Safety on the Internet

It's important for children and parents to know how to use the Internet safely. The Internet contains a vast number of sites. Global networking can be wonderful, but caution is required as people and organizations may misrepresent themselves. Here are some tips for you and your children:

• Have computers in an area shared by family members
• Talk together about what you see and do online.
• Don’t give out personal details to anyone online, such as where you go to school or what your phone number is. Never send photos of yourself or money to people you meet online.
• Don't respond to messages that make you feel uncomfortable or uneasy.

For more information about internet safety, check out these web sites:

CyberWise Parents:Information from the Government of Canada on Internet Safety.

RCMP: Internet Safety Tips

Child Safety on the Information Highway

NetSmartz Workshop: Keeping Kids and Teens Safer on the Internet

 

Evaluating Web Sites

While there is a great deal of useful and valuable information available on the Internet, there are also misleading and inaccurate web resources.

Anyone can create a web site and mount it on the Internet, as a means of advertising or spreading particular viewpoint. It is important to evaluate web resources as you would any other kind of information. How do you tell what's good, what's bad, what's true and what's false? Here are a few basic clues:

• Who is the author of the web site? Did they create the information? Based on this, do they seem qualified to write on the subject?
• What company, organization, university etc. supports this information?
• When was the web site created or last updated?
  What is the purpose of the information? Is it to inform? explain? persuade? convert? advertise?

Check out these web sites which offer further information on evaluating sites:

Thinking Critically about WWW Resources

Evaluating Internet Research Sources