internet safety for kids

amother

Wed, Aug 07 2013, 10:40 am

HI!

My name is Shira, and I am an Ima
of 4 kids who use the internet (pretty responsibly). I think the internet can be
a wonderful tool. It saves us time and money with shopping, gives us a wealth
of information instantly, and helps us to keep in touch with loved ones. At the
same time I feel that it is important for us to remember that the MAJORITY of
websites out there are [filthy] ones that we would not want our kids exposed
to. And face it, as kids get older they are alone with the internet more and
more, usually on their smartphones. I am VERY concerned about the amount of kids out there whose parents do not seem to know or care what they are doing online. There are kids who are ten
and younger who now are getting e-readers with Wifi connectivity placed into
their young hands. Texting, Youtube, and social media all can lead to destructive behavior if not monitored.
While I am not a "techie" by any means, I have looked into many of these
issues. I invite you all to add to our knowledge by sharing what works for your
family as well as relevant links. This is a private unlisted group with no
tolerance for spam.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have no internet or smartphones in your house, kol hakavod. This is not the group for you. If you are fine with your kids surfing the net freely, this is also not the group for you. I am looking for parents who do have internet and want to filter out all the garbage so that it can be educational for their kids.

If you would like to join please email safeinternet4kids-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
and I will make you a member. You may unsubscribe at any time.

(anon to protect my screen name but I am an established member here)

amother

Wed, Aug 07 2013, 12:05 pm

Here is one post from our group, just to give you all a sample:

Email is a great free way for kids to keep in touch with friends and relatives. Getting a kid a regular gmail or yahoo account may not be the best idea, as then they will be exposed to whatever ads pop up, and will probably receive inappropriate spam as well. In addition, a parent may want to limit who can email their kid to a few buddies.

If your kid is still small, then it will probably be hard for him to type, and you can just type an email for him to Grandma. In fact typing on word is probably a good way to give a kid a chance to express themselves, then you can attach the file to your email.

Once a kid is older, they may want the thrill of their own screen name. Be aware that if his friends also have email, they may think it is innocent fun to email your kid all sorts of popular circulating pictures, videos, and jokes that you may find offensive! So even if you trust your kid, there is reason to check up on his email.

We chose Zilladog for our daughter's first email. It is free, kid-friendly, and gives your kid their own email address. You as the parent create the account, and create a parent password. The parent password is needed to add to the buddy list, or view any mail received from someone not on the buddy list. This can be done from any computer. It comes with some cute games and features, and should suffice for the needs of elementary school kids. Your kid may not like it that you can see anything they email others, but it provides a safe spam-free environment with no adult ads.

The downsides are that it can be cumbersome to add a whole bunch of new emails to the buddy list, and at some point your kid may not like having an email address that is kid@zilladog.net - it just sounds kinda funny.

At that point you may consider "graduating" your kid to a regular account, and having them share their password with you so you can do spot checks for anything suspicious.