| The majority of the people use computers for lawful purposes, but there is a small minority who use this technology to commit criminal acts.
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| It is important for everyone to protect themselves from people who would misuse this important new technology.
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| The Internet is not governed by any entity.
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| Although it contains information on nearly every topic imaginable, there are no limits or checks on the kind of information that is maintained and accessible to Internet users.
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| That is why e-mail, Usenet groups and chat rooms may present risks to young users.
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| E-mail is electronic mail that can be transmitted from one computer to another via the Internet.
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| Documents and pictures can be "attached" to this e-mail and sent to the receiving computer where 36 they can be viewed and/or printed.
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| Usenet Groups (sometimes called News Groups) are postings on specific topics, where the comments and/or pictures follow one another in a bulletin board style.
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| Chat Rooms (also called Internet Relay Chat - IRC) are areas, where participants can talk to each other in "real time" with their remarks appearing as they enter them.
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| So if you want to protect your children, here are some of the measures you can take.
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| • Talk to your children about their use of the computer and discuss the dangers they may encounter online.
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| Create a list of online rules and post them by the computer,
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| • Keep the computer in a common area of your home, so that children's activities can be easily monitored.
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| • Limit time allotted on a computer.
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| Watch to see if your child is withdrawing from friends and family. Excessive computer usage may indicate a problem.
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| • Accompany your child when they are in chat rooms, or consider blocking out chat entirely.
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| You can also consider routing your child's e-mail into your own account first - so you can screen the e-mail for any undesirable messages.
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| • Obtain a software-filtering package that can block access to Internet sites or e-mail messages that you deem inappropriate for your children.
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| This software can also log all of your child's activity on the Internet so you can review it later.
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| Remember though, this software is not foolproof and cannot take the place of parental involvement and supervision.
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| • Find out from your Internet Service Provider whether you have a filtered or unfiltered feed.
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| The filtered feed will not allow access to the majority of sex-related Usenet Groups.
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| However, this is not foolproof, and there are other ways for your child to access this information
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| Rules for safe computing
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| • Children should always ask for their parents' permission before giving out their full name, address, age, sex, telephone number or school name.
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| If the computer is showing a series of changing numbers, the computer may be running a hacking program trying to identify calling card "pin" numbers or long distance telephone numbers.
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| If the computer is showing sixteen digit numbers, the computer may be trying to validate credit card numbers.
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| • If children come across any information that makes them feel uncomfortable or scared, they should hit the "back" key, log off and tell a trusted adult as soon as possible.
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| • They should never respond to any obnoxious, sexual or menacing e-mail messages they receive.
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| • Children should never agree to meet in person with someone they've met online unless they have discussed it with their parents first.
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1. The Internet is governed by the US administration
2. Chat room is a virtual space on the website where on-line discussions are organised in real time by users typing text messages.
3. Routing child’s mail into parent’s account first allows to screen the e-mail for undesirable messages.
4. A software filtering package can replace parental supervision.
5. Children should give out their fullname, address and other personal details without their parents’ consent.
6. Children should never agree to meeet in person with people they’ve met on-line unless their parents have approved of it.
