What can you do to Help your Children?

If you have noticed a change in behaviour or picked up on the warning signs, there are some things you can do straight away to help your children stay out of danger.

Try the following with them:

• Communicate. Talk to your children about what they enjoy doing online and try to develop an understanding of their interests.
• Set House Rules.  Work out some boundaries for your children's access to the Internet. It is better that children understand what you expect rather than trying to work it out for themselves. Determine some consequences together if the rules are broken.
• Supervise. Make sure you can adequately supervise what your children are doing online - particularly for younger children. Move the computer into a public area of the house to make it easier.
• Install parent control software. Make sure the family computer is protected from viruses and spyware. Turn the firewall on and if you think it is needed, install some parental monitoring software so you can keep track of what your children are doing online. (More about this can be found in the Technology Toolbox.)
• Educate them. Use resources such as Netty's World (www.nettysworld.com.au), CyberQuoll (www.cyberquoll.com.au), CyberNetrix (www.cybernetrix.com.au) and Wise up to IT (www.wiseuptoit.com.au) to help them learn about ways to stay safe online.
• Introduce other family activities. Ensuring children are exposed to a range of other, non Internet based activities is a good way to help them lead a balanced lifestyle.

Remember the goal is to empower children so they can make the right decisions for themselves when you are not around or they are on the Internet away from home. Keep this in mind when you are helping them out.