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Find the tools that a parent needs to supervise and keep children and teenagers safe on the internet.

 

INTERNET SAFETY RULES

 

"The Court previously took judicial notice that every computer is manufactured with an on/off switch, that parents may utilize, in the end, to control the information which comes into their home via the Internet."

~ Judge Arthur J. Tarnow, in Cyberspace v. Engler

in many families, these problems are solved with good parenting skills, and establishing trust and limits. But even strong parents could use some technological help.

The bottom line is that your kids do NOT have a right to privacy when it comes to internet or computer use, and you as a parent have a right and a responsibility to see to it that they're not getting into anything they shouldn't be getting into.
If it's illegal offline, it's illegal on the Web. Children from 0 - 16 are entitled to exactly as much privacy as they can safely handle. In the case of the Internet, that means none. Children should be told up front that their communications will be monitored on an ongoing basis. This is a condition of their use of the Internet. If they don't like it, they can find something else to do with their time.
Parents need to know where their children are, who they are hanging out with at all times. The internet is the same as mall or anwhere else on earth. Parents are allowed to know where their child is on the internet and what they are doing there. And it's pretty easy to keep them in line, because the alternative for them is to not be permitted to use your machine -- end of story.
Too many parents are afraid to take control of their child’s computer. They’re afraid of their kids. They somehow think because technology is involved, they’re no longer the parent. You’re the parent.  If you don’t like it, unplug the computer. If they don’t follow your rules, no Internet at all. If you’re not the parent and if you’re not going to step in, no Web site on earth is going to be able to help your child be safe.

PARENTS LEARN HOW TO KEEP YOUR CHILD SAFE ON THE INTERNET

House Rules:

Take computers out of the bedrooms and put them in the living room or where the parents are. Mobile phones and interactive consoles should also be kept downstairs in case they contain viruses.

Strategic Objectives" for children's online safety:

Kids taught to "manage their own online behavior." In other words, by teaching our children respect, civility and citizenship online as well as off, we improve their chances for safe, constructive, and productive use of the Net and mobile phones.

1. "Reduce availability [of harmful contact and contact to online kids] ... and the conduciveness of platforms to harmful and inappropriate conduct"
2. "Restrict access ... and reduce ... harmful and inappropriate conduct"
3. "Increase resilience: Equip children to deal with exposure to harmful and inappropriate content and contact, and equip parents to help their children deal with these things and parent effectively around incidences of harmful and inappropriate conduct by their children."

 

BEGINNER ALERT PAY ATTENTION

 

 

SCARY COMPUTER MESSAGES and what they really means.

- If when you are using your computer and you see a box pop up on your computer screen telling you that you have done something "illegal" and that you are not allowed to shut down your computer DON'T WORRY- that is baloney. IT ISN'T REALLY ILLEGAL AND YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER ANYTIME you want to.

- You have to have the computer plugged into the outlet, the electricity has to be on and you have to turn on the computer for it to work.

- the wire has to be plugged into your phone outlet and the computer to be connected to the internet.

- Do Not print out your email - don't waste the paper

- Do not print out SPAM email and then actually mail that to people.

- There is nothing on your computer that holds a coffee cup. That tray that comes out when you push the botton is for a CD or DVD.

- After you put the DVD into your computer tower and watch the Windows Media Player or Real Player software try to open your DVD if it tells you that it wants to download all 1 zillion "pictures" to something called "My Pictures" and only an expert should try to play the DVD direct. DON"T LET IT DOWNLOAD - You DO NOT HAVE TO BE AN "EXPERT" You are allowed to make the DVD open up and show SOMETHING to you without downloading everything to your own computer.

- My friend at Soverign Bank named Delores told me that her brother Anthony Ballou who repairs computers went on a customer call. The client's computer wasn't working because the security program alerted her that the computer had a virus.  The customer asked Anthony if he thought she should pour cough syrup into the computer opening where you would insert a disc to cure the computer from the virus. NEVER NEVER pour any liquids into a computer. You will kill your computer.

 

MOBILE PHONES

Social-networking will drive the next-generation cellphone market.
The Disney phone - Parents can designate, on the phone itself or by computer, when and how much the child can both talk and text on the phone, as well as add ringtones and other downloads. The manager is alerted when a kid bumps the limits and can raise them also includes a GPS feature and cost about $60, disneymobile.com.

Phone with sex-offender alerts: With GPS technology, linked to a national database of sex offenders. Nextel's Cat Trax phone "allows parents to build a 'geofence' around every listed child predator that lives within their ZIP code. The phone alerts parents through an email, text message or pager if their child enters that zone. $19.99 for the first phone and $9.99 each for additional phones.

Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced a new service called Family Locator that lets parents track their kids' whereabouts, using the GPS capabilities in each child's cellphone. For $9.99 a month.

Facebook deals with Cingular Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Users can also post messages to their Facebook profiles via SMS text messaging. Users to send text messages from their desktop. Users only need enter the mobile phone carrier and the cell number, and the text message will be sent off shortly.

MySpace - Earthlink and Korea-based SK Telecom just launched a joint-venture mobile service called Helio, the Targeting "young, connected consumers," the service includes text, photo, and video messaging; a "presence" feature that lets MySpacers know when friends are online; multiple personalization options like "Animated Screens and Rings from major music labels"; the ability to post directly to their MySpace profiles; the option to sync their address book over the air from phone to phone if they're going for a different look every day. All that and 1,000 anytime minutes for $85/month (the cheapest package). The phones themselves, "Hero" and "Kickflip," "will cost $275 and $250, respectively Downloads are additional games $5.99 each, music videos $2.49. This very mobile social-networking affects "parental controls."

AOL's social-networking AIM Pages, for the 47.6 million AIM instant-messaging users. AIM customers can get a free VoIP phone number and can receive unlimited
inbound calls from traditional phones, cell phones, and PCs. AIM immatates MySpace by offering customizable pages that teens and others can use to create their own world while also instant messaging. Adding free phoning to AIM Phoneline will allow AIM users "to receive incoming calls from any phone."


CHAT ROOMS

The FBI has a unit that deals with missing and exploited children. Contact the nearest FBI office, they might send an Agent to Speaker to your students on the topic of internet safety. They also ask eighth graders to come in and teach teen slang, etc. to the agents who worked teen chat rooms.
A "real-time" discussion in which a user converses with one or more persons, with messages posted on a designated page for all to see. The conversation scrolls upward on the screen only while the conversation is taking place. Access can be completely open to the public (with a perfunctory on-line registration process) or via invitation only.

BLOGS
Websites like the ones below are where children can sign up for their own free blog and say anything and everything and adults can very easily prey on them - blog with them - nothing is supervised.

Learn about Podcasting and Blogs. WHAT IS THIS? WHAT HAPPENS? WHAT IS SOCIAL NETWORKING? WHAT ARE KIDS DOING WITH BLOGS?

A public forum is far too free a medium for those who are not fully aware of the consequences of their actions. Kids really don't understand that ANYBODY could be reading their blogs. 

Way long ago when only university professors were on the internet, and in the late 80's and early 90's (when I first got on the net) before it became commercial, the internet was a perfectly safe neighborhood. Now with everyone in the world online Kids do not understand that the net isn't as safe as the bedroom they live in, and they don't realize that just because the child didn't tell all your / their private information to anyone all at one time, that someone can't compile it and figure out everything, putting your privacy at risk. KIDS DON'T GET IT.

You must educate these kids about the dangers; even the "savvy' types really have no idea what information they are giving out.  You should scare them with the consequences. Teach them that the real world they live in known as the meat space intersects cyber space and they have given away their own privacy which they should guard in this world. Blow their little minds -  LOOK at what they put out there then they will understand what they think of as their "private" stuff - isn't private.

Someone wrote about an example on xanga.com http://www.xanga.com/metros:

[ . . . "I was looking at one in NC (where I used to live) and I was able to find the blog of a 13 year old girl.  I saw a picture of her, got her first and last name, the school she attends, her e-mail her AIM and from the blogs a basic description of what she does everyday.  I know that she had a track meet at the local high school last Saturday.  Thankfully I am not a predator and I am not planning to find this girl.  But what if I was? From her last name I could easily look in the yellow pages for her address and phone number - how hard is that.  I know where she's going to be, I even have a picture. "]

Go and check on USA, then your state, then type in the name of a school. http://www.xanga.com/metros/ or click on the "blogrings" choice above the search box type in the name of my child's school (only the word *schoolnamehere*).

To Remove the Information:

1. You must have the password
2. Navigation Menu choose something to
take down the site, and delete each post and pictures.

INSTANT MESSAGING
A chat-like technology provided by an on-line service permitting private, simultaneous text conversations between two users. Originally developed by AOL, the service is free to the general public; Yahoo and other competitors have produced similar software.

INTERNET RELAY CHAT (IRC)
Real-time text conversations similar to that found in chat rooms. Free, but requires knowledge of the recipient's IRC address. Hacker activity is happening here and historically located here.

NEWSGROUPS (Usenet)
A system of more than 29,000 public (and an unknown number of private) special interest discussion groups to which users can post messages or attach files (text, graphics, sound). A user has to be invited into a private newsgroup (and given the specific address) in order to participate.

WEB RESOURCES

 

 

 

SAFE SITES TO GO WITH YOUR CHILDREN

The Michigan Children's Protection Registry is a secure database of protected e-mail addresses. It allows Michigan's parents and schools to register e-mail addresses that children may access.

Parents please sit down with your kids at the computer and teach them to recognize ads. Remember, the computer is like TV. Is everything on your TV appropriate for your child? Teach them to be aware of all media.


WireKids
is the Official North American Site of UNESCO's Innocence in Danger Program

How to Protect Kid's Privacy Online

There is a difference between COPA and COPPA

The American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy has created a web site to explain the federal Children's On-line Privacy Protection Act in detail. COPPA as it applies to libraries (both public and school)

COPA -- the Children's Online Protection Act
Court Strikes Down Online Porn Law Third Circuit's COPA decision March 6 2003
The Third Circuit is now saying that COPA is unconstitutional because it is still too vague and too broad. For example, the law doesn't adequately define terms like content that "taken as a whole" is harmful to minors; that "minors" is vague because it includes both 4- and 17-year olds, and that " commercial" web sites are not well defined.

and COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
COPPA is about privacy protection for kids, and COPA was about preventing indecent content on the Net, but it was overturned. The point of confusion is that Congress created a commission also called COPA : The Commission on Online Child Protection.
The act specifically limits children's entering certain kinds of data (name, address, etc.) such as that required for registration for a site or to receive information. There are privacy implications for those schools who are considering using free computers/portals that are supported by advertising because they would then be marketing direct to kids (and their families)...
They have already discovered that even if a service requires them to be over 13 to register in order to comply with the Act (as the "freebies" like GO and hotmail are currently doing) all they have to do is enter a different birth year. There is no enforcement or verification process that can *prove* their actual age.

FILTERING SOFTWARE: PRIVACY / FILTERS

The National Academies' report entitled "Youth, P----ography and the Internet"
was released on May 2, 2002. The report examines approaches to protecting children and teens from Internet pornography, threats from sexual predators operating on-line, and other inappropriate material on the Internet. It discusses social and educational strategies, technological tools, and policy options for how to teach children to make safe and appropriate decisions about what they see and experience on the Internet. Chaired by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, it's the most comprehensive study yet on the topic.
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/onpi/webextra.nsf/web/porn?OpenDocument

Online Sex Crimes against Juveniles: Myth and Reality Hearing before the U.S. Senate July 24, 2007
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Washington, DC AND SEE THE WEBCAST
Testimony of Dr. David Finkelhor david.finkelhor@unh.edu
Director Crimes against Children Research Center
University of New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire 603 862-2761

Empowerment & Convergence Dialogue - PARENTS
Look at a Ratings chart that will tell Parents how to use the warning labels and what they look like to give them the tools to decide if their child is old enough to be using/buying the product. Full Guide

How P.o.r.n. works on the net - Testimony of Danni Ashe President and Founder, Danni's Hard DriveCOPA Commission Hearing on "Marketing Adult Materials Online" San Jose State University - San Jose, California August 3, 2000

Free Gifts could undermine Entice Children Into Revealing Personal Family Information Online. Annenberg Public Policy Center:
Many children and teenagers are unconcerned about protecting their online privacy and would be happy to share personal information on the Internet in exchange for a free gift.
According to a new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, almost two thirds of the young people surveyed said they would share the names of their favourite stores if they were given a free gift. Over half said they would give out the names of their parents' favourite stores.
More than a third would tell what type of cars the family owns, what they do at the weekend, how much their allowance amounts to each week and whether or not their parents discuss politics.
Teenagers (13-17 year olds) are more likely to give out information than 10-12 year olds are and boys are more likely to than girls are.
About 3 in 4 parents worry about their children giving out personal information online. 96 percent of parents and 79 percent of 10-17 year olds agreed that teenagers should get parental permission before sharing information on the Internet.

FREE EMAIL ADDY'S for your child at school or home. Does it pass these tests?

1) There should be no establishment of student accounts on systems unless there is a clear educational purpose, no advertising is directed at students, and parents have been fully informed and have approved such accounts.

2) There should be no collection, analysis, or sale of individual or aggregated student use data for market research purposes.

3) How many school districts have policies related to teacher responsibilities when establishing accounts for students on 3rd party sites?

Try epals.com
- It is web-based so students can access it from anywhere.
- Suggest setting it up with fictitious last names to help appease nervous parents about their kids getting on the net.
- You can set it for various levels of filtering.
- You can preview all documents before they are received or sent.
- There are no annoying ads attached.
- Each account has a draft folder. You can use this as a web based storage area for each student. If they have a report they are working on in school, they can "compose" a letter to themself, attach their report and then save it as a draft. It doesn't have to go through an adult and then they can access it at home.

Newsweek ‘Don’t Dumb Them Down’ © 2002
A new study by an expert on Web design shows what’s wrong—and even dangerous about kids’ sites. Myths are generated by tech executives who generalize what they think is true from looking at their own child.


Jakob Nielsen released “Usability of Websites for Children,” debunks a number of myths about how children (ages 5-11) navigate through sites. Summary:

-- Kids aren't naturally skillful on computers.
-- Kids are literal thinkers, they won't scroll down the page. It’s “out of sight, out of mind.”
-- Kids get more confused than their parents becuase they actually read directions.
-- Learning is their job and they are only willing to read a paragraph or so.
-- Kids don’t distinguish between ads and content. To them, it’s all information.
-- Kids click on ad banners all the time.
-- Kids ignore error messages and go someplace else.
-- Sights are easier to use when they have highest degree of compliance with standard guidelines for Web usability.
-- kids resist attempts to get personal information, are aware of privacy issues, and that they shouldn’t give out their name or phone number.

Kids sites are hard to use when:
-- Designers make controls too complicated
-- interface is too busy
-- confusing vocabulary describing options
-- everything was dumbed down for kids which wasn't necessary

Parent Safety on the Internet

Tips for Protecting the Home Computer

Like a typical teen-ager, Cole Bartiromo played baseball and listened to rap music. He was also a whiz when it came to the Internet, but that got him in trouble with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Law enforcement officials say the Orange County high school student is like a growing number of his peers -- teens who use the Internet to pull off everything from securities fraud to identity theft. ``We have seen a rise in the crimes, with an increasing degree of sophistication by a younger demographic,'' said FBI agent Frank Harrill of the Los Angeles cybercrime squad. Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Bartiromo, 17, alleging he raised more than $1 million by selling what he described as ``risk-free'' investments in which he pooled investors' funds to bet on sporting events. The boys, ages 14 to 16, obtained the credit card numbers by allegedly tricking people into transmitting their account information over the Internet. In 2000, 16-year-old Jonathan Lebed of Cedar Grove, N.J., faced only civil action for manipulating stocks in what federal authorities called a ``pump and dump'' scheme. ``The federal government is just not set up to deal with'' prosecuting children, said Howard Friedman, who heads the Cybersecurity Law Institute at the University of Toledo in Ohio. In addition to repaying the money, Bartiromo also was expected to file an accounting of his actions, outlining how he set up the investment program and how much money came in, SEC officials said.
2/14/02 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/Technology/AP-Cyberscam-Teens.html
Lebed's case is well known; what is less well known: the SEC allowed him to keep $500,000 of his ill-gotten profits.

--

Zombie Computers and Zombie Networks
The real vulnerability of the Internet are those home users that are individually vulnerable and don't have the  knowledge to protect themselves. They pose a  threat to all the rest of us.
The increase is attributable to the rising  number of computers in Asia, particularly China, which do not use   software to protect against zombies and the worldwide proliferation  of high-speed Internet connections. If you don't protect your computer with security software - turn it off when not in use.

Security - Learn how to protect your machine from
on of these "bots" getting a hold of it without you knowing.

WAIT I thought you were in charge of security?
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/SECURITY.html

Protect your child's privacy
16 to 25 years old? Pentagon Has Your Number, and More

The difference between a hacker and a cracker is malicious, destructive intent.

See Sony

A Massachusetts 17 year old teenager pleaded guilty to cracking
The youngest member of the same cracking ring known as the "DefonicTeam Screen Name Club" or "DFNCTSC" group federal investigators say was responsible for a series of electronic break-ins at data giant LexisNexis.
The 17-year-old boy sentenced to 11 months' detention at a juvenile facility and as an adult, will undergo two years of supervised release in which he will be barred from possessing or using any computer, cell phone or other electronic equipment capable of accessing the Internet.
The teen also pleaded guilty to making bomb threats at two high
schools and for breaking into a telephone company's computer system to set up free wireless-phone accounts for friends.
Teen participated in an attack on data-collection firm LexisNexis Group that exposed personal records of more than 300,000 consumers. Prosecutors said victims of the teen's actions have suffered about $1 million in damages.
Teen sent an expletive-laced e-mail to a high school in Florida threatening to blow it up. The school was closed for two days while a bomb squad, a canine team, the fire department and and other emergency officials examined the building.
Teen cracked into the internal computer systems of "a major internet service provider" by tricking an employee into opening a virus-infected file he sent as an e-mail attachment. The virus -- known as a "Trojan horse" program -- allowed the juvenile to use the employee's computer remotely to access other computers on the ISP's internal network and gain access to portions of the company's operational information.
Teen cracked into the network of Dulles, Va.-based America Online. 
Teen cracked into the telephone records system of T-Mobile International using a security flaw in the company's Web site that allowed him to reset the password of anyone using a Sidekick.
Teen had a friend "set up accounts at LexisNexis, a company which stores identity information concerning millions of individuals which reported in March that crackers had gained access to the personal records of more than 310,000 Americans.
Teen sent hundreds of e-mails with an explicit image and message to open an attached file to view additional pornographic images of children. A police officer in Florida was among those who opened the e-mail attachment, which harbored a virus-like program that allowed the crackers to record anything a victim typed on his or her computer keyboard the computer was now infected with the keystroke-capturing program.
Teen created a series of sub-accounts using the police department's name and billing information. Over the period of several days, the group looked up thousands of names in the database.
Teen called "a major telephone service provider threatened to cripple its Web site with a "distributed denial of service" attack, "initiated a denial of service attack that succeeded in shutting down a significant portion of the telephone service provider's web operations.

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