Online safety tips for kids ages 7 to 8
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Seven- and eight-year-old kids have a strong sense of family. They are just starting to develop a sense of their own moral and gender identity, and they are usually interested in the activities of the older kids in their lives. Kids who are 7-8 years old tend to trust easily, and they generally do not question authority.
What 7-8 year olds do online
Kids at this age like to surf for fun and play interactive games. They probably use e-mail and might also experiment with Web sites and chat rooms that parents have not given them permission to visit.
Safety tips
Here are some safety tips to consider when you go online with your 7 or 8 year old:
| • | Create a list of Internet house rules with participation from your kids. |
| • | Encourage your kids to visit only sites that you have approved. |
| • | Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area where you can easily supervise their use. |
| • | Investigate Internet-filtering tools (such as MSN Premium's Parental Controls) as a complement—not a replacement—for parental supervision. |
| • | Use kid-friendly search engines (such as MSN Kids Search) or search engines with parental controls. |
| • | Establish a shared family e-mail account with your Internet Service Provider rather than allow your kids have their own accounts. |
| • | Teach your kids to consult you before they give out information through e-mail, chat rooms, message boards, registration forms, and personal profiles. |
| • | Teach your kids not to download software, music, or files without your permission. |
| • | Use e-mail filters to block messages from particular people, or those that contain specific words or phrases. |
| • | Don't allow your children to use instant messaging (IM) at this age. |
| • | Allow your kids to use only monitored chat rooms and message boards on reputable kids' sites. |
| • | Talk to your kids about their online friends and activities just as you would about their other activities in the real world where they will start to meet new people. |
| • | Talk to your children about healthy sexuality, because kids can easily come across adult content or pornography online. |
| • | Encourage your children to tell you if something or someone online makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened. Stay calm and remind your kids they are not in trouble if they bring something to your attention. Praise their behavior and encourage them to come to you again if the same thing happens. Read more about how to deal with online predators and cyberbullies. |
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