Internet safety

We have all heard horror stories about people falling victim to the dangers of the internet. We get rattled and resolve to remain more anonymous, maybe start using more than one password for everything, but we ultimately go on with our regular internet behavior. While online security is a concern for everyone, we need to be especially sensitive to protecting young people as they navigate cyberspace. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 87 percent of youth, or about 21 million teens, go online. There are a number of online resources that help to make the internet a safer place for children. Specific regulations that must be followed are provided by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and beyond that sites do what they feel necessary to safeguard their users. Inappropriate sites are often restricted from users under specified ages. Some sites filter their advertisements to be age appropriate. Many social sites provide users with options to only be contacted by peers in the same age group, to have their information only visible within their friend network or only show partial profiles. Other sites make efforts to create safe environments specifically for younger audiences, catering entirely to youth and their parents so that they can be involved in age appropriate networks. While these are all steps in the right direction, stuff happens. People lie about their age (in both directions), information is foreclosed to strangers, cyber-bullying occurs and some sites' material isn't monitored properly. The internet will not be completely safe for kids if we rely solely on the sites to protect the young audience. Parents and schools need to educate students and themselves on the dangers underage audiences can encounter online. Filtering software programs can help by limiting a user's access to inappropriate information, but more importantly, these young users' internet access needs to be actively monitored by adults. The features that the internet provides should be used as tools by adults helping kids safely use the internet. Sites like Wired Safety offer guidelines and tips on proper online safety. The internet is a powerful tool that everyone should be able to use, but like with many other things, it can be best utilized with a little guidance.