Internet Safety

Safety Guidelines for Children
Provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

• Do not give personal information such as your address, telephone number, parent’s work address or telephone number, or the name and location of your school.
  
• Tell your parents if something that you come across online makes you feel uncomfortable.
  
• Never agree to get together with someone you “meet” online without your parents' permission. If your parents agree to the meeting, be sure the meeting is in a public place and that you bring them along.
  
• Never send pictures of yourself or any other personal material to a friend you meet online without telling your parents first.
  
• Follow the rules that your parents set for your online activities.
  
• There are places on the Internet that are for adults only. If you find yourself in one of those areas, LEAVE.

There are excellent websites, brochures, books and articles that provide helpful advice for monitoring your child’s safety on the Internet. Here is a sample to help you get started:

• Keeping Kids Safer on the Internet —a pamphlet distributed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Copies are available at the Library and on the NCMEC website (www.missingkids.com)
• www.netsmartz.org—an easy-to-use, interactive website created for parents, children, teens, and educators, with current and accurate information on Internet safety. Developed in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (www.bgca.org).
• www.getnetwise.org—GetNetWise is a good source for learning about online safety issues regarding children, along with other common concerns (unwanted email or spam, hackers and viruses, personal privacy). Sponsored by major corporations in the Internet industry and nonprofit organizations.
• www.ag.state.il.us/children/index.html—the Illinois Attorney General has a special webpage entitled Safeguarding Children.