Tips to Keep Your Kids Safe

Keep It Private

Kids and adults both need to be careful with personal information like names, addresses and phone numbers online. Get the scoop on privacy from The Online Privacy Primer.

Signs your child might be at risk
Visit this FBI website for a list of signs that your child might be at risk online.

Online safety should be everyone’s priority, but as a parent you have the authority to take certain measures that will protect the whole family. Choose a popular way kids use the Internet from the list below to see what actions you can take to keep your kids safe.

For more information on the steps kids can take to protect themselves, go through the What’s Online? section with your children.

Social networking

Sign up for the social networking sites your kids use, and have them add you as a friend so you can monitor their page.
Ask to see your child’s friend list. Make sure their friends are people they actually know in real life.
Show your child how to use a site’s privacy settings, and explain why it’s important to limit who can see their profile.
Read through the privacy policies, FAQs, and parent sections of the sites your children visit to understand the features and privacy controls. It’s your rights as a parent to review and delete your child’s profile if they are under 13!
Tell your kids to trust their instincts. Encourage them to tell you whenever they feel threatened by someone or something online.

Chat rooms

Introduce yourself to your child’s chat room friends — especially if your child wants to meet them.
Discuss possible warning signs (such as discussing kissing) that a conversation is going in the wrong direction. These warning signs should be taken seriously even if they appear to be coming from someone who says they are the same age as your child. Chat room users often lie about who they really are.
We teach our children to respect and listen to authority, which can make it hard for them to leave an uncomfortable conversation. Online predators use this fact to control a child’s behaviour.
Find out if the chat rooms your child visits are monitored, and whether a person or a computer monitors them.

Instant messaging (IM)

When your kids register for instant messaging software, sit with them and make sure that authorization is required before anyone adds them to an IM list.
Discourage kids from filling in their personal profile — this information is made public, so young people should never use this option.
Help your kids create their own contact list, and make sure their contacts are only friends from the real world.
Letting your child use an IM program that offers access to chat rooms means your kids are more likely to interact with strangers.
Report unwanted adult junk mail to the IM service provider. Use the “Ignore" function to block that sender in future.
Disable any file sharing options so that potentially harmful viruses can’t be downloaded to your computer’s hard drive.

Online bullying

Develop an open line of communication with your kids about the bad things they may see online. Kids need to feel safe talking with an adult about cyberbullying because they’re often afraid to speak up out of fear of losing their Internet or computer privileges.
If your child has been bullied via a defamatory website, contact your ISP. They can find out who runs the site and can request that the content be removed.
Identify the cyberbully or bullies and save any evidence.
File a formal complaint with the cyberbully’s cell phone or Internet provider.
If cyberbullying is happening at school, contact teachers and/or administrators, so that protective and disciplinary measures can be taken.
If cyberbullying includes threats of violence, false accusations or the advances of a sexual predator, contact your local police service.

Online gaming

Monitor who your child is gaming with, and whether or not the game is age appropriate by keeping your computer in the family room. This also eliminates the opportunity for your child to spend hours gaming in the privacy of their bedroom once you are asleep!
Become familiar with game ratings and privacy statements by reviewing each online gaming site's terms of acceptable use. See the Xbox Live code of conduct for an example.
Set rules before your child goes online. Typical rules include limiting playtime, playing with offline world friends only, and never chatting with strangers or giving out personal information.
Monitor game chats and messages. If a player is using inappropriate language, encourage your child to tell you.

Email

Model good email behaviour by never replying to spam or forwarding chain e-mail letters.
Always run attachments through an anti-virus program.
Anti-virus and anti-spyware software are helpful, but must be kept up-to-date every few days. Using a firewall is also recommended.

File sharing

Be clear that the preferences and options in each peer-to-peer (P2P) program are configured for maximum computer and child security.
Whenever possible, use file sharing programs that have private sharing features, which only allow sharing between designated friends.
Install an anti-spyware application. Scan and delete spyware weekly.
As a family, develop a budget for free and legal music download sites like iTunes, MSN Music, Napster, etc.