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Protecting Children from Online Dangers
By Ruben Flores
 It's been on the six o'clock news and in newspapers everywhere, children or teens lured away by sexual predators on the Internet. Along with these predators, pornography has also flourished on the Internet.
Yup, this online sewage has also given the net a bad rap. The problem with this online sewage is that all your child has to do is click on a hyperlink, whether innocent or intentional, and they will be instantly exposed to some kind of pornographic image.
If you want to see just how easy it is for your child to be exposed adult material on the Net, just head on over to your favorite search engine like http://www.excite.com and do a search for "toys" and you'll be amazed at what will turn up in the search results.
Graphic descriptions used to describe adult sites alone will surprise you.
The Reality
The online world is basically a mirror image of the real world in that it has it's good areas, or good neighborhoods, and it has it's bad areas, or bad neighborhoods. Just as one would not let a child wander alone in the real world, children should not be allowed to wander in Cyberspace alone.
I realize that it's virtually impossible for a parent or teacher to continuously supervise a child and as a single parent of three young children (8, 9, & 12) myself, I constantly worry about what my children could be exposed to. Let me give you an example. About two years ago I had an eye-opening experience when we came across some online sewage.
I had gathered my three angels around my computer because they wanted to visit the White House and write President Clinton a letter (children excited). I began to type out the URL of the White House "www.whitehouse.gov" when I made the honest mistake of typing .com instead of .gov at the end of the URL. Well,
imagine the shock on my face (and my children's) when the page began to download. The .com extension lead to an adult entertainment site. The screen popped up and it contained a picture of the White House, along with a disturbing picture of a Hillary Clinton look-a-like dressed as a dominatrix with a whip in one hand and a leash around the neck of
a look-a-like of President Clinton with his pants down. It took a quick second to register in my mind that this was not the White House -- at the same time my eldest daughter said "dad, I don't think this is the White House page." I immediately hit the back button on my browser, but that quick second had past. I was too shocked to continue surfing after that,
*AND* having to explain to my girls about what they had just seen.
So as you can see its pretty easy to unintentionally stumble across adult oriented material. Generally though, you will only find such sites if you are specifically looking for it and not through casual browsing, but the probabilities out number the possibilities and as curious as children are these days, especially boys, you can bet that a "click" can be very enticing.
Pornography and the Law
 New laws have recently been put in place in an attempt to curb the steady tide of pornographic sites popping up everyday on the net and to help keep children from being exposed to adult material. One such law now requires that Web sites that contain adult oriented material to verify the age of a person wishing to access their site. Age verification is usually done by credit card,
but the images and banners that are used to entice memberships on adult sites are themselves very graphic and inappropriate for children of any age. The unfortunate part is that this effort is already too late for the thousands of children who have been already exposed to such material. We must also keep in mind that most of these laws apply to adult sites only and not to the thousands
of Internet sites that promote or publish acts of violence, gross depictions of violence, satanic cults, militant views, drugs and drug use, and/or illegal activities from manufacturing drugs to manufacturing bombs. Since freedom of speech extends to the Internet, all this is accessible within a click of your mouse.
What You Can Do
Access to online sewage and protection from sexual predators can be prevented by following some simple steps, after all, the online frontier is an excellent resource for children with thousands of educational sites as well as thousands of other interesting sites containing interactive games, quizzes, mazes, and lots more.
Setting Parental Controls
There are computer programs available to give you parental control over your child's access. These programs can be valuable tools in monitoring your child's access time and are discussed below. Some access providers like AOL have parental controls available through there service. There are also parental control options that are readily available within your computer or browser that provide a good starting point for parents. To set these controls do the following;
In Internet Explorer - Click on "View/Internet Options/Content" - Then in "Content Advisor" click "settings." Take some time to explore and learn about the options available to you. You will find that control settings will vary depending on what you want, will give you great control over what can be accessed. If this is your first time setting these options, you will be prompted to choose a password. Choose a password that
cannot be easily guessed, as child are very smart and can be very determined. I suggest writing it in a safe place in case you forget it as this is the only way to change settings if you ever wish to.
In Netscape Navigator - Currently Netscape Navigator does not have parental control settings, but you can set parental control settings through your computer. To do this click "Start/Settings/Control Panel/Internet" - this will bring up the Internet Properties dialog box (Note: this is the same dialog box as IExplorer above). Choose "Content," then "Settings." Take some time to explore and learn about the options
available to you. You will find that control settings will vary depending on what you want, but will give you great control over what can be accessed. If this is your first time setting these options, you will be prompted to choose a password. Choose a password that cannot be easily guessed, as children are very smart and can be very determined. I suggest writing it in a safe place in case you forget it as this is the only way to change settings if you ever wish to.
Monitoring History Files
You can easily check and monitor where your children have been on the net by checking the history or temporary Internet files in a browser's cache. This is the place where your browser stores copies of previously visited sites. To do this:
Internet Explorer - Click on "View/Explorer Bar/History" to view the site history log. You can also click the drop down arrow on the location bar to get a general idea of sites visited. To view a list of all Internet files AND images that have been accessed, click on "View/Internet Options/General" - Go down to "Temporary Internet Files" and click on "Settings/View Files."
Netscape Navigator - Click on "Window/History" - This will list all Internet files AND images that have been accessed. You can also click the drop down arrow on the location bar to get a general idea of sites visited, but the "Window/History" is more detailed.
Using Parental Filtering Software
Parental filtering utilities are software products that monitor the data coming in from Websites. These products check content and images for objectionable material that are deemed offensive and then block out inappropriate sites. If you are a teacher or a concerned parent like me, these software utilities can provide you control and protection from the kinds of cyber-sewage that can easily be accessed by children.
The companies that have developed these products have researched thousands of sites that contain inappropriate material and have custom tailored their products to block out Web sites that contain adult material and pictures or offensive content and subjects.
Filtering Software Cost
Filtering software varies in the features they provide as well as prices and ease of installation. Prices range anywhere from $29.95 up to $69.95 and ease of installation depends on how you want to customize the particular features and ranges from easy to complex. Full installation instructions are provided. Below are four of the most popular filtering software products currently out on the market.
You may want to go to their sites to get a better idea as to what each product offers. They can be found in any computer/software store or you can visit their website by clicking on any of the images or text links here. Keep in mind that no amount of software is 100% safe and therefore not a suitable substitute for a responsible parent.
Filtering Software Resources
The following products are the most popular filtering software on the market:
CyberSmart Safety Tips
 The first step in keeping you children safe is to learn what dangers are out there and how to prevent access to such materials. The next is to get involved with your children as they surf the net. You must lay down rules for their access time and establish when they can be online, for how long, and where they can visit.
Emphasize to them the importance of not breaking the rules or exploring beyond approved areas and the consequences if they are broken.
Since you usually cannot see the face of the person you are communicating with, you cannot tell what their true intentions are. Most people are honest and have trustworthy motivations. But there are always those whose motivation and actions are pure evil. Here are some basic tips to get you started in protecting your children:
- When possible make surfing the Net a family activity or at least supervise your children's online habits frequently.
- It's a good idea to place the computer in a family area vs. enclosed in the child's room. This will serve to deter children from exploring where they shouldn't be and help you in periodically monitoring what's on the screen.
- Keep track of the time your child spends online as it is very easy to lose track of time. You might want to set a clock or timer nearby. As great as the net is, you don't want it to interfere with their homework and other important activities.
- Use parental filtering software and make it a point to let your children know that you are interested in what there doing online. If you are not too familiar with the Internet, let your children show you a thing or two and make it an enjoyable experience for both.
- Instruct your children to NEVER give out their password, not even to their friends.
- Encourage your children to come to you immediately if he or she has a strange experience online or finds anything in Cyberspace that is uncomfortable or troubling.
- Instruct children to never give any personal information out, yours, their own, or anyone else when they're online. If you have set up personal profiles for your children, you may want to use false names and never include your home address or any other information you would not want the whole world to see. These are usually the first places pedophiles look for children.
- Agree with your children that they will never set up meetings with anyone they have met online without talking to you first. If such meetings are allowed to take place, they should always be in public place, with the child accompanied by a parent.
- Agree with your children that they will not send anything, including pictures, to anyone without speaking to you first.
- Encourage your children not to respond to abusive or otherwise troubling online messages. Consult your service provider and/or local law enforcement agency if anyone in your family receives a threatening or otherwise seriously troubling messages.
As a suggestion, you can make a signed agreement between you and your child using the tips above and pin it up by the computer.
To report any child related crime or for more information visit:
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Bottom Line
Using parental software can be a step in the right direction but nothing beats the supervision of a vigilant and responsible parent. Always remember that pedophiles are everywhere each time your child goes online and only you can protect your child from these disgusting predators.
Stay safe and happy surfing!
Below are just a few of the Internet sites that are working to help keep the Internet safe for your children:
 Child Safety-Net: How Protect Your Children from Harm Online : - Harm Online, Mark Brasche. Learn how to create a safe online environment for your children. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
A Parent's Guide to the Internet: - Parry Aftab. Educate your children about online safety with this book by internationally known cyber-space lawyer, Parry Aftab. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Copyright © Ruben Flores, CyberSmartNow. Reprinted with permission.
Disclaimers: While we at CyberSmartNow use our best efforts in researching, collecting, and preparing the information published herein, CyberSmartNow and My ParenTime do not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability for any loss or damage caused by or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained herein.
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