The rules mentioned in this post are aimed at younger kids and pre-teens at oldest. Ideal online rules tend to vary by age, family values as well the maturity of the child. Here is an overview of the 10, updated rules for online safety:
- I won’t give out personal information like phone number, address, parents’ phone numbers and work addresses without the parents’ consent.
- I will notify the parents immediately if I see or hear something that makes me uneasy.
- I will discuss with the parents or guardians about uploading photos online of myself and others and won’t post any photos that the parents consider inappropriate.
- I will never agree to personally meet with someone I came across online without discussing with the parents first. If they agree to the meeting, I should bring a parent along and ascertain it’s in a public place.
- I will talk to my parents regarding rules for going online and using a mobile device. We will decide upon the time that I can access the internet, the appropriate sites to visit and the length of time that I can be online. I won’t break the rules or access other websites without the parents’ permission.
- I won’t reply to any messages that make me feel uncomfortable or come out as mean. I’m not to blame if I receive such a message and will immediately notify my parents if it happens.
- I will check with the parents before downloading and installing any software or doing anything that could potentially harm the computer or put your family’s privacy at risk.
- I won’t give out my passwords to anyone other than the parents.
- I will help the parents know how to have fun and learn interesting things online. I will also teach them things about computers, internet, and other technology.
- I will be a good persona in cyberspace and won’t indulge in activities that harm other individual or are against the law.
Here are some more tips from Tradewind on improving your children’s online safety
These rules are certainly useful in ascertaining children’s online safety.
My son is now preparing to enter into the second grade, and we are far more confident about things. We still divvy up the responsibilities of his education (I teach language arts, history and social studies, art, health; and my husband teaches math and science) , we have settled into a groove that served us well throughout this past year. Our daughter, who is three, watches her brother work through his assignments, and is already talking about when she will get to start school. I have a feeling that we will start a little earlier with her than we did with our son.
And, perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that this whole experience has brought me and my husband closer together. Oh sure, we’re still heading to divorce court one of these days, but we have had to work as a team for the last two years while living in separate residences. This has forced us to communicate clearly, and make plans together. We have learned to contribute to lessons, even if they aren’t our “subject,” and we have learned to give and receive constructive criticism in order to guarantee that our son’s education is the best that it can be.
This has also brought me and my children very close together. When I first became a single parent, I was very overwhelmed and stressed out with everything. However, sitting with my son every day and listening to his sweet little voice reading through his reader has taught me more patience than anything else I have experienced, which in turn has shown me new ways to interact with him. When you educate your children, you learn how their little minds work, which shows you more about their true selves than all of the snuggling and game-playing ever could.
