INTERNET SAFETY TOOLBOX
HISD's Internet Safety Tips:

Officials at the Houston Independent School District are concerned about the district's 200,000 children. They are concerned about the possibility of kids falling victim to sexual predators on the Internet during the extended time at home.

The district held a city-wide meeting in December 2006 to talk about the issue with parents and students. They urged children to be careful on the Internet and gave parents tips on how to protect their kids:

  • Limit how much time children can spend on the Internet, and urge them to talk with their parents about what happens online
     

  • If children have their own pages on MySpace or other social networking sites, make sure to get their screen names and passwords, and regularly check their pages and read mail they receive
     

  • Invest in software to block access to certain sites on the Internet
     

  • Talk with children about making sure they never talk to strangers on the Internet
     

  • If children use Internet instant messengers such as Yahoo Instant Messenger, make sure to set the computer to archive the instant messages, and make sure children know that parents will regularly check the archive

 Free Internet Safety Software:

IM Safer
IM Safer keeps parents informed of their children's activities in Internet chat rooms and popular messaging software.

Parental Control Bar
ParentalControl Bar is provided free of charge to the public by WRAAC.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free, effective internet control tools. ParentalControl Bar is a simple, powerful tool to help shield your children from explicit websites. Simply activate Child-Mode while your children surf the internet, and the toolbar will block access to adult-oriented websites.

More Resources:

Teen Chat Decoder

FBI's Parent's Guide to Internet Safety

SafeKids.com

i-SAFE.org

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