On-line security for kids is a real topic for parents. The internet when used properly can be a powerful educational tool for children. At the same time, it can be very detrimental. It is in my opinion networking sites, only blurs the line between what is reality and what is the truth. They have limited control and there is no way of truly monitoring the content of these sites.
Children do not have the emotional maturity to recognize what is a dangerous contact and who they consider are their friends. The on-line world is no different then reality. The assumption is, if he/she is the same age, shares the same interests and lives in the same city then that must be true. If he/she says he is my friend and wants to meet me to talk or play, then it's no different than a friend at school. We as parents know that isn't always the case!
Even if there is no direct contact with the child and a parent monitors who is added as "their friend", networking sites link into other profiles. Its too easy to obtain enough information about the child simply by searching their friends or reading posts the child made either on someone's site or a message board. Should we put our children at risk just because they want to connect with others?
When my daughter came home one day, stating her friend had a myspace page and she wanted one too. When I asked her if she knew what myspace was, she did not have any idea. She just wanted what her friend had. Therefore, I decided a good alternative would be to create her own website where I controlled the content. She could share it with her friend, but at the same time be safe. Not to mention, I could keep family and friends updated on her activities and developments as she is a special needs child
When designing a site for your child, here are things to remember:
Personal information: Do not list your city where you live, location of school, or any child's personal information you do not want for public consumption. Eliminate any method of contacting the child directly. If a child has his or her own email address, only share that with friends and family but do not post it on-line.
Parent's Statement: Enclose a statement or disclaimer that this site is monitored by a parent and there is no information to contact the child. Also inform users of the site all content has parent approval and is kid friendly. I would highly recommend providing a method either by form or email for another parent to contact you directly for further questions or concerns. The goal is to discourage potential predators but still encourage feedback from other parents.
Kid Approved links and content: While designing your site, pay careful attention to the content of the sites you link. Clearly you don't want to link into pornography or graphically violent sites. FCC has specific guidlines when marketing to children. You can view their information at Kidz Privacy. Making sure that links do not point to non-kid friendly sites can be tricky. Here are some tips to keep in mind.
I wanted to create a pink panther page so I went to find cartoon videos on You Tube. I later discovered after I posted the cartoon of pink panther, at the end of the movie, it gave a selections of other videos you can view. Little did i know, one of the videos contained a very provocative dance to the Pink Panther Theme song! I quickly removed it and searched to find an alternate. Since You Tube recommended selection is key word based, it took me a few hours to find a clip that only offered kid friendly videos at the end. It was time consuming but worth the effort.
On-line gaming sites: Some on-line gaming sites have free games you can post on your website. Most of the sites will link back into the main site where users can view other on-line games. Some of the sites may or may not contain contain appropriate content depending upon the age. So be selective and restrict sites you don't want your children viewing. There are many different types of online software such as Cyber Patrol that helps parents control not only the content they see, but also monitors their time on the internet.
Create restrictive access pages: Restrict any areas you would like to post more personal information like a family calendar, specific school events, etc. Only give select friends and family access to this information.
How do I design my site?
There are on-line communities like geocities that offer free on-line website building. My concern with using that type of service for a children's site is the advertising. You can not avoid it and its clickable! or a few bucks a month, these types of services offer DIY templates where you can create and design your own site without the worry of advertising and pop ups. Or you can design your site yourself though applications like MS Frontpage, Adobe Dreaweaver or MS Publisher. Graphic Designers can also make creating children's sites painless and a wonderful surprise. What I like about creating your own children's site is you will have the ability to select your own URL which is much easier for a child to remember then a lengthy address. So to me, it is worth the expense.
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