Best Resources for Discussing Internet Safety with Your Kids

As a school library media specialist, one of the curriculum focuses for my elementary school students is internet safety. With more and more online predators lurking in cyberspace, and more and more young children using the internet consistently, internet safety is a must for parents to discuss with their children. I am shocked when I ask a group of 5^th grade students how many have restrictions on what websites they may visit, how long they are allowed to be on the computer, or where they may surf the web. Less than half in each classroom indicate they have ever discussed such a topic with their parents. When I ask these same students how many have MySpace or Facebook pages, again at least half raise their hands. Parents must be aware of the very real issue of internet safety and prepare their children accordingly. Here are some great resources to help you discuss internet safety with your children.

Website: www.netsmartzkids.org While I am never a huge fan of purposely misspelled kid-aimed websites or products, NetSmartz Kids is probably my favorite resource for teaching children about internet safety. NetSmartz Kids has a wide variety of video clips, activities, games, and printables that will all help you get the concept of internet safety across to even the youngest children. The characters "the Wizzywigs" will help your children understand the different dangers on the internet by assigning cartoon characters to each danger. While slightly lighthearted in delivery, the Wizzywigs do get their point across, and in a kid-friendly manner. Also, NetSmartz Kids does not focus soley on internet predators. The characters on the site touch on all internet dangers from downloading viruses to giving out personal information to sending SPAM emails. The "Numbut" Wizzywig character even warns against simply spending too much time glued to the computer.

Book: Faux Paw's Adventures in the Internetby Jacalyn S. Leavitt. This book, one that works well as a read aloud for elementary aged children, is a great introduction to the dangers than can be found online. Printed in 2006, this book is one of the more updated print resources I have found that puts internet safety information into terms that students can really understand and relate to. The book includes a CD Rom with short movies to reiterate what is said in the book. Additionally, there are other Faux Paw books available that touch on more specific internet safety topics such as cyberbullying and downloading viruses. These print resources to help you talk to your kids about internet safety can be purchased from Amazon and other large book retailers.

Internet safety is something that should concern all parents. Use these resources to talk to your children about safety on the internet, to set ground rules for using the computer, and feel confident that you have done your responsibility as a parent to help keep your kids safe.