http://www.wisetosafety.com/online/online-safety-advice.html Online safety advice should be sought before your children even start going online - get the online safety advice your family needs to help protect them from bad situations. en-us Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:09:30 EST Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:09:30 EST Weblog Editor 2.0 We have heard a lot about the predators that have been using the Internet in order to lure our children as their victims. Many children have been victimized by someone that they met online and developed a relationship with and it is every parents worst nightmare. But, these situations can be avoided by getting some good online safety advice that the whole family can adhere to while online. Even when we do our best to protect our children and have shared with them all of the online safety advice that we have learned, there is still a chance that online predators can get to your child, whether it is through a friend's computer or secretly on the family computer. When online safety advice is not enough, we must also keep our eyes open for the signs that something might be going on that is negatively affecting our children. Look for These Warning Signs Your Child May Be Exhibiting You should be suspicious if your child spends a lot of time online, particularly in the evening and at night. the amount of time that they spend online is obviously not a clear indicator of anything, but it is one of the first red flags that should go up in your head. If you find pornography on the computer that your child uses. This is in itself disturbing enough, but it is very common for sexual predators to supply their prey with pornography as a means of convincing children that other adults have sex with children and that it is normal. Do not immediately assume that your child has gotten ahold of the pornography be themselves, although this might be the case it is also very possible that they are being targeted. When you walk into the room and the child immediately changes the screen or closes a site, this should also give you cause for concern. They will know that some of the things that they are doing might be wrong or may have been instructed by a predator to keep some things a secret from their parents. If your child gets calls from men that you are not familiar with or they themselves are making calls. Some predators actually get 800 numbers so that their victims can more easily call them and that way they can also get the phone number of the child. Also many predators will send letters or gifts through the mail to their potential victims. If your child is obviously becoming more withdrawn form the rest of the family. It is an old trick of many criminals to drive a wedge between their victims and their family and friends. When the child confides in them, the predator will make the situation out to be even worse, perhaps convincing the child that their parents do not understand them as he does. It is also very common for a child to become withdrawn after having been victimized. Pay close attention to these warning signs and encourage open and honest communication. Online safety is the responsibility of each and every one of us. We have to look out for ourselves and our loved ones as the Internet cannot be regulated enough to keep out all of the undesirables. Frequently discuss online safety advice with the entire family. When online safety advice is addressed the children will be more aware about what is going on in their online world and they will also have the foresight needed to recognize potential bad guys while online. Fri, 06 Jan 2006 16:09:30 EST