What Can You Do?


So, what's the answer to avoiding risk? Do you disconnect your computer, cancel your Internet service, and hide under your bed, safe from all that online danger? Of course not. Just as your parents taught you to be careful when you walk around town, to obey the school crossing guard and look both ways before crossing a street, you simply need to learn how to look both ways when you move around the Web.

Think of it this way: Cars, buses, and trucks are wonderful tools, but they can be dangerous in certain circumstances. According to the Department of Transportation, in the United States alone, over 40,000 people die every year in traffic accidents. To mitigate the risks, you teach your children about traffic safety. You don't avoid walking across the street for fear of all the danger out there because you know the rules and how to protect yourself.

Making the Internet Safer for Your Family

The Internet is also a wonderful tool, offering a vibrant world of interaction and information. The problem is that nobody taught you or your children how to be online safely because the entire online world didn't even exist in its current state 10 years ago. That lack of training has left you and your family open to a variety of risks online. Fortunately, these risks can be minimized by taking a few easy steps.

I wrote this book to give you some of the tools you need to act safely on the Web and take advantage of all the positive things it has to offer without fear. Some of these tools involve technology. The good news is that, more and more, safety measures are being built into the software you use every dayyour operating system and browser, for instance. There are good tools out there and you should use them. But remember: The most important step you can take, starting today, is to educate yourself and your family about the risks and make informed choices about your online behavior.

Taking the First Step

I won't tell you to never post a picture online, to dismantle your blog, or to never have an online date; that type of advice makes about as much sense as telling you to never leave your house or never cross a street to avoid being hit by a car. What I will teach you is how to recognize some common risks and predatory behavior, how to come to an educated decision about your personal risk tolerance and comfort zone, and how to define a framework for online interactions for you and your family.

If you're a parent, you have to move beyond the idea that Internet security is something you can "do" to your kids by following them around online. Just as you can't follow your kids all around town during the day, you can't be there every minute they spend online. Instead, with a few simple steps you and your family can learn how to protect yourselves with a three-tiered approach of education, infrastructure, and enforcement.

When cars came into peoples' lives, society had to do that same thing. People educated themselves about how to drive and cross streets safely, they created an infrastructure of roads, sidewalks, street signs, and regulations to keep drivers and pedestrians safe, and they enforced those regulations. That same approach is necessary when you drive around online. For the time being, however, that education, infrastructure, and enforcement might rest mainly in your own hands as schools and government scramble to come up with solutions and put them in place.

Find Out More

See Chapters 17, "Talking About Safety," and 18, "It Takes Everyone to Make a Safe Internet," for more about how to implement this three-tiered approach in your family.


You Are Not Alone

Internet companies and regulatory authorities are becoming much more aware of the problem and are taking action. Companies are investing in online safety. Laws have been created to facilitate the prosecution of a wide variety of online crimes.

As this book goes to press, the U.S. House of Representatives is holding hearings on the sexual exploitation of children, and there are several Internet safety proposals up for consideration. Funding for the Justice Department Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) program jumped from $2.4 million in 1998 to $14.5 million in 2005.

In France, a law has been passed requiring all Internet service providers to provide content filtering features. Governments around the world are mobilizing to provide educational materials and regulatory infrastructure. The United Kingdom has established a crime unit, CEOP, to target online child sexual predators. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Microsoft have jointly developed a tracking system (Child Exploitation Tracking System, or CETS) to facilitate the discovery and prosecution of child sexual predators. Australia has established a safe ISP program called Ladybird, and similar programs are being created around the world.

The news is hopeful for a better Internet in years to come. But the strongest link in online safety today is you.



Look Both Ways. Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
ISBN: 0735623473
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 157
Authors: Linda Criddle

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net