Internet Safety and Security

Chat rooms

Children and teens are drawn to chat rooms. The problem is, sexual predators also are. Parents must wake up to the fact of how dangerous chat rooms can be. The fact that participants identities are unknown, the content unfiltered and the ability to unlimited access by virtually anyone, Make this a combination for disaster.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 40 % of children ages 15 to 17 who are abducted are victims in connection with Internet activity. The way that kids use chat rooms open them up to all kinds of predators.

Polling of teens reveals that more than half who enter chat rooms – give out personal information to complete strangers., including their phone numbers, home addresses, where they go to school or their schedules.

The fact is the majority of kids who fall victim to chat rooms will not be abducted. To the contrary though the stranger lurking around the playground that you warn your child about , may be the person they are chatting with online.

Donna Rice Hughes, president of Enough Is Enough (EIE), a nonprofit organization that teaches families how to be safe online, says: “We recommend that parents seriously consider disallowing chat rooms because they are very difficult to monitor. And even in the monitored ones there are no guarantees because you can’t detect a disguised predator.”

Mrs. Hughes is right. We as parents must monitor and enforce rules on Internet usage. We must also install a secure Internet filter that will help us in protecting our family.

Basic tips for parents to discuss with their children.

• “Don’t talk to strangers” applies online, too.

• Explain that predators often disguise themselves as children online, and that they should never, have a personal discussions with anyone.

• Talk to you right away if they feel uncomfortable or threatened.

• Never give out personal information to anyone.

• monitor and limit the amount of time on the Internet.

The Internet is a wonderful place that can greatly benefit your children. The Internet is also a place of Danger, deceit and deception. As a parent keep your eyes open and be diligent in the effort of protecting your children.

Family, Internet Safety, Protecting Children

House Web Safety Bill Forthcoming

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., will soon introduce legislation that would create a competitive grant program for state and local education agencies and non-profit organizations to provide Internet safety education to teachers, schools and parents. The bill would authorize up to $175 million over a five year period, would be administered by the Justice Department in collaboration with the departments of Health and Human Services and Education.

There is no one thing that will that will eliminate misuse of the Internet. It must be a joint effort with parents leading in the way. Wasserman Schultz said at a Wednesday briefing on Capitol Hill sponsored by Point Smart, Click Safe – a coalition of non-profits and companies like Comcast, Google, Verizon, and Yahoo. “Our bill recognizes that knowledge must be our children’s first line of defense”

We as pareants must educate our children in the dangers of the Internet. There are a host of products that can aid in safe Internet usage, but it comes down to parents talking with there children and implementing a good Internet filtering system.

Filtering Internet, Internet Safety, Protecting Children

The North Syracuse Central School District is close to implementing a policy to regulate Internet use in the district.
At its July 6 meeting, the NSCSD Board of Education had its first discussion regarding a proposed Internet safety policy after a presentation by Christopher Nelson, the district¡¦s director of instructional technologies.
The policy designates that the district should implement a filtering system to block entry to websites that are obscene, pornographic or harmful to students¡¨ as defined by the Children¡¦s Internet Protection Act, enacted by the Federal Communications Commission in 2001. It dictates that all use of the district¡¦s Internet access must be for legitimate educational purposes, and it prohibits use of the Internet that violates the law, causes harm to others, jeopardizes student and network security or for personal financial gain.
As part of the policy, the district will hold forums at the beginning of each school year to educate students and their families about appropriate Internet behavior, including interacting on social networking sites and in chat rooms.
In order to ensure proper use by students, teachers and other staff are tasked with monitoring student computer use. They will ensure that student’s don¡¦t access sites that are adult or sexually explicit or that provide information on criminal skills, hacking, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, hate speech, violence or weapons. Students will also be prohibited from visiting  chat rooms using district access.

Internet Filter, Internet Monitoring, Internet Safety

Wake up –Parents it is your responsibility to protect your children from Internet Predators.

Please do not turn a blind eye to your Child’s use of the Internet. We live in a world that sick people or shall I say animals are lurking in Chat rooms, Social websites and countless other places waiting to take advantage of you unsuspecting children.

Following is a very disturbing article that shows the sickness of these online praetors.

Please talk to your kids, Watch what they are doing online and who they are talking to.

Choose a Internet filter that will help you keep the garbage from being pumped in your house and in your Child’s mind.

Sentencing will take place this week in the first federal cyber bullying case in the US which was brought to trial after a teenage girl took her own life.

Lori Drew, 50, pretended to be a boy on the MySpace website to befriend Megan Meier, who hanged herself after the virtual friendship ended.

A California judge postponed sentencing until 2 July to review testimony from two witnesses.

Ms Drew’s landmark case concerning internet law made worldwide headlines.

Megan, a neighbor of Ms Drew’s in St Louis, Missouri, and a former friend of her daughter, took her own life in October 2006.

The court was told that Megan killed herself after receiving several cruel messages from a fictitious 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans.

One post said the world would be better off without her.

Prosecutors said that Ms Drew and several others created the fake online page on MySpace, the social networking site, to find out what Megan was saying about her daughter after they had fallen out.

Read the article in its entirety here-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8127533.stm

Family, Internet Safety, Protecting Children

Children today have access to much more information then back in my days growing up. Most kids today grow up on TV and the computer. With that said today’s kids have the ability at the click of a mouse to access all kinds of things. They have the ability to chat with people across the continent or to view the peak of Mount Everest.

The minds of our children are a very volatile place. The Internet can be a blessing and a curse depending on your ability to filter the trash out and keep the good stuff available. The decision is up to you, will you take the chance of having your child have full range of the World wide web?

The answer is simple do your research and install a good Internet Filter. All filters are not equal I would recommend Clean Internet this is a family friendly filter that will guarantee to protect your house hold from Internet trash.

Get an Internet Filter Also parent’s discuss with your children these 10 guideline

1. I will not give out any personal information over the Internet without my parents’ permission.

2. I will tell my parents right away if I come across any information that makes me feel uncomfortable.

3. When using the Internet I will not use my picture or pictures of my family members.

4. The computer will be in the family room (not in a child’s room).

5. I will never agree to meet anyone that I met online without checking with my parents first.

6. I will not respond to any messages that are mean or in any way make me feel uncomfortable.

7. I will not give out my Internet password to anyone, not even my best friends, other than my parents.

8. I will check with my parents before downloading or installing software or doing anything that could possibly hurt our computer or jeopardize my family’s privacy.

9. I will be a good online and not to do anything that hurts other people or is against the law.

10.I will help my parents to understand what I like online, how to have fun, and teach them about how to use the Internet, the computers, and all technology.

Internet Filters, Internet Safety

Why, if you have children you have heard this word countless times. Mom why do i have to clean my room? Dad why do I have to take the trash out what about Johny let him do it.

When it comes to the Internet why you should have filtering software installed is summed up in the following.

Protect yourself and your family from unintentional Pornography.

Protect yourself and your family from intentional pornography.

Protect yourself and your family from onlinr preditors that lurk in chat rooms.

Protect yourself and your family  pop ups that are not appropriate.

Protect yourself and your family From Drugs  Advocating or promoting recreational use of any controlled substance.

Protect yourself and your family from Violence: Graphic images or written descriptions of wanton violence or grave injury (mutilation, maiming, dismemberment, etc.) Includes graphically violent games.

Protect yourself and your family from Suicide / Murder: Information on committing murder or suicide

Protect yourself and your family from Tasteless/Gross: Bodily functions. Tasteless humor. Graphic medical photos. Some extreme forms of body modification (cutting, branding, piercing).

Protect yourself and your family from Profanity: Crude, vulgar, or obscene language or gestures.

Internet Filter, Internet Safety, Protecting Children

Internet safety bill passes House

WASHINGTON – Legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, designed to make it easier for schools to teach children how to protect themselves from the potential dangers on the Internet passed 416-0 in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The bill will now head for the Senate.

In the process of raising our children we teach them certain valuable lessons, such as don’t touch a hot stove, look both ways before crossing the street, don’t talk to strangers. We must also guide them and warn them of the dangers that are available on the Internet.

Putnam’s measure would allow schools that receive federal funding from two programs to promote Internet Safety and to be able to use those funds for Internet safety educational programs. These programs would include but not be limited to educating students about social networking, online predators and cyber-bullies and ways to involve parents in the use of the Internet by their children.

The Internet is a wonderful yet dangerous place; we need to teach our kids how to avoid certain dangers that lurk out there.

As noted by a 2007 study by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which has endorsed his measure.

According to the study:

· 69 percent of teens regularly receive personal messages online from people they don’t know.

· 31 percent of teens say they usually reply and chat with people they don’t know, and only 21 % tell a trusted adult when they receive such messages.

· 64 percent post photos or videos of themselves, while 58% post info about where they live.

· 71 percent of teens have established online profiles, up from 61 percent in 2006.

· 19 percent of teens report they have been harassed or bullied online.

Internet Safety

A group of concerned parents learned a valuable lesson at West Scranton high school Tuesday night.

The district attorney’s office met with them after several disturbing pictures of their children surfaced on the Internet.

Assistant District Attorney Maryann Grippo said she met with parents after pictures found on Facebook showed some West Scranton students apparently taking part in underage drinking.

According to its website, Facebook was founded in 2004, and it is described as “a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers.”

Although the children are not in any legal trouble the District attorney’s office did want to make known to the parents the inappropriate behavior they displayed.

Students posted pictures of themselves on their face book pages. These photo depicted students indulging in underage drinking.

Many students attending West Scranton high heard about the pictures on Facebook.

“I think it’s stupid though, because you should know that other people can see it. You should know not to post it on the Internet,” said sophomore Sara Joyce.

“I don’t think they should do it because I think it makes you look trashy,” said sophomore Marissa Messina.

Again these students are not in any legal trouble however it shows a growing trend of Teens who are bold and Blanton as to their behavior.

I say where are the parents? Check up on your kids look at their Facebook accounts, talk to them about the dangers of  drinking.Help them understand that when they post something on the Internet it’s for the world to see.

Internet Safety

Ask the majority of children from the age of 4 what the internet is and they will not only tell you, but they will demonstrate to you on how to use it. Because of this, the issue of Internet safety and security is on the forefront of parents minds.

The internet is a wonderful place, yet it can also be a dangerous place. Internet safety is a concern that every parent should be aware of and be thinking of some form of internet protection implemented. This will be one of the most important decisions made in their own house holds.

Internet safety is for all ages. Whether you are a child just learning to move a mouse and type on a keyboard, a teenager who knows there way around the internet, or the adult that is responsible for all the minds in their homes.

Safety on the internet is extremely important. It is all about the things you can see, the people you can meet, yet not know who they really might be. The internet can take you places of wonder, yet it is of utmost importance that children are informed and guided in the dangers that they may face while surfing the web.

There has been many a young person who has been violated while they were innocently roaming the internet. There are an increasing number of predators that will gain access to your computer to steal personal information, bully you and introduce you to filth that ought not to be seen.

Would you allow your child to surf in waters that are known to be shark filled? I dare to say you would not. Then why allow a child to surf the internet without protection from the sharks online that seek to destroy their young minds?

What do you do? You invest in a “shark cage”. Having your own shark cage is not a luxury, but a necessity in today’s world. There are different types of “shark cages” available online. Some are a type of monitoring system. Is this right for you? This type of software is considered to be the “Oops! Too late now.” It is comparable to turning on the 6:00 news and hearing about your child getting mauled by a shark and you would be too late to do anything about it.

A good internet filter is a better solution. This would be more like a shark cage that can withstand the likes of a great white shark. In this computer day and age, children are smart. The shark cannot get in, but what will stop the child from getting out?

The use of an internet filter coupled with a monitoring system is the most effective way to control your internet usage. This type of system will stop accidental misspellings that will take you to a dangerous site and the intentional attempts to get around the filter. You can avoid most of the dangers of the internet with a product like this.

There should also be communication with all who use the internet, the fact that the computer is being filtered and monitored should be known to all who use it. It is a great help knowing you are being watched. This will guide and direct you in not trying to get by with something accidentally or intentionally. This is a way to instill good behavior and not catch someone after the fact. The use of a good filter will aid in the turning away from temptation, and increase the safety guidelines set out by you. Internet safety and security is a growing concern for all that use the internet.

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It’s about time school districts started teaching some net smarts.

The Thomaston Board of Education announced recently that students will be getting Internet safety education, courtesy of the school district, at a level never before seen. As any parent knows, the Web is not a necessarily safe place, and the fact that the schools are taking the need for Internet safety, is a sign that the district has its head on its shoulders.

According to some sources, 74 percent of Web sites are…

via The Thomaston Express – OPINION: Schools must provide Internet safety education.

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