 |
Children on virtual worlds
What parents should know |
Increasingly children are online at an ever younger age. Now even the under 7s are in need of online safety in their virtual games and online worlds. 25 Safety Tips for Parents can be found in the September 08 report by ENISA, Children on virtual worlds: What parents should know.
The EU agency ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Network Agency, focused its report on the online safety of children 7 and under and tweens 8 to 12 years old. It set out to help parents enhance the safety of their children who increasingly are using virtual world sites. Parents are naturally concerned about how their children use and behave in virtual worlds, the report outlines the risks to young children online and gives 25 Safety Tips for Parents.
Sample Tips for parents
Sample tips range from computer security, to rules, and advice on education for parents and children. e.g.
- Keep the computer in a common room
- Set house rules for the Internet. The rules should include whether children can use virtuals worlds and how they can use them.
- Set mobile rules. As soon as children begin to use them agree a list of rules, including whether your children can access virtual worlds by phone and how they can use them.
- Explain to children never to arrange to meet in person someone they first met online.
- Prevent children from sharing personal and identifying information. Help your children to understand that once they post information online they can not take it back.
- Use only virtual worlds that moderates conversation by both automatic filters and by humans.
- Ensure filtering and content lock is in place.
- Ensure children follow age limits on the site, if they are under the age recommended by the site, do not let them use the site.
- Control use of credit cards and other payment, such as moble phone credit.
- Install firewall and antivirus software, teach your children the basics of Internet security.
Download the full report.
Webwise Resources