112th Precinct Community Council

protecting children on the internet

internet concerns

Protecting children on the internet
By Heidi Harrison Chain

Detectives spoke at our Precinct council meeting about protecting children on the internet. The Detectives emphasized that children should not be unsupervised on the internet.
There are signs that children might be at risk on-line.
If a child spends hours of time on-line , parents should be aware and involved in their activities.
If the child receives phone calls from strangers that the parent does not know, and or long distance phone calls – this could be a cause of concern.
If the child receives mail, gifts or packages from someone that the parent does not know – this could be part of the seduction process.
If your child uses an on-line account belonging to someone else.

If you are concerned the Detectives urge parents to talk to their children. IT also was suggested for the parents to spend time with their children on-line.The detectives suggested keeping computers in a common room in the house rather than in your child’s bedroom.
The detectives indicated that there are programs that someone could purchase to block certain chat room.
Also children should be instructed to NEVER arrange a face to face meeting with someone they met on line.
They should never post pictures of themselves on –line. The Detectives discussed how the pictures will always be circulating and can be very upsetting when the pictures can not be removed.
The children should never give out identifying information such as their name, address, phone numbers, school or telephone numbers.
And for everyone to remember the information that someone tells you about themselves on line may or may not be true.