Online Safety for Young Children, Part 2

by Meta L. Levin

When our friend, Mike, found his eight-year-old son cruising the internet, looking at pornography, he didn’t know what to do. “As a parent, it was disturbing,” he says. “I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.”

Mike had started developing a close and supportive relationship when his son was a baby and a toddler. He was therefore able to talk with him about the incident when it occurred. Experts tell us that building an open and honest relationship with your child is one of the key steps toward online safety. They add that parents should be talking to very young children about staying safe online before they are even old enough to manipulate a mouse.

Marsali Hancock, head of iKeepsafe (www.iKeepsafe.org), a project of the Internet Keep Safe Coalition, recommends teaching very young children about the “Three Keeps”:

1. Keep personal information, such as your photograph and name, off the Internet;
   
   
2. Keep away from strangers (on or off the internet);
   
   
3. Keep talking to a parent or trusted adult—in other words, keep the lines of communication open.

These are guidelines that even the very youngest children can begin to learn. “It’s critical that parents check on what their children are doing online,” says Hancock. “And the children should understand that Mom and Dad are going to monitor their online activities.”

It’s understandable that young children are curious. Mike realized that parents don’t live in their children’s world. “Their world is about graphics, visual images everywhere and his son was just inquisitive.” Mike and his wife told their son that they understood his curiosity, but that they felt it was too stimulating for him at this time in his life. And they let him know that lying about his age to access the site was wrong, too.

Another expert on online child safety matters, Jeff Schmidt, CEO of an identity and authentication service provider says, “It’s never too early to start planting the seeds of safety in the online world.” He recommends incorporating the online world into “stranger-danger” lessons and insuring that parents are as technologically savvy as their children are or will become. “You can’t keep children away from computers or the Internet, because they will need those skills to navigate the world in which we live, but you can set reasonable limits and guidelines, then stick to them.”

Online Child Safety Resources

Remember when you thought that your mother had eyes in the back of her head? That’s old technology. You need an update to keep up with the digital world in which your children are growing up. It’s no longer a matter of keeping the kids away from R-rated movies; pornography is a mouse click away. Even more disturbing, are those who prey on youngsters for sex.

Here are some resources that will help you keep your children safe online:

iKeepsafe (www.iKeepsafe.org) – a coalition of state governors and/or first spouses, crime prevention organizations, law enforcement agencies, foundations and corporate sponsors. The organization provides resources for parents, children and educators. The web site includes games and other activities for kids, as well as access to materials and information for parents and teachers. The organization also sponsors the “Faux Paw” internet safety programs for schools.

Wired Kids (www.wiredkids.com and www.wiredkids.org) – a global charity that seeks to increase awareness of internet related child sex trafficking, as well as associated sexual crimes against children. Its work involves prevention and investigation of cybercrimes and abuses, while the Wired-Ed online education programs are offered free to parents, children, schools and senior citizens. Wiredkids.org features online safety games for younger children and an internet safety video for families is available.

In addition, it is critical for parents to continue to reinforce their children’s sense of self-esteem. Self-respect is just as important as respect for others – it’s all a part of the concept that each of us is created in God’s image. Here are book suggestions to read and discuss with small children. Reading together and taking the time to talk, showing your children that you not only value their opinions, but that you value the time you spend with them goes a long way toward building self-respect, as well as an open and honest relationship:

• Berenstain, Stan. The Berenstain Bears and the Bully
• Bottner, Barbara and Peggy Rathman. Bootsie Barker Bites
• Brown, Marc. Arthur’s April Fool
• Couric, Katie. The Brand New Kid
• de Paola, Tomie. Oliver Button is a Sissy
• Estes, Eleanor. The Hundred Dresses
• Henkes, Kevin. Chrysanthemum
• Keats, Ezra Jack. Goggles
• Lester, Helen. Tacky the Penguin
• Shannon, David. A Bad Case of Stripes
• Walsh, Ellen Stoll. For Pete’s Sake