and
Webpages
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and Webpages |
In our family, kids love webpages. They see webpages by and about other kids
and they want their own. Basic html was something we wanted our kids to learn,
but how to make the internet safe for them? Here are some of the ideas we came up with:
SUPERVISE THEM! A young teen or preteen shouldn't be shut away in his/her
room with a computer. Make the family computer the one with internet access,
and keep it in a shared room. If your child has a computer in her room, use a
removable phone jack or make it for word-processing only.
Make it their responsibility to alert you to anything they don't feel comfortable
about, be it email, popups, or links.
Get a family account, or make sure you have access to all email. The best way
we found to do that was with one screenname that an adult could always access.
(You'll know which emails to open) Yahoo has a blocking function on email.
AOL has a blocking function on internet access.
When your kids make a webpage, they should never tell full names, where they're from, the
name of their school, or anything that would help an internet predator
locate them. We encourage kids to use nicknames or pseudonyms unless their
name is a common, popular one.
Make it clear that internet friends are for the internet only.
If you let your kids use chatrooms, again, you should be looking over their
shoulders. This is a good time for them to be creative. They should make
up a whole persona. When people start getting too personal, it's time to leave.
We tell our kids to say, "I can't talk about that."
Kids want their pictures on webpages. That's up to the parent (or aunt!), of course.
We permit it, but they must use not-too-
clear or not-too-recent. You don't want your child too easily identified.
Save the vacation pics for something like a Zing album where you can say
who can have access. Or put them on a page that doesn't have links to that
page or back to other pages.
If your child plays sports, a long shot on the playing field is a very satisfying
one. Or use that cute pic from Halloween! Just be sure there's nothing in
the picture that shows your hometown location.
Could they trace my kids through my own registration? Most email/webpage signups allow you to keep your name private; however, if this worries
you, let your kids do their webpages through another family member in another
town, state or (it's World Wide Web, remember?) country.
Child abductions from internet contacts are rare, but they have happened.
Keep an eye on chatroom activity and email, and make the personal homepage
fun but not too personal. Always remember: You may not know as much about
computers as your kids do, but you are the adult. Happy webpage
making!
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