Here are some resources for you to use on your home computer:
Videos
Click here to watch the documentary now.
FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming the experience of adolescence. At school, teachers are trying to figure out how to reach a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. Fear of online predators has led teachers and parents to focus primarily on keeping kids safe online. But many young people think these fears are misplaced. Online media has also intensified the social dimensions of adolescence as teens create and play with identities on sites like MySpace and Facebook and encounter intense peer pressure in a variety of virtual worlds. Parents are confused about how to respond to the increasingly private worlds inhabited by their children, lacking an understanding of both the creative potential and the genuine risks of this new dimension of our cultural environment.
Frontline investigates the risks, realities, and misconceptions of teenage self-expression on the World Wide Web.
Educational Websites
- The Internet Safety Technical Task Force, Berkman Center For Internet & Society at Harvard University
- Common Sense Internet Safety Guide
- Love Our Children: Internet Safety Facts
- Internet Safety Guide For Parents
- FBI Publications: A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety
- Kidzui – The Safe Internet for Kids
- Wikipedia – List of Social Networking Websites
Learn the Lingo
A new world, a new language.
The online world has a language of its own, one that you may not be familiar with.
Did you know that children use codes to inform each other if their parents are around?
Check out what they’ve come up with:
• CD9 – Code 9 – it means parents are around
• KPC – Keeping Parents Clueless
• P911 – Parent Alert
• PAL – Parents Are Listening
• PAW – Parents Are Watching
• PIR – Parent in Room
• POS – Parent Over Shoulder
• For a more complete list, CLICK HERE…
Familiarizing yourself with these terms will help in determining if your child is practicing proper use of the Internet. To see a complete list of Internet slang and more information about child online safety, visit www.netlingo.com.
Software
For Computers
For Mobile Devices
Books
- Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn To Use the Internet Safely an Responsibly, by Nancy E. Willard
- Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress, by Nancy E. Willard and Karen Steiner
- Me, MySpace, and I: Parenting the Net Generation, by Dr. Larry D. Rosen
- How To Protect Your Children on the Internet: A Road Map for Parents and Teachers, by Gregory S. Smith
- Internet Safety for Your Kids, by Jake Shurein (**Kindle Edition**)
- Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet, by Linda Criddle
- Child Safety – A Medical Dictionary Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References, by Health Publica Icon Health Publications
Internet Safety Contract
Setting guidelines with your child in the form of a contract can be very beneficial for a variety of reasons. Creating and signing a contract with your child automatically opens the door to conversation about the risks and dangers of going online.
By signing the contract the child accepts responsibility for their actions online and acknowledges that there are indeed risks to them using the Internet. Writing out the rules in detail and posting them in a public area helps ensure that there will be no confusion regarding knowledge of the rules of Internet use for your home and family.
Make it easy on yourself and use our pre-made Internet Contract. Download the customizable and printable version of this contract by CLICKING HERE.