Child Safety Online

We have been talking about online bullying for a while now, it comes up almost every time we discuss online security. I decided to write my blog on this because I was just talking with my parents last night and they just had to go to a "Cyber Bullying Information Session" for my brothers grade school. My brother is in 8th grade and apparently the have been having some issues in his school with cyber bullying. My parents are both pretty good with the computer and are usually pretty up on current events but they were shocked after this information session. They had no idea that any of this was going on, they were shocked that kids could be this mean to each other via the Internet. They also told me that during the meeting they talked about Skype and how it is becoming a problem because now kids are torturing other kids face-to-face. I was even shocked to hear this because I had no idea that people are using Skype for all the wrong reasons. The teachers and administrators giving the information session suggested that each parent limit their child's internet use to one hour per day and that they should have to sit in a common room of the house, not up in their rooms where they could be up to no good.

I decided to do some of my own research about how parents can keep their children safe online and keep them away from bullies or internet predators. I found this website. It is a link off of Microsoft's website and it is very helpful for parents who are trying to protect their kids. It basically goes through and gives age groups and how strict/not strict a parent should be with their child (when it comes to the Internet) at each child's particular age. For example, at age 11-14 parents should make sure that they talk to their teens and let them know what is acceptable and what is not, like what websites they are allowed on and what they aren't. Microsoft also suggests that all teens should have to keep their computers in a common room, not just in their bedrooms..which is the same thing they told my parents at their information session.

Overall, I think parents just need to watch closely what kids are doing. Parents, like my own, are always shocked when topics like this come up. Parents should do their best to stay up to date on what is going on with their child's age group. Even if it starts a fight with the child there should be controlled online use, there is no need for a child to stay online for 6 hours a day, they should be outside playing with friends or hanging out with family. All that time online at such a young age can never be a good thing.