Common online dangers for kids

Introduction

The Internet is an incredible and vast resource of knowledge and information. It enriches our lives by bringing us resources we could never have dreamed of having before. Most of us would not know what to do without it anymore, more of us are taking freelance or telecommuting jobs because of the broadly accepted World Wide Web. However, there is a dark, seedy side to it as there is with just about everything in life.

The majority of people can sort the bad from the good, but for children it is sometimes difficult to do the same. There are a number of online dangers for kids.

Common Dangers

Children are much more susceptible to the power of suggestion, and quite often website content does not even need to be particularly suggestive. There is a multitude of sites offering adult or inappropriate content. There are sites that advocate drinking, taking drugs and smoking.

There are even sites that describe how to make bombs out of household items. To some children, the thought of making a bomb is more fun than it is dangerous. Apart from this, there are the obvious and very well documented dangers of online paedophiles that try to trick our children into meeting them face-to-face without the protection of their parents or anyone else.

The statistics

The number of children that were abducted through Internet contact last year alone is 705. That is nearly two kids a day. It is estimated that 1 in 5 children are sexually solicited while using the Internet and 80% receive highly inappropriate emails never mind the very dubious content of some popups. Only 33% of PCs have decent and effective filtering software installed but over a staggering 80% of households have the Internet.

What can you do to help protect your children?

You should get some sort of filtering software installed, remember it only takes a click of a button for a child to lie to about his or her age. If you can encourage your children to share, their activities with you will be able to keep an eye on them. Make sure they know not to reveal any personal information over the internet or anywhere, for that matter. Teaching them how to treat others will make them think about the way other people treat them and will discourage unfriendly behaviour while they are online. Probably the most important factor of all is to make sure they know to never, ever agree to meet anyone in person.

The bottom line

The Internet is a wonderful resource for personal and business use but there is a bad side to it. Our children have access to adult and inappropriate content that may encourage them to do all sorts of things but there are general guidelines, which will improve our children's surfing activities, and these should be taught to our children as soon as they start to use the Internet.