March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 50 F

8 Tips For Keeping Kids Safe Online

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Are your children safe online? Are you sure? Are you really sure?  Consider the following:

  • 71% of teens have reported receiving messages online from someone they don’t know.
  • 45% of teens have been asked for personal information by someone they don’t know.
  • 30% of teens have considered meeting someone that they’ve only talked to online.
  • 14% of teens have actually met a person face-to-face they they’ve only spoken to over the Internet.

From MSNBC:

Thirty percent of 17-year-olds who have cell phones say they have received “sexting” photos or video messages, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Eight percent of 17-year-olds say they have sent such sexually suggestive images. Among teens ages 12 to 17 years old, 15 percent say they have received nude or nearly nude images of someone they know via text messaging on their cell phones, while 4 percent say they have sent such photos. Among 12- and 13-year olds, 6 percent say they have received “sext messages.”

Online danger is not something that happens to “someone else.” It is a very real and constant threat to our children. Over the past year, we have seen incidences of human trafficking, rape, and sexual assault–not elsewhere, but right here in Anne Arundel County. Most, if not all, of these cases have some connection to the new technology we take for granted.  Don’t become a victim or a part of the problem. Be aware and take action!

Beginning tomorrow, and continuing for the next 8 days at 3:00pm, we will be publishing tips for keeping your children safe in an online world provided by the Federal Trade Commission. At the end of the series, you will have the opportunity to receive a free e-book courtesy of Eye On Annapolis called NET CETERA–Chatting with Kids About Being Online, published by OnGuard Online.

The eight segments we will cover are:

  1. Talk To Your Kids
  2. Kids At Different Ages
  3. Socializing Online
  4. Communicating Online
  5. Mobile Phones
  6. Protect Your Computers
  7. Parental Controls
  8. Pre-Teen Privacy

After each segment publishes, the links above will become live so you can go directly to any post. Please bookmark this page and feel free to return to it often.

And after each segment, we will present a video. The videos are meant to make you uncomfortable and perhaps to begin a discussion.

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