Visiting Web Sites
First, a child may come across material that is sexual,
hateful, violent, or otherwise inappropriate.
Second, some Web sites invite visitors to enter information
about themselves. Children should never enter such
information -- even if they are familiar with the site --
without parental permission. Parents should not allow their
children to enter personal information without first finding
and reviewing the site's privacy policy.
Setting up their own Web sites
It is possible for children and teens to set up their own
Web sites (at no cost). The danger of setting up a Web site
is that anything posted can be seen by anyone visiting the
site. If your child has a Web site, it's important that
parents visit it often to see what is there. Make sure that
your child doesn't post personal information, photos, or
anything else that could identify him or her. Also, be sure
there is nothing on the site that could get your child into
trouble at school or with the law or might be harmful or
offensive to other people.
Children and teens who post material to Web sites must also
avoid infringing on the copyrights of others by not posting
copyrighted material without permission from the copyright
holder (usually that's the person who wrote the material).
Ways to know if your child is posting inappropriate
material to a Web site:
If you know your child has a Web site,
find out the URL (Web address) and check it often.
If you're not sure if your child has a Web site, ask first.
If you've asked and are still not sure, try searching for
the child's name using one of the free Internet search
tools. Also search for your address, phone number, school
name, and the names of your child's close friends.
Turn on Filtering in Web Search Engines
Parents have expressed concern about their younger
children -- those under 10 years old -- inadvertently
viewing sexually explicit material on the Internet.
Generally speaking, kids under 10 are not at the age when
they are actively seeking out sexually explicit material
online. Nevertheless, parents can take steps to prevent
their young children from being inadvertently exposed to
sexual images and text while they are online.
We suggest is turning on "filtering" in the online search
engine that your family uses. That will minimize the chance
that an innocent search may inadvertently return something
sexually explicit. You can change the settings in most top
search engines to filter search results and it is easy to
do. Find your favorite search engine below and follow the
step-by-step instructions on how to activate the filtering
feature.
Note: This tip really
is meant for parents of young children under 10. Older
children or children who are actively looking for sexually
explicit material online can easily bypass search engine
filtering.
Below, please find detailed video tutorials on how to
enable your favorite search engine to return filtered
results.
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