Cyber Safety Resources

Internet Safety Resources for Parents and Kids
Educate yourself and your child

by Annie Fox, M.Ed

Our kids are incredibly fortunate to have access to all the educational, entertainment, and social resources offered by today’s digital technology. Like any tool, though, they need to know how to use it appropriately. Your parental guidance is essential for their safety.

---------

Cyber Safety Sites

The excellent educational websites listed below will fill in any gaps you might have about online safety. Use these links to help you educate your kids about the Dos and Don’ts of being online. Don’t assume that they know proper “netiquette”.

Cruel’s Not Cool! a new anti-bullying campaign to engage students, teachers, administrators and parents in a community-wide exploration of our culture of cruelty, why cruel’s not cool, and what each of us can do, moment-by-moment to take back our schools by making them safer, more accepting places for all students all the time. — www.CruelsNotCool.com and on Facebook: facebook.com/CruelsNotCool

Cyberbullying A well-put together Canadian site that covers everything from the basics to how digital devices are being used to harass and threaten to awareness and prevention tips for parents — www.cyberbullying.ca

Getnet Wise A public service from Internet industry corporations and public interest orgs to help ensure that families have safe, constructive, and educational or entertaining online experiences — www.getnetwise.org

Online acronyms to help you decipher online acronyms, for example: ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), CUL (catch you later), GIWIST (Gee, I wish I said that), Cell phone lingo: f U do not undRstNd DIS sNteNc U nEd 2 Lern txt lingo — cyberbullying.org/cyberbullying-chat-abbreviations.pdf

Safe Teens a place for teens and parents to learn how to use the Internet safely. No preaching, just good advice — www.Safeteens.com

Wired Safetywww.wiredsafety.org

---------

Create your Own Web Site

These websites are magnets for millions of teens and preteens around the world. (Be aware that some of the content accessible from these sites is definitely not for kids and yet…) Their “terms” policy states that users need to be 14 to register (so younger kids lie). Likewise they state that it’s against their policy for anyone to post material that “exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner, or solicits personal information from anyone under 18.” But it happens all the time because the site has no way of monitoring the content that posted. Please educate yourself so that you can have a meaningful conversation about netiquette with your kids. Don’t let their tech savvy fool you into believing that they understand it all. They are kids and they aren’t even almost aware of the social implications of what they’re doing.

www.Blogger.com

www.LiveJournal.com

www.MySpace.com

www.TagWorld.com

Blog Search — Built-in search engines on blog host sites (so people can find your blog or mention of you on someone else’s blog) — blogsearch.google.com

---------

Teen-Friendly Sites Worth Surfing

Here is just a tiny fraction of some of the positive, educational, and inspiring places for your son or daughter to check out (and for you to explore together).

Connecting Youth Making a Difference Project www.iearn.org/projects/project_gateway_social.html

Do Something! — Young people changing our world — www.dosomething.org

Earth Force www.earthforce.org/

Friendship Through Education www.friendshipthrougheducation.org

Global Junior Challenge Projects — to share the future — www.gjc.it

Global Youth Action Networkwww.youthlink.org/gyanv5

Project Plan-it — Youth Service America — www.ysa.org/planit

Teen Angels — A division of wiredsafety.org A site featuring a group of 13-18 year-old volunteers that have been specially trained by the local law enforcement, and many other leading safety experts in all aspects of online safety, privacy, and security — www.teenangels.org

The InSite — My own site for teens. A place for teens and young adults to turn their world around www.TheInSite.org

Voices of Youth — A UNICEF sponsored site — www.unicef.org/voy

What Kids Can Do — Voices and work from the next generation — www.whatkidscando.org

Youth Action Net — Connecting youth to create change — www.youthactionnet.org

Enjoy your surf time!

In friendship,

Annie

---------

Got a parent-teen problem you need help with?
Click here to Ask Annie