The majority of safety issues occur at home, often at times when your children are using the Internet unsupervised. There are several small things you can do in the house that can help keep kids safe:

When deciding where to put the family computer, Choose a Central Location. Sometimes it seems logical for children to have the computer placed in the bedroom. There is often a good study space available and that's where they do their homework. So that's where the computer should go, right? Wrong. Place the family computer in a centralized location in the home. The living room, kitchen or den are all good choices. Going on the Internet should be monitored, and having the computer out of an isolated location (the bedroom) makes that easier.

Anytime your child would like to use the Internet, try to have a Reason for Going Online. That might be to do research for a school project or for finding information, but often (just like you!) it's for shopping, chatting, or playing games. That's fine, but it never hurts to decide with your child exactly what they hope to accomplish on the Internet. Think of it in a similar fashion to your child asking if it's OK to visit a neighborhood friend or go to the park. You'd settle first on where they were going, who'd they be with, and how long they would be gone. Use a similar model for going online. Once the two of you have agreed, Set Time Limits. With an agreement between both parties the time can be extended, but try beforehand to decide that 1 hr., for example, is how long they can be on the Internet. Some Internet service providers like AOL or filtering software products have built in clocks that limit your child's time online. There are also specific timer programs that can be downloaded from the web. Here is one called Net Units. These work fine, but setting a wind up timer in the kitchen works just as well. If more time is needed to finish a project, the two of you can renegotiate.

OK, the computer is in the den and the two of you have agreed that first they'd do a bit of research for the Social Studies project, then maybe chat a bit with their best friend. By 8 PM they've agreed to close down. Sounds great! You're the parent; It never hurts to just keep a keep a watchful eye on how things are going. While the child is online, Take a Little Look Over Their Shoulder. Ask them how things are going, if they are having fun, and whether there have been any problems while they were online. If you notice they quickly try to shut the monitor or close a program, perhaps you need to watch a bit more closely. There might be something going on that needs a bit more scrutiny.

Finally, if you choose to use an online service provider such as MSN or AOL, Know Your Child's Screen Name. Please make sure that provocative names or ones that give out personal information (address, phone number, hometown, school) DO NOT get used. Predators often use explicit or provocative names as their main targets, and personal information that is included helps them get too close.