Internet Safety
By: Norma Flanagan 4-H and Youth

Internet facts:

"87% of U.S. teens ages 12 to 17 currently use the Internet, representing about 21 million youth. Of those, approximately 11 million teens go online on a daily basis."

"The size of the wired teen population surges at the seventh grade mark. While about 60% of sixth graders use the Internet, by seventh grade the number jumps to 82%.

47% of children have received e-mails with links to pornographic websites.

Over half (51%) of parents either do not have, or do not know if they have, software on their computers to monitor where their teenagers go online and with whom they interact.

57% or more of parents were unable to correctly decipher the meanings of several common instant messaging abbreviations.

In late 2004, teachers at Montevideo Middle School in Virginia, surveyed 168 sixth grade students at their school. The resulting data was alarming. 1 in 4 had become friends with a stranger online and 1 in 10 had attempted to meet on online friends face to face.

Some 57% of parents worry that strangers will contact their children online. These worries are well grounded. Close to 60% of teens have received an instant message or email from a stranger and 50% report emailing or instant messaging with someone they have not met before. Despite this, teens themselves are not particularly worried about strangers online; 52% of online teens say they do not worry at all about being contacted online and only 23% express any notable level of concern.

30% of teenage girls polled by the Girl Scout Research Institute said they had been sexually harassed in a chat room. Only 7%, however, told their mothers or fathers about the harassment, as they were worried that their parents would ban them from going online.

86% of the girls polled said they could chat online without their parents' knowledge, 57% could read their parents email, and 54% could conduct a cyber relationship.

81% of parents and 79% of teens state that teenagers aren't careful enough when giving out information about themselves online. 65% of parents and 64% of teens say that teenagers do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about.

27% of teens said that they have known a friend to actually meet someone whom they only knew online.

Online teens admit that they frequently communicate with people they have never met: 54% have Instant Messaged a stranger, 50% have emailed a stranger, and 45% have participated in a chat room discussion with a stranger.

28% of teens said they use code words on a daily basis to hide their online conversations from their parents - example: "PIR" means "parent in room".

Internet Safety Tips for Students:

DO spend more time with real life friends than virtual friends.

DO tell and adult if someone online harasses you or wants to talk about sex.

DO cut off contact with anyone who pressures you for your personal information (name, age, size, photo, address, family information).

DO be careful of strangers who try to turn you against your family while promising to be your friend (they may send you gifts and give you lots of compliments, but at the same time, they are possessive of your time and critical of your parents).

DO NOT exchange pictures with strangers through the Internet.

DO NOT open emails/ instant messages or download attachments from people you don't know.

DO NOT fill out forms proving personal information to win free stuff.

DO NOT go to meet someone you don't already know in real life.

Internet Safety Tips for Parents:

Monitor your child's Internet use consistently. This is not a violation of your child's privacy; this is a safeguarding measure and part of your responsibility as a parent.

If your child belongs to a social networking site (MySpace, Facebook, Tagged, Xanga, etc), look closely at what information they have posted in their member profiles and blogs, including photos and videos. Predators, bullies, profanity, and threats often occur in these types of sites.

Find out what other websites your child's social networking site is linked to. Sometimes your child's web pages may be safe but they may be linked to a site which could endanger them (a pornographic site, a site in which a friend mentions your child's phone number, a site slandering school administrators).

Talk to your child about your Internet safety concerns in a positive way and give them the opportunity to make safety resolutions that you can both live with (example, how much time can be spent online? Are chat rooms permitted?).

Explain that your kids should: NEVER give out personal information (name, address, phone, school name), NEVER meet anyone from online without your permission, NEVER open emails from unknown senders, and NEVER share their photo with strangers over the Internet. Shares photos are an easy way for a predator to find a child or modify your child's image for pornographic sue.

Encourage your children to bring anything strange or upsetting to your attention and don't overreact when they do (fear of losing Internet privileges is why kids don't tell their parents about problems - and why they may start surfing the web somewhere else).

Learn how filtering and monitoring can assist you in protecting your children (check with your Internet service provider to find out if filtering or monitoring is available fro free with your provider). However, don't rely completely on software to protect your children. Education and parental involvement are the primary methods of prevention.