Crime Prevention and Safety
Internet Safety for Children
Your children will use the Internet as a place to communicate with people they know in real life, as well as people they do not know. Please consider these points:
- Sexual predators frequent various chat rooms looking for children.
- Most parents are unfamiliar with common chat room lingo that teenagers use to warn that their parents are watching.
- Many parents allow their children to use the computer in private areas of the house such as a bedroom or a home office.
Ways to protect them:
- Talk with your children about what they can and cannot do online.
- Be open with your children and encourage them to come to you if they encounter a problem online.
- Learn everything you can about the internet, especially the online lingo.
- Check into blocking, filtering and monitoring software.
- Recognize the other places your child can access the Internet, such as a friend's house, school, or the library.
- Be able to put a face to each of the screennames on your child's buddy list and know who he or she is communicating with through email.
- More than anything, teach your children to never give out their personal information, or pictures and NEVER meet in person someone they first "met" online.
- If you suspect someone is sexually exploiting or communicating inappropriately with your child, notify local law enforcement immediately.