NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Parents can take steps to protect their children from online predators in several ways, according to Enough is Enough, an organization dedicated to educating families on the importance of protecting children from the harms of pornography.
Among Enough is Enough’s suggestions:
— Become more computer literate and Internet savvy.
— Keep the computer in a “public” area in your house. Monitor your child’s computer use. Talk with your children about their online activities and their online friends.
— Check out parental controls available on your online service. Install filtering/blocking software or use a “clean Internet provider” that filters at the server level. Recognize that no filter is foolproof or 100 percent safe.
— Do not let your children have online profiles, so they will not be listed in directories and are less likely to be approached in children’s chat rooms, where pedophiles often search for prey.
— Tell your children to never give out personal information, including name, their parents’ names, address or the school they attend or their teachers.
— Do not allow your children to post, send or receive pictures online. Picture files generally end with GIF, JPG or JPEG.
— Tell your children to let you know if anything seems strange to them, if they are asked personal (“what are you wearing” type) questions or if their online friend invites them someplace.
For more information, visit Enough is Enough at www.enough.org or call 1-888-236-6044. More information on filtered Internet service is available from LifeWay Online (http://infolifewayonline.com) and the American Family Association (www.afa.net).
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