River Oak Center For Children

Perspective: We parents know the unenviable task of keeping our children safe. We put our children in car seats and buckle them in seatbelts while traveling, adorn them with helmets so that they are protected while riding their bicycles, alert them to strangers that they may encounter while at play, and read movie ratings and parental advisories on music that our children may want to see or hear. The measures are endless. Nonetheless, these are some of the things we do outside the home to protect our children; but what about inside our homes? How do we control what our children are absorbing from the television or through the internet? With the advent of the v-chip, parents can control what their children are viewing by programming the television rating “allowed” on their cable receivers. Managing the internet is a similar task. The job, however, is often times expensive, technically daunting and an organizational challenge. River Oak Center for Children has put together some helpful guidelines, techniques and links to resources to help educate parents and safeguard your home computer.

Purpose: River Oak Center for Children will use and teach safe and appropriate methods for internet access for our clients and their families as a method for learning and obtaining resources in the community.

It is our goal to provide and advocate a safe computing experience through learned safety skills, enforced internet rules, and applied web tools.

What are the Risks?

Inappropriate material - Your child may encounter inappropriate material considered to be sexual, violent or hateful in nature, or material that advocates the use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs or illegal activities.
Physical Molestation - Your child might provide information or arrange an encounter possibly risking his or her safety or the safety of other family members. In some cases child molesters have used chat areas, E-mail, and instant messages to gain a child’s confidence and then arrange a face-to-face meeting.
Harassment and Bullying - Your child might encounter messages via chat, E-mail, or their cellular telephones that are belligerent, demeaning, or harassing. “Bullies,” typically other young people, often use the Internet to bother their victims.
Viruses and Hackers - Your child could download a file containing a virus that could damage the computer or increase the risk of a “hacker” gaining remote access to the computer. This could jeopardize your family’s privacy and safety.
Discernable Truth - Is it fact or fiction? There is a wealth of information on the internet. Some sources are reliable and some are not. Research and become familiar with the sites your children visit. In the case of homework, have your children cite the sources or credit the sources when needed.
Legal and Financial - Your child could do something that has negative legal or financial consequences such as giving out a family member’s credit-card number or doing something violating another person’s rights. Legal issues aside, children should be taught good “netiquette” which means to avoid being inconsiderate, mean, or rude on the Internet.

Make It Positive Experience - The internet is valuable resource. When used appropriately, it can be an enriching experience. There will be times when your child will be exposed to inappropriate material and how we react to it is very important. Don’t blame or punish your child if he comes forward about an uncomfortable encounter; rather, work with him by learning what happened and how to keep it from happening again. The challenges the internet poses can be positive. Learning to trust and make good choices at an early age will carry on for a lifetime.

Incident Reporting - Any incidents deemed illegal can be reported at: www.cybertipline.com.

Safety Guidelines - Review with you child what is appropriate and what is inappropriate content
• Set rules about where your children can go online and what to do if they find something inappropriate
• Set rules about what your children are allowed to do while on the internet
• Set time limits on when and how long they can be on the computer
• Locate computers that have internet access in a commonly shared area in the house
• Share an interest in what they doing
• Check browser history to see where your children are going
• Use anti-virus software, web filters and firewalls
• Keep your system up to date

We Want Inexpensive and Easy - The scope of our work deals with internet safety in a pc based environment; and fortunately, most of the information presented will cross computer platforms. Most hardware and software interventions tend to be expensive and complicated. So, to be successful at achieving our goal, we clicked through a myriad of possible choices and came up with several inexpensive and easy solutions for monitoring and controlling internet traffic. With the recent media attention to the exploitation of online media access and lack of safety, vendors with the foresight, like Microsoft, are integrating parental controls in their software like Windows XP, Internet Explorer 7, and even more scrupulously in their latest O/S Windows Vista. Another alternative is a parental controls browsing tool such as We-Blocker or Parental Control Bar. These are free applications that install on your computer and are easy to use. Both tools have multi-user modes, content filter settings, easy to add/remove site and a visit history log. Check our website at: http://www.riveroak.org/familyresources/parentalcontrols.htm for system requirements and the best case scenario for your system.

Communication is the Key - There are other approaches besides software to help keep your children safe online. One way is to sit down and talk with them. Ask them to show you the sites they visit most. Ask if they have their own site, such as a site on MySpace or MSN Groups. Keep the computer in a family room, and encourage your children to include you in their online activities. Finally, if you do find out they're getting into parts of the Web you don't approve of, don't panic. Add the sites to the blocked list, and talk to your children about the importance of taking control of their own safety while online.

Disclaimer: Methods and techniques suggested in this document for monitoring and filtering internet activity is solely used as a parental aide and is in no way a substitute for proper supervision of your child. River Oak Center for Children is not responsible for improper use of the internet or the adverse results or consequences of improper use of the internet.

For additional information, please contact:
Phone: (916) 609-5100
info@riveroak.org

Administrative Office
5030 El Camino Ave.
Carmichael, CA 95608

For a printable version, please click here.

For system requirements and best case scenario for your system, please click here.

For a list of approved Websites, please click here.

For a list of other useful sites, please click here.

5030 El Camino Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608, (916) 609-5100, fax (916) 609-5160
info@riveroak.org
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