- Know what your kids are doing on the Internet. Ask them to show you want they do online. Ask to see profiles.
- Let kids know from the beginning that you are going to keep an eye on their Internet use. Keep the computer in a room where the screen is visible. Limit online access to times you are around.
- Blocking or monitoring software can be helpful, but don't rely on technical solutions.
- Make sure kids know they can come to you for help if they get in over their heads. Listen calmly and never react negatively when they are being honest.
The foundation lists these danger signs for children chatting or e-mailing:
ADVERTISEMENT
- Someone a lot older talking to you. Ask yourself why an adult would spend hours talking to a person much younger unless they wanted something?
- Lies. There is no reason for adults to lie to kids about their age.
- Starting trouble. Everybody complains to friends about their parents. However, anyone driving a wedge between you and your family is likely trouble.
- Too good to be true. If someone online offers something for nothing -- gifts, money, credit cards, cameras, jobs, modeling opportunities -- there's a catch.
- Porn. Predators "groom" kids for sexual advances by sending pornography, which is a crime.
Source: The nonprofit Polly Klaas Foundation started in 1993 after 12-year-old Polly was abducted from a slumber party and was later found murdered.
