by Courtney Kelly

Created on: December 19, 2008   Last Updated: January 06, 2009

Before allowing your child unsupervised use of the internet, it is important to discuss their newly earned privilege and most importantly: staying safe online. Just like peer pressure and substance abuse, the best way to ensure your children are using the internet safely is to talk to them about it and to give them strategies to deal with different situations which may arise. With the popularity of social networking sites, the dangers of the internet have evolved from "downloading" inappropriate information to also "uploading" personal information. The most important topics to discuss with your children are personal information, cyber bullying, sexual predators and net addiction.

Personal information can be anything from their proper name, to the school your children attend, and even their phone numbers and addresses.Social websites like Facebook and MySpace encourage using your proper name and sharing other personal information.
These websites are extremely popular and it would be difficult to expect your child not to participate. Instead, talk to your child about giving away other information like addresses, phone numbers, school, and other more identifying information. Stress, but do not exaggerate, the dangers of identity theft and predators. Explain that identity theft isn't always about money and credit cards, but their information could also be used to send false E-Mails and instant messages.

There are plenty of parenting websites out there that discuss internet safety and how to properly talk to children about it.FamilyEducation.com offers in-depth articles on how to reach your kids about the importance of keeping personal information personal:

http://life.familyeducation.com/internet-sa fety/parenting/30200.html

Cyber Bullying is increasingly on the rise, especially with the social networking sites already mentioned. Cases of cyber bullying have even appeared in the media, the most extreme resulting in a young girl's suicide. Talking to your child about cyber bullying should be the same as talking to them about bullying in real life. Give them the resources to report the incidents, whether they speak to you, a school counselor, a family friend, or somebody else of authority that they trust.

StopCyberBullying.org is a website that can further explain what cyber bullying is, and how to prevent it from happening. The website is also very useful to help talk to your children about it as it has sections directed towards your child's age group.

Another helpful website

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