Traveling With Children
"Children aren't happy with nothing to ignore,
And that's what parents were created for"(Ogden Nash)
Taking the kids on a trip into cyberspace can be a rewarding experience.
For you as well as your children.
But before embarking on your trip, you should be aware that some web sites can ask for a significant amount of personal information from children, such as:
- the child's name
- postal address
- e-mail address
- favourite activities
- favourite products
This information can be collected by asking children to register with the site, join a kids' club, enter a contest or complete a questionnaire online.
Collected information can be used to create customer lists. In some cases, these are sold to list brokers, who, in turn, rent the lists to other advertisers.
Sometimes this information is published on web sites in guest books, or member profiles which may enable others to contact your child without your knowledge.
Would you let personal information about your child be posted on a neighborhood billboard?
Exercise the same caution with the electronic version. Check a web site's privacy policy for an explanation of how the site handles personal information before submitting it.
Children learn to use computers quickly, but because they lack life experience, they can reveal information that you might not wish to share. That's one reason children should be supervised when they venture into cyberspace. There are others...
Here are some precautions you may want to take:
- Explore the Internet with your children. It's the best way to see what they see online. There are plenty of kid-friendly sites. Help your kids find them and check them thoroughly. You could start with the ones listed in the Resource Section of this Guide.
- Explain to your children why they should be careful not to give out their real name and address to online pen pals and on bulletin boards.
- Consider using filters that allow you to place certain sites and subjects off limits to your child. These "parental controls" are available from a number of sources listed in the Resource Section of this Guide and are also offered by some search engines. Filters aren't foolproof, but they can help. Some ISPs offer filters to control the amount of unsolicited email you receive. Check to see if yours does.
- Have rules for going online.
- Teach your children the meaning of privacy and personal (or family) information. Encourage them to post messages only with your permission and supervision.
- Show your child the difference between an advertisement and entertainment. A young child may not realise that an animated or cartoon character may be gathering market data or trying to sell something.
- Don't allow young children to use online chat services unless you have thoroughly checked them and are sure that they are monitored by a responsible adult at all times.
Remember that, even though your child is sitting, apparently safely, at home, he/she has a direct link to the uncensored, largely unregulated, outside world.
Apply the same basic rules to Internet access as you would to the world outside your own front door.