Internet Safety

I talked to a mother of 26 who has one little girl and another on the way. She knew a lot already about internet safety. She knew about preditors in places like My Space (we talked about how they are also in chat rooms - she doesn't like chat rooms). She knew that children were targeted for pornography through misspelled words. She doesn't agree with meeting people that you meet online for the most part. She monitors her computers use in the family at home. There is a password to get onto the computer and puts it in a public place. She knew that people are more bold to say things online than they are in person and that that can cause problems. The attitude for her is not what to do "if" a problem occurs, but "when" a problem occurs. I was able to help her see some more resources she could look at to increase her awareness even more and how she can prevent problems of people seeing too much of your personal information online. I sent her some of the talks that we read and alinks to websites that will help increase her awareness of cyberbullying, pornography, and how to protect yourself from preditors, etc. This was a very positive experience because she already knew quiet a bit about internet safety and agreed with precautions that should be taken. She appreciated having more resources to help her understand more and know how to prepare to help her children use technology appropriately. We were both of the opinion that technology is a very good thing when used correctly and that it can be easily abused. Helping children to have a well balanced life will help them avoid having too much time to abuse technology. We will teach our children correct principles and help them form good uplifting habits in their technology use.