Internet Safety Tips

An Open Letter to Parents

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For generations we have delighted in watching our children prepare for summertime activities. Beautiful weather, sleeping late, and smiles seemingly cover entire miniature faces as the excitement of freedom from the routine of school abounds. As parents, we cherish the innocence of their youth, and remember a time that seems to be gone forever -- the time prior to modern computer technology.

A time when our only concern was focused on the stranger in our streets --- now the stranger in cyberspace also exists. We once believed that our children were safe in the haven of our own homes. Modern computer technology has changed that. We now need to employ other protections, regardless of how secure our homes seem to be, to ensure the safety of our children as they go online. While most of the information accessed online is educational and fun, as parents we need to prepare our children (however slight the possibility may be) of accessing inappropriate areas or dangerous lures.

The following tools can help secure the innocence of their youth, please use them.

1. Monitor the length of time your child spends on the Internet - ensure that they have outside activities to fully enjoy during summer. Fresh air always seems to put a glow on their faces, doesn't it?

2. Place the computer in a location that allows easy monitoring - not in the child's bedroom. As a parent you have the right to find out the areas they are accessing. A bright, sun-filled, airy room, where regular family activities, take place, can help put your children into the mood for other family functions.

3. Get to know their online friends, the same as you would their friends outside of cyberspace. Communicate with your child about their online friends, not only will it help keep them safe, it is also a good way to further the bond between you.

4. Make sure your child understands that a person isn't necessarily who they claim to be online. It is important that you reinforce routinely that they should never meet a cyberpal in real life. Plan a trip to the mall, park, or swimming pool with them and their off line friends.

5. Help them to understand that text files and pictures, once on the Internet, will remain there forever. Discuss with them the reasons for not allowing the transmission or receipt of such items. Taking photos of their outside activities will remind them later in life of past summer fun. Get them a photo album for their personal pictures, and those of their offline friends - a good activity during summertime lulls.

6. Use filtering solutions (like Net Nanny) to protect them from areas that could be inappropriate or even dangerous to them. As the administrator of the filtering solution you are able to monitor more closely what information comes into and out of your child's computer the same way you monitor in "real" life what information your child has access to. Discuss with your children what those restrictions are, let them play a role in deciding what is not allowed. Giving them some decision-making power helps them grow into healthy responsible adults.

Finally, let's make this summer one your child will remember forever. A mixture of fun and educational online and offline activities with parental guidance and involvement will help provide your child with a healthy, safe and, most of all, fun summer vacation.

About Debbie Mahoney

Debbie Mahoney is the Founder and President of Safeguarding Our Children - United Mothers (SOC-UM).

Mahoney resigned her position at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in August 1996 to devote her life and her personal resources to keeping children safe. She works with law enforcement, technology specialists, and child advocacy groups around the world to ensure the safety of children. To her credit, she has worked with Internet Service Providers, and others to help identify and shut down certain sites that advocate sexual abuse of children. Her organization monitors pedophiles, their advocates, and their online activities, coordinating information with law enforcement officials.

Mahoney and SOC-UM were instrumental in the passage of "the Child Molester Hotline" in California in 1994. She has made numerous television appearances on national shows such as Oprah, Sally Jessy Raphael, A & E, America's Most Wanted, Foxfamily, Extra, as well as others where she has spoken to the issue of public disclosure and child safety. She is on the advisory board for Cyberangels as well as Crime Victims United of California. Nationally she has spoken at a U.S. Senatorial Briefing, various Community Events, Workshops for State Conferences on Child Abuse. On an international level she has spoken in Paris, France and in Seoul, Korea. Ms. Mahoney has also done numerous radio shows speaking on the behalf of children's safety.

Debbie Mahoney's most fulfilling and important role has been, without question, that of motherhood.