Internet Safety Resources

KIDO’Z — A web browser built just for kids!

From a review: “The user interface is bright and easy to use, as you would expect. There are three sections in Kidoz – websites, games and videos. It takes the “walled garden” approach, allowing the child to access only a handful of approved sites. At this time this list of sites is fixed (but it is quite comprehensive) but they have informed me that future updates will include customisation and parental controls. Clicking on a link (each represented by a picture as well as the name of the site) opens up the site in a more traditional browser view. The browser seems fully functional and all games and sites I tried worked fine.”

Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies: Educational Resource

Recommended resources from the Internet Safety Technical Task Force

Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies: Final Report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States, December 2008

The Internet Safety Technical Task Force was created in February 2008 in accordance with the Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Safety announced in January 2008 by the Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking and MySpace. The scope of the Task Force’s inquiry was to consider those technologies that industry and end users – including parents – can use to help keep minors safer on the Internet.

FBI: A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety

This guide is also available in PDF format

“Internet Safety” article

From the article: “The Internet can be a wonderful resource for kids. They can use it to research school reports, communicate with teachers and other kids, and play interactive games. Kids who are old enough to punch in a few letters on the keyboard can literally access the world. But that access can also pose hazards…” (September 2008)

Internet Safety 101 (PDF)

Three easy ways to help keep your kids safe online.

isafe.org: The Leader in e-Safety Education

i-SAFE Inc. is the worldwide leader in Internet safety education. Founded in 1998 and endorsed by the U.S. Congress, i-SAFE is a non-profit foundation dedicated to protecting the online experiences of youth everywhere. i-SAFE incorporates classroom curriculum with dynamic community outreach to empower students, teachers, parents, law enforcement, and concerned adults to make the Internet a safer place. Please join us today in the fight to safeguard our children’s online experience.

Kansas Attorney General’s Office resources

• Internet Safety section
• NetSafeKansas.com

OSPI’s Internet Safety Brochure (PDF)

This is from the State of Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Family Safety Guidelines for the internet. There are specific things you can do to help keep your own teens safe. Start by getting involved! Educate yourself on how the Internet works and keep tabs on your child’s computer use.

Pew Internet and American Life Project resources and presentations

• Online child safety and literacy
  • This presentation pulls together Pew Internet Project research about teenagers’ online activities, their behavior on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and their Web 2.0 content creation activities. It covers the threats posed by cyberbullying, and stranger contact on the internet. and suggests that a new kind of competence we call “self literacy” is useful in the digital age. (June 2008)
• Teens, Social Networks, and Safety Online: An Overview
  • How do teens protect themselves online? What do parents do to protect them? What are the implications for protecting teens from objectionable materials online in an age of user-generated content and convergence? What are social networks and how are teens really using them? (Feb. 2007)

Resources from WiredSafety.org

• Online safety information, Parry’s Internet safety guide for parents
• Talking to Your Children About Downloading Music: A Parent’s Guide (PDF download)

SafeTeens: Internet safety, civility, and critical thinking for teens

SafeKids.com is one of the oldest and most enduring sites for Internet safety. Its creator, Larry Magid, is the author of the original 1994 brochure, “Child Safety on the Information Highway” and is also a technology journalist.

Summit for Stakeholders: Developing best practices for children’s online safety

The PointSmart.ClickSafe. Summit is drawing together leading stakeholders – including Internet providers, technology companies, child advocates, parents’ groups, educators, health researchers and policymakers – to share and develop best practices for keeping children safe online. Resources available include articles and PowerPoint presentations from the summit.