Some possible risks for children

Exposure to inappropriate materials

There is a risk that children can see inappropriate materials that include pornographic material, showing violence, hate or that encourages dangerous or illegal activities.

Some websites promote these types of materials. These can be viewed via various networks or sent via e-mail. Such materials can also appear unintentionally, through the search for different places, people, or issues. Children need to know about safe searching techniques. Parents should know where to report such problems and how to handle inappropriate material.

Physical Risk

This risk is also related to the Internet. Your child may physically meet a person who is pretending as someone else online. It is important for the child to know that personal information should not be given to anyone on the Internet. It happens that paedophiles use chat rooms, or send confidential messages to children, to meet them later.

Unsolicited advertising to children

The commercialization of the Internet is on growth. High level of commercialization is observed on various websites, in e-mail, online marketing, even taking the form of online gambling games. Scam websites are designed to steal money and opportunities from people. For example, some websites that look like they belong to banks have taken people's credit card details. Due to the persuasive and incentive nature of these sites, children can put themselves or their family at financial risk by giving out their parents' credit card information. The base rule here is that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is not.

Teasing or offences

These risks can be taken through Internet services such as e-mail, chat rooms, websites, Internet messaging, etc. They can also be received through mobile phone technology. These risks also include insults, spam, and defamation.

Usage

Some websites ask people to fill in forms with this information: name, email, gender, phone number etc. providing this information online you may be target by spams and/or viruses. These might be contrary to privacy law.

Privacy and Personal Information

As you would not give information to a person on the street, you must do the same when online. Creating websites can be a fun and educational experience for children. However, there is a risk that children may enter their home address and personal information including personal photos of themselves, family members or other children. This presents the risk that this material will be used inappropriately. Furthermore, placing children's e-mail addresses on the website may result in the receipt of inappropriate material.

False message

Many websites distort the truth, may be scams or inaccurate. Some racist websites claim to tell the truth about complex social, cultural, or historical issues in order to appear credible and convincing. These websites are known to be very active in selling products or recruiting individuals.

Spam

Spam is the term used for unwanted electronic messages that we find in our email box, sent by individuals or organizations. It may contain viruses or pornographic content. Spam is continuously spread and is a concern for everyone has an email address. Children should recognize and delete them without clicking on them.

Viruses

While the email is a necessary communication way, the risks include spams from unknown sender that may contain viruses or addresses that direct you to virus-infected websites.

Communications

Internet technologies such as email, chat rooms, forums, electronic conferences, or others are effective means of communication. Internet-enabled devices such as mobile phones, tablets, etc., can be used to exchange messages, photos, etc. However, there are some risks associated with the use of these technologies:

• Emails may contain viruses or spam;
• Text messages can be used for the same reason;
• In chat rooms, we can have the same risks. In some chat rooms people can set up fake identities;
• In some cases, children may be exposed to physical danger by meeting someone they meet in chat rooms.

Summary on what to do to have safe internet

The Internet offers many opportunities for your family. Constant communication, searching for materials and online publications, opens a huge world of research and entertainment for children of all ages. However, just like in the real world there are potential problems and dangers associated with using the Internet. By creating a safe internet strategy, you can protect your children when they are online. There are four main ways to achieve this:

• Education
• Encouragement and support
• Making the computer secure
• Supervision

Using all four methods together will give you the best results. The goal is not only to protect children but also to help them make the right decisions when they encounter dangerous situations online.