Published: November 14, 2006 | Updated: December 2, 2008
Children who are 11-14 years old generally have accepting attitudes. Kids at this age may be very capable at following commands on the computer, using the mouse, and playing computer games.
They are, however, highly dependent on adults or older siblings to help them interpret online information.
Here are some safety tips to consider when you go online with your 11-14 year old:
1.
It's a good idea to foster open and positive communication with your children. Talk with them about computers and stay open to their questions and curiosity.
2.
Set clear rules for Internet use.
3.
Insist that your children not share personal information such as their real name, address, phone number, or passwords with people they meet online.
4.
If a site encourages kids to submit their names to personalize the Web content, help your kids create online nicknames that give away no personal information.
5.
Use family safety tools to create appropriate profiles for each family member.
Set family safety tools on the medium security setting, which should have some limitations on content, Web sites, and activities.
7.
Keep Internet-connected computers in an open area where you can easily supervise your kids' activities.
8.
Investigate Internet-filtering tools (such as Windows Live Family Safety) as a complement to parental supervision.
9.
Help protect your children from offensive pop-up windows by using the pop-up blocker that's built in to Internet Explorer.
You can also help block pop-up windows that appear when you're not surfing the Internet with Windows Defender. Windows Defender comes with Windows Vista. If you use Windows XP, you can download Windows Defender for no charge.
10.
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 for bringing something to your attention. Praise their behavior and encourage them to come to you again if the same thing happens.
