Age-appropriate article Raising a child in a digital world can be a daunting task. The Internet is ubiquitous in children's lives and as a parent, you must set limits and guidelines on what your kids are doing online. different ages require different rules. As the child grows, he or she will need more personal freedom online, and it is important that they are prepared for this responsibility and to trust that has been instilled in them from an early age. Here is a general guide suitable to their age that you can follow to teach the responsibility of the Internet for your children. 0-7: In this age category, children are usually not familiar with or using instant messaging, social networking, or participate in chat rooms. However, they are still online, probably, sometimes, so security measures must still be taken. As a parent, talk with parents and fellow teachers to see what kind of site security are there for children. As well, to use directory for kids. Use the search engine kid like 'children yahoo' or 'demand for children'. Here are some examples of relevant sites: http://www.wiredsafety.org - Internet safety and help group Awesome Library - 14,000 resources carefully Berit's Best Sites - Directory of web sites for kids' run by Berit Erickson Britannica - websites, magazines, books and the Encyclopaedia Britannica Dibdabdoo - Metasearch DMOZ - Yahooligans - Kids Click INFOMINE - Scholarly Internet resources in K-12 KidsWeb - directory Mid-Continent Public Library kid SuperKids SuperSearch - Kid friendly search site http://www.kidsclick.org - search engine friendly and Kid 'also wise to invest in a block of parental control. This takes the worry of not knowing whether or not your kids are visiting undesirable websites, and reduces the risk of tripping on their dangerous sites. When your children are at this age is appropriate for you to know all their names and passwords. Make sure your children know it, and discuss which sites they like to go. Do not allow your children to post or personal information to this age, and limit their activities on-line for about an hour a day. 8-10: As children reach this stage of life, cell phones and instant messaging are beginning to enter the picture, so precautions must be taken. Children can even start lying about their age in order to gain access to certain sites and social networking sites such as MySpace.com, Facebook.com, etc. This is also the age in which bullying can become prevalent in the forum and chat room. However, children may be reluctant to tell their parents because they should still be on these sites. Peer-To-Peer (P2P) file-sharing can become a problem at this age when children begin playing games and sharing music online. This can lead to a computer to be inundated with spyware and adware. What should parents do? First of all if you are not using a parental control filtering device should get one, and strengthen the filter to your liking. You should also be pre-approved contact your kids' IM list to ensure that there are not just names on it. Ensure that you are using anti-spyware, antivirus and block pop-ups to fight any unwanted hassles that might groped to connect to your hard disk. You should still try to keep your children on the search engines to child-proof at this point. Teach them not to respond to strangers online and communicate immediately if they encounter. Stick to restrict online activities for about an hour or so a day for this age group. 10-12: In this stage, interactive technologies such as chat, e-mail and cell phones are very much a part of life most children '. Children are always more socially and are looking to expand their personal network through programs such as MySpace and Facebook. Parents should further strengthen parental control filter for this age. Keep an open dialogue with your children and make sure you're still educating them on Internet safety. As well, parents should be looking for signs of cyber-bullying at this age. Be sure to look carefully at all the profiles, screen names and web sites that your children are posting online. Make sure they are aware that they are not authorized to share photos, blogs or webcams without permission. It 's still a good idea to try to learn the password of your children' at this age. However, they will begin to resist this age, so it will very likely end up being quite the communication challenge. However, you should absolutely still be pre-approved contact lists your children 'at this point. Search your computer regularly for all images taboo, pirated music or media files. You can also use Google Alerts to automatically notify you in any online activity related to your child's screen name turns into a Google search. This can be very effective. Limit your kids' online time of 1.5-2 hours. 13-15: Children are at high risk of online and offline meetings with strangers at this age. They are becoming very social and curious and are trying new things online. This is also the age where cyber-bullying and sexual harassment are at their peak. Children are often heard in forums and social networks and are subject to abuse by other people online. From the fear of peer-pressure and social ostracism, many children are not likely to tell adults if they are victims of bullying or sexual harassment online. Parents still need to be pre-approved social networking and dating sites at this time. Try to keep your children off P2P sites or pirated software. Instead, offer them services such as iTunes and other legitimate media sites. It 'important to teach your children to keep their password and not divulge any personal information that can backfire. Make sure your computer is in a central location to monitor the online activities of your children '. online in time to 2 hours at this age Limit children '. 16 years: This is the age at which children begin to leave the nest cyber. They do what they want at this age it is important that you have already prepared and educated them for everything they may encounter online. 'S time to trust to do the right thing. However, you can still give friendly reminders to be responsible online. Apply conversation about the risks of sharing personal information online and teach them to Google yourself regularly to monitor everything that can be said about them. Make sure they are using antivirus and firewall security. As well, they are advised to check regularly adware and spyware on their PC. In addition, strongly suggest that your children do not use a webcam. Remind them that once something is published online, is forever, and they have no control over what happens to it. It 'important for your children to know that even if they are now independent, they should still feel comfortable coming to you if something goes wrong while they are surfing the net.
