Using family contracts to help protect your kids online
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Before your children start to explore the new frontiers of the Internet, it's a good idea to make sure everyone understands what they should and shouldn't do online. One idea is to write a code of conduct contract that everyone agrees to follow. You can create a different contract for each child in your family with Internet usage rules set appropriately by age. Everyone signs his or her contract to show that they understand the rules and they agree to follow them when they go online.
Below is a suggested family code-of-conduct contract for you to use for each of your kids. Feel free to copy this contract, revise the rules as necessary for your family's needs, and print this contract for your personal use. Once everyone in your family agrees to the terms and signs your family Internet usage contract, you can post the contracts near each computer in your house to remind everyone of the family Internet rules.
Online Code-of-Conduct Contract
I will:
| • | Talk with my parents to learn the rules for Internet use, which includes where I can go, what I can do, when I can go online, and how long I can be online ( ___ minutes or ___ hours). |
| • | Never give out personal information such as my home address, telephone number, my parents' work address or telephone number, credit card numbers, or the name and location of my school without my parents' permission. |
| • | Always tell my parents immediately if I see or receive anything on the Internet that makes me feel uncomfortable or threatened; this includes e-mail messages, Web sites, or even anything in the regular mail from Internet friends. |
| • | Never agree to meet anyone in person that I have met online, without my parents’ permission. |
| • | Never send pictures of myself or other family members to other people through the Internet or regular mail without my parents’ permission. |
| • | Never give out my Internet passwords to anyone (even my best friends) other than my parents. |
| • | Be good while online and not do anything that could hurt or anger other people or that is against the law. |
| • | Never download, install, or copy anything from disks or the Internet without proper permission. |
| • | Never do anything on the Internet that costs money without my parents’ permission. |
| • | Let my parents know my Internet logon and chat names, listed below: _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ |
Name (child) _______________________ Date ____________
Parent or guardian_______________________ Date ____________
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