KEYfamily
USEFUL SUGGESTIONS
First of all, it is necessary to create a relation between parents and children concerning the Internet. This means:
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Being familiar with and understanding the risks of the Internet |
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Being familiar with and understanding the child’s personality |
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Being acquainted with the main contexts in which the Internet is used (home, school, libraries, etc.) |
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Arranging with the children the behavior to follow in order to establish a sense of responsibility and assurance |
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Having a steady contact with the children concerning their experience on the Web |
USING THE INTERNET
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It is advisable that parents and teachers introduce the younger children to the world of the Internet, and that they look after them until selective navigation systems are provided |
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It is advisable to let children know that their parents are always willing to help |
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It is advisable to establish time ranges for computer access and/or maximum limits of connection time |
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It is advisable to come to know the child’s on-line friends |
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It is advisable to keep the computer in a commonly shared room and not in the child’s bedroom |
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It is advisable, at least at the beginning, to read emails together so as to instruct the child to consider what to do or not to do with attachments, spam, emails from strangers, etc. |
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It is advisable neither to lend your credit card, school card, bank card, mobile phone, etc., nor to transmit the relative data by email, chatline, or other means |
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It is advisable to know who to get in touch with to report sites featuring illicit contents (see section: Useful links) |
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It is advisable to request that the school attended by your child purchases protected and selective navigation systems (see section: KEYstudent) |
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It is wise to bear in mind that a filter cannot substitute a parent, and that a parent cannot always and wherever be present, whereas a selective navigation system always guides a minor |
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It is advisable to keep a copy of all the minor’s navigation activities |
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It is wise that parents together with their children expand on curiosity and knowledge, and encourage their creativity, fantasy, and intellectual curiosity. The Internet is full of resources! |
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It is advisable to set up the email programs (Outlook, Lotus, Mail, etc.) in such a way as to prevent contacts with strangers and indiscriminate spam |
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It is advisable that parents give advice on how to act in regard to:
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Chatlines
• Do not reveal personal data nor convey personal contacts too easily
• Choose a fanciful username and password, unrelated to your personal data
• Do not fill out forms that request personal data
• Bear in mind that whoever enters a chatline may lie on his/her personality
• Isolate whoever annoys a child on a chatline (an option almost always available on chatlines)
• Make sure a moderator is present
• In case a child is bothered by anything (bullying, harassment, etc.), encourage him/her to inform the parents and, at the same time, to ignore the messages or images
• Inform the child that he/she may disconnect whenever he/she feels uncomfortable. The computer is under the child’s control
• Inform the child that whatever he/she writes may be read
• Do not use profanity and irritating language
• Do not ever accept to meet in person someone met on-line without the presence of a trustworthy person and in a secluded place
• Do not send pictures of oneself or others since someone might use them improperly
• Save conversations and/or emails and/or sms’s/mms’s considered harassing
PC safety
• Do not download – without permission – logos, ring tones, images, or files in general, from the Internet as well as email message attachments. These may contain viruses, spyware, worms, or other software that might cause outside intrusion in your PC, or imply unwanted costs or charges. In addition, downloading films and music is against the current law on property rights
• Be aware of on-line scams
• Update the anti-virus software
• Make a back-up of files periodically
• Do not leave the computer connected to the Web if no one is using it
Phishing
• Never answer emails that request bank account and financial information (banks do not request data by email)
• Do not click on any bank URL mentioned in an email. Preferably, copy the address and type it in the browser bar
• Never give your email address and personal data to people you do not know
Mainly for parents
• Keep your bank account number monitored. If you notice anything strange, immediately notify your bank
• Check that the website you are visiting is secure: be sure that URL begins with https:// (s = security) instead of the usual http://. Furthermore, make sure there is a small, padlock-shaped icon in the status bar (it is usually on the lower right hand)
• Inform your bank, should you notice any phony emails disguised with the bank’s name
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