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A colleague recently mentioned that their middle-school daughter had made a friend on MySpace. A few chat conversations made the child uncomfortable, and the father looked over her shoulder during her next conversation with the ‘friend’. After observing some leading questions and inappropriate comments, the parent cancelled his daughter’s MySpace account and reported the incident to the FBI. The ‘friend’ was a stalker, later arrested in an FBI child-porn sting operation.

Not every parent is this vigilant. Not every kid is as comfortable discussing things like this with a parent.

Here are some basic tactics that can help keep kids cybersafe.

1. Supervise your child’s online activities:
   • Limit the amount of time your child spends on non-school-related computer activity.
   • Monitor which sites they are surfing, either automatically (AOL Parental Controls, Net Nanny) or by daily discussions about what they’ve found online.
   • Keep your computer in a high-traffic area in your house, where you can see your children’s reactions to the sites they visit.
2. Set boundaries on what your child is allowed to do on the computer.
   • Discourage children from posting photos or giving personal information in a chat room, website forum, or email message to someone you don’t know.
   • Do not allow kids to use a webcam unless you are present.
3. Maintain open communication with your children.
   • Teach kids that not everything people say online is true. People can and will misrepresent themselves in email messages and chat rooms.
   • Urge them to talk to you if they recognize suspicious behavior on the Internet.
   • Warn children about personally meeting any online contact.
   • Remind children to always protect passwords and personal information.
4. Take action when needed.
   • Record usernames and passwords, and remind your children remember to change their passwords periodically.
   • Report messages that are suggestive or threatening to the service provider (MySpace, AOL chat rooms, etc.) and to local, state and federal law enforcement authorities. Both stalking and cyberbullying (criminal Internet harassment or intimidation) are illegal.
   • Install and regularly update anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware software. Develop a regular routine for maintaining the security of your home computer system. Nick Francesco’s “Security Tango” is a good way to start.
5. Take advantage of online resources for parents and kids to learn more about protecting yourself and your family online.
   • FBI: “A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety“
   • FTC: “OnGuard Online“
   • US Department of Justice: “Project Safe Childhood“
   • “CyberAngels“
   • “WiredSafety“
   • “Cybersmart Kids Online“