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Internet Social Networking Safety

Published 10/17/2006 10:46 AM   |    Updated 01/27/2010 03:01 PM

How can my kids stay safe while using Social Networking sites, blogs, and IM?

Internet Social Networking Safety

Here are commonly asked questions, tips, and resource links to social networking and child safety.


What are social networking sites?

Social networking sites encourage people to post profiles of themselves - complete with pictures, interests, and even journals - so they can meet like-minded friends. Most also offer chat rooms, and they are free. Some sites restrict membership by age. There are several categories for social networking sites. Examples include: business, friends, common interests, and photos.

Examples of social networking sites

What are the dangers of social networking sites?

  • These sites can be appealing to child sexual predators due to all the easy and immediate access to information on potential victims. Even worse, children may sometimes post suggestive photos of themselves on these sites.
  • Personal Information. Children may be able to post identifiable personal information in profiles, chat rooms, or blogs thus putting them at risk.
  • These sites may contain inappropriate content, language and even some pornography.

What can you do to keep your children safe, especially if they are visiting networking sites?

  • Monitor your children’s use of the Internet; keep your Internet computer in an open, common room of the house.
  • Use the Internet with your children. Be open to learning about the technology so you can keep up with them.
  • Talk to your kids about their online habits. Educate yourself about the site.
  • Tell your children why it’s so important not to disclose personal information online. Tell them why it’s important to keep information like their name, Social Security number, address, phone number, and family financial information - like bank or credit card numbers to themselves. Remind them that they should not share that information about other family members or about their friends either.
  • Check your kids’ profiles and what they post online.
  • Your children should post only information that you and they are comfortable with others seeing - and knowing. Many people can see their page, including their teachers, the police, a college admissions officer, or a potential employer.
  • Remind them that once they post information online, they can’t take it back. Even if they delete the information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.
  • Warn you children about the dangers of flirting with strangers online. Because some people lie online about who they really are, no one ever really knows who they are dealing with.
  • Communicate with your children about their experiences. Tell your children to trust their intuition if they have suspicions. If they feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, they need to tell you and then report it to the police and the social networking site.
  • If you are concerned that your child is engaging in risky online behavior, you can search the blog sites they visit to see what information they are posting. Try searching by their name, nickname, school, hobbies, grade, or area where you live.
  • Read and follow the safety tips provided on the sites.
  • Report inappropriate activity to the web site or law enforcement immediately.

Online safety and help web sites:

To learn more about safe blogging and social networking: Blog Safety Community.

morris