Set rules for summer cybersafety

June is National Internet Safety month and an appropriate time of the year to remind parents that online vigilance should go hand-in-hand with the annual school break for summer vacation.

With kids of all ages spending more time at home during the summer — and more time on the Internet — parents should reconnect with them about some important rules of the road.

Cybersafety is everyone's responsibility. The best advice is for parents to be aware of what their kids are doing on the Internet and regularly monitor their activity.

Parents are not alone. There are many free resources available that offer guidance and the technical know-how needed to keep kids safe online, including Verizon's own parental control center ( http://parentalcontrolcenter.com ).

Parents also need to make the kids understand that personal information is just that — and that they should not be sharing information on social networking sites that might endanger them or family members and friends.

In addition, there is nothing wrong with establishing a clearly defined set of rules. Kids are just coming off a year of following rules in school, so a few house rules during the summer shouldn't be onerous.

Finally, parents must communicate with their children. It's easy to get caught up in our busy lives and neglect the opportunity to ask children about what they do online or to discuss topics like inappropriate content or cyber bullying.

It comes to adding cyberspace to the many areas in life where parents must educate their children on what's expected of them.

Enjoy a safe summer.

Carl E. Erhart of Austin is president of Verizon's Central region.

Community Leader's View: Internet safety requires parental ...

Imagine a world where parents send their young children out of the house to play without first teaching them safety rules, such as how to look both ways before crossing a street and not to talk to strangers. Inconceivable, right?

That is what is happening in homes every day when parents allow children unsupervised and unrestricted access to the Internet, according to Chuck Arnold, a police sergeant on the city of San Diego’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. At a talk on May31 at Muirlands Middle School, Arnold urged parents to take a more active role in their kids’ lives — especially online.

He shared the three things that parents ought to be doing to keep kids safe in the cyber world: (1) keep current about what is happening in cyberspace, (2) keep checking what kids are doing, and (3) keep communicating.

Arnold, a 30-year veteran of the police force, is full of stories that would terrify a parent. Vulnerable teens who are befriended by what they think is another teen, only to learn later it is an adult looking for sexual gratification. Teen-age boys who mistakenly upload the entire contents of their family computer (including tax returns) on a file-sharing site. Kids who bully others online. Kids who learn about multi-partner sex and how to build weapons through YouTube videos. Young girls who are humiliated when their provocative photos go viral.

He said the most important thing parents can do is talk to their child about Internet safety. He said that parents should set family rules and expectations as well as consequences for broken rules.

Parents should decide how much and what time of day their kids can spend online and the sites they can visit. He also urged parents to keep tight control of digital devices. Put the computer in a public place. Check the kids’ browser history, profiles and buddy lists. Have the cell phone be charged in the parents’ bedroom (so the parent can read the texts and e-mails and make sure the teen isn’t texting all night). Turn off the Wi-Fi at night.

“Is a phone a God-given right?” he asked. “No! Don’t be afraid to take it away.”

The presentation was organized by the La Jolla Cluster Association, at the recommendation of Bird Rock Elementary technology teacher Andrea Flagiello.

If you missed the talk, visit www.smartcyberchoices.org , a new initiative of the San Diego Police Foundation.

I-SAFE Internet Safety Activities, Reproducible Projects for Teachers and Parents, Grades K-8

Internet Safety Kids' Guide

The parents' pocket guide to kids & computers, top 100 kids' software titles, top 100 fun & safe Internet sites for ages 2-13

Internet Safety Family Guide

Teaching children about internet safety, an evaluation of the effectiveness of an interactive computer game