Almost all parents have given their kids the Don't talk to strangers speech, which is a good thing. However, in this modern cyber age, the speech has to be updated to include strangers online. According to a recent survey conducted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 14% of teenagers have had a real life encounter with someone they met online. As a parent, this is a horrifying statistic. These children arranged a meeting with these online friends not having anyway to verify anything about them yet followed through anyway. Its time to update our talk. There are a few important things to include in this updated version.
• Do not open pictures or attachments from someone you don't know. They may be something you didn't want or need to see.
• Do not send pictures to anyone without approval and never send pictures to someone you don't know.
• Do not respond to any request for information from someone you don't know.
• Never, ever agree to meet with someone from online! They may not be who you think.
We all hate to scare our children with tales of the online boogieman, but it is far superior to the alternative. The same study reports that while children who have had online safety talks with their parents were far less likely to engage in dangerous online activity, only 22% of children reported actually having this talk.
For us to arm our children with the knowledge to make good decisions, they must be made aware of the real world dangers associated with the Internet.
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