Online Safety Tips Children Ages 15 to 18
Children this age should have almost no limitations on content, Web sites, or activities. Teens are savvier about their Internet experience; however, they still need parents to define appropriate safety guidelines. Parents should be available to help their teens understand inappropriate messages and avoid unsafe situations. Parents may need to remind teens what personal information should not be given over the Internet.
Boys in this age group are more likely to look for humor, gaming, or other media sites or seeking to answers to their curiosities about the opposite sex. Girls, on the other hand, are more likely to build and participate in social networks.
Here are some safety tips to consider as you guide your teens online:
Continue to keep family communication as open and positive about computers as you can. Keep talking about online lives, friends, and activities, just as you would about other friends and activities.
Encourage your teens to tell you if something or someone online makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. If you're a teen and something or someone online doesn't seem quite right, then speak up and tell a parent or authority figure with whom you are comfortable talking.
Create a list of Internet house rules as a family. Include the kinds of sites that are off limits, Internet hours, what information should not be shared online, and guidelines for communicating with others online, including in chat rooms.
Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area and not in a teen's bedrooms. You cannot monitor what you cannot see and hear.
Investigate Internet-filtering tools as a complement to parental supervision.
Help protect your children from offensive pop-up windows by using the pop-up blocker that's built in to Internet Explorer or web browser.
Know which chat rooms or message boards your teen visits, and with whom they talk. Encourage them to use monitored chat rooms, and insist they stay in public chat room areas.
Insist that they never agree to meet an online friend.
Teach your child not to download programs, music, or files without your permission. File-sharing and taking text, images, or artwork from the Web may infringe on copyright laws and can be illegal.
Talk to your teenagers about online adult content and pornography, and direct them to positive sites about health and sexuality.
Help protect them from spam. Tell your teen not to give out their E-mail address online, not to respond to junk mail, and to use E-mail filters.
Be aware of the web sites that your teen frequents. Make sure your teen is not visiting sites with offensive content, or posting personal information or photos of themselves.
Teach your teen responsible, ethical, online behavior. They should not be using the Internet to spread gossip, bully, or threaten others.
Make sure your teen checks with you before making financial transactions online, including ordering, buying, or selling items.
Discuss online gambling and its potential risks with your teen. Remind them that it is illegal for them to gamble online.