The Internet: Are your kids safe?

Now-a-days everyone is on the internet. Kids as young as three years old have been reported to have gadgets with access to the internet. With that in mind, it is crucial to talk to our kids about internet safety. While adults can use past experiences to judge whether they are in a threatening or dangerous situation, children have less knowledge of what is unsafe. Unfortunately, there are people online who look to use this naiveté to their advantage. When you talk to your children and establish guidelines as to what they should and shouldn't do when they are on the internet, you can help your children avoid becoming the victims of a predator or an identity thief.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has developed NetSmartz, a program that creates interactive, educational safety resources for children ages 5 to 17. NCMEC has created NetSmartz411, an online service to answer questions about internet safety, computers and the web. The site provides an online library for parents to find answers to their online safety questions. Visit www.netsmartz411.org for more information.

Our own SMCA LMT teacher, Michelle Hill, has played an informative video for our Kindergarten-5th grade students which has opened up the discussion for internet safety.

Talk to your children, protect them, don't think someone else is going to do it.