Internet Safety

The Internet can be a great educational and entertainment resource for children, but it’s important for parents and caregivers to be aware of the dangers of online exploitation of children. To promote the online safety, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee periodically offers Internet safety training from Wisconsin’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to parents and volunteers.

Here are some Internet safety tips for families from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (For more information, visit the child safety Resources & Links page of our web site.)

• Keep the computer in the family room or another open area of your house.
• Establish house rules regarding Internet usage.
• Find out about safeguarding programs and child safety options your service provider might offer, such as monitoring or filtering capabilities.
• Talk to children about what personal information is and why they should never give it out online.
• Talk to children about not responding to offensive or dangerous e-mail, chat or other communications, and immediately report any instances to local law enforcement.
• Get informed about computers, the Internet and Internet slang and acronyms.
• Know who your children are communicating with on the Internet.
• Children should not complete online profiles, and their screen names should not identify that the user is a child.
• Talk to children about what to do if they encounter something online that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable or confused. Remind them to tell a trusted adult is they see something that bothers them online.
• Report any suspicions of online stalking or sexual exploitation of a child immediately to local law enforcement.