider requiring that all online activity take place in a shared area of the home. Ask for access. Request that your children share their online profiles with you. Be aware they can have multiple accounts on a single site.
RESOURCES
OHIO
Office of the Attorney General www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/CyberSafety 800-582-2877 Ohio Department of Education www.ode.state.oh.us 614-995-1545 Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management www.disputeresolution.ohio.gov (614) 752-9595 eBasedPrevention.org www.ebasedprevention.org 800-788-7254
NATIONAL
Be Web Aware www.bewebaware.ca Web Wise Kids www.webwisekids.org iSafe www.isafe.org Wired Safety www.wiredsafety.org