Children and the Internet
The use of computers and the internet has multiplied greatly in recent years both in homes around Bergen County and the nation. It has proved to be a positive influence in many of our lives. It has carried worlds of information to our fingertips and brought families closer together. But the internet also poses a great danger to our children and daunting challenge to parents. While parents can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the breakneck pace technology evolves at, here are a few simple things the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children suggests parents do to keep the internet a gateway to learning, rather than a doorway for criminals and con-artists.
Get to know how your child uses the internet. If you don’t know how to log on, get your child to show you.
Have your child show you what he or she does online.
Be sure to make surfing the internet a family activity, so consider keeping the computer in a family room and not in the child’s bedroom.
Get to know your child’s “online friends” just as well as you know each of their regular friends.
Never permit a child to arrange face-to-face meetings with other computer users.
Never allow your child to respond to messages or bulletin board items that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, threatening, or that make you or them feel uncomfortable. Encourage your children to tell you if they encounter such messages.
Set reasonable rules and guidelines for computer use by your children. Discuss these rules and post them near the computer as a reminder. Remember to monitor your children’s compliance with these rules, especially when it comes to the amount of time your children spend on the computer. A child’s excessive use of online services or the Internet, especially late at night, may be a clue that there is a potential problem.
Never allow your child to give out identifying information about you or themselves such as a home address, school name, or telephone number to a stranger or in a public message such as chat or bulletin boards.
If someone sends you or your children messages or images that are obscene, lewd, filthy, or indecent with the intent to harass, abuse, annoy, or threaten, or if you become aware of the transmission, use, or viewing of child pornography while online, immediately report the incident to your local police department or the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Computer Crimes Unit at (201) 646-2300.
If you are suspicious or worried about your child’s activities online, just talk to them. Work with them to set ground rules on internet usage that they understand and that you can enforce. Remember, no one will work harder to keep your child safe than you and your duty to protect them does not stop when they sit down in front of the computer.
Sheriff Leo McGuire, his wife Trish and two daughters live in Oakland, NJ.