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Protecting children in a connected world: Simple steps to keep kids safe online

It’s ten o’clock. Do you know where your children are on the Internet?

By Morris Malakoff

Used to be that knowing a child’s whereabouts was a parent’s big concern. But with the advent of new technology, parental oversight must also include travel into the virtual world: Kids now have new ways to get into trouble without leaving the confines of the family home.

There is inestimable value in the connection to the online world. But with unfettered online freedoms come inherent risks. By broadband or cell phone, your child can be in silent contact with just about anyone, anywhere, at any time. This troubling fact can mean risk for almost anyone, but especially for an inexperienced youngster or adolescent.

A popular television news show ensnares criminals who prey on youthful victims via Internet chat rooms. But cyberspace dangers go well beyond sexual predation. Bullying, email scams, viruses, even invitations to participate in offline-world crime are part and parcel of a now-ubiquitous online world.

“For most baby boomers, their childhood home probably had one television that got three channels and a phone that was on the kitchen counter,” says Allan Kush, Bothell-based deputy executive director of Wiredsafety.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to electronic communications safety and security. “Your parents probably controlled what was on the television and how much you could watch. The telephone was in a public place and conversations were not too private. Now, it is not uncommon for a child to have a computer with Internet access, a cell phone, and a television in [his or her] own room, away from parents who monitor the usage.

“We are far from the days when a parent needed to worry about a child seeing an inappropriate television show or hanging on a street corner with the wrong crowd,” he continues. “Now, there is instant messaging, websites, texting, and an infinite number of people out there to communicate with.”

Those concerns are shared by law enforcement officials. According to Supervising Special Agent Kevin Saito, who oversees the Cybercrimes Investigation Unit of the Seattle FBI Field Office, parents find false comfort in the fact that their child is sitting a few yards away, seemingly safe in the family home.

“We have had instances where someone has gone online looking for naïve people not for sexual activity, but criminal activity,” says Saito. “They are looking for someone to help them in the commission of a crime or to make someone a victim...If you tell a young person, ‘If you will take a package to an address and I will give you a few hundred dollars’ that might seem like a good deal when it might involve drugs or other illegal activities.”

Lieutenant Jim Hershey supervises the Bellevue Police Department’s fraud unit. He notes that kids and adults seem to be equally vulnerable to the lures of e-crime.

“It used to be the occasional person that might report unauthorized use of a credit card,” says Hershey. “Now, it is people of all ages reporting a variety of crimes on a daily basis.”

Set reasonable limits for kids’ online time

With just a few basic cautionary steps, families can lessen the risks of online crime for everyone, from the youngest child to the oldest grandparent.

“When it comes to kids,” says Kush, “we advocate keeping the computers...in an open and visible place like a kitchen...That doesn’t necessarily mean watching your child’s every keystroke, but a look now and then can prevent an adolescent from venturing to places they shouldn’t.”

The FBI’s Saito recommends parents review children’s browsing history to see which websites they visit.

“Kids know a lot about computers, probably more than most parents, so learn how to find the history,” he says. “If it has been deleted, ask why.”

For Bellevue Police Lt. Hershey, one common sense rule can be carried over to the cyber world from the physical world.

“You wouldn’t let your child out to wander the streets at all hours,” he says. “Letting them have free rein on the Internet is the same thing. Parents need to know where their kids are going and who they are spending time with.”

Internet-monitoring software and site-blocking programs can offer some protection against the dark side of the World Wide Web, but Kush warns against complacency.

“Kids are very computer savvy,” he cautions. “No program is perfect.”

Kush recommends parents work with children to establish constructive boundaries.

“We suggest putting kids on a budget,” he says. “Set a time like two or three hours a day that a child can be using electronic devices, be they the Internet, an xBox type game, the cell phone, or even the television. Let them decide how they want to spend that budget, but when it is used up, they have to find other things to do until the next day...Parents have been limiting television time for years. This is no different.”

Educate to stay safe online, regardless of experience level

Internet users of all ages fall prey to scams, viruses, and identity theft. Kush stresses that it is never too early to start teaching Internet safety.

“We don’t think the youngest children need to have easy Internet access,” he says. “But beyond that, all new users of all ages need to learn the basics of safe Internet usage.

“It is things that seem basic but are easily forgotten,” he continues. “Things like not opening attachments that are unexpected or easily giving out personal information.”

Bellevue’s Hershey concurs.

“We continually see people victimized by putting out name or location information on the Internet, particularly when making a private-party purchase,” he says. “They give out information they wouldn’t dream of giving out in the real world.”

“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

That punchline from a famous New Yorker cartoon was more prescient—and turned out be more sinister—than artist Peter Steiner could have imagined when he wrote it in 1993. The Internet is vast, and provides relative anonymity for web surfers. And that can challenge the novice user.

“Anyone can claim to be a 15-year-old living in the next town, when they are in fact a 45-year-old man living three states away,” says Hershey. “People tend to take too much for granted on the Internet...they don’t ask the questions they should or look carefully for signs that something isn’t quite right.”

“It is easy to be untraceable or be someone you aren’t,” cautions the FBI’s Saito.

For a Generation-Y-&-Z crowd accustomed to social-networking sites like MySpace or Facebook, that “untraceability”—coupled with a casual willingness to share personal information online—can lead to unintended consequences.

“A few years ago, a local television reporter went on MySpace looking for information on teen beer parties [for a report],” notes Kush. “By tracking from one listing to another, they found one and showed up with a crew. The kids were surprised. Well, if a reporter can do that, then so can anyone else.”

In that same realm comes not only giving out too much information, but the often hidden world of cyber-bullying, where kids trash each other and even threaten physical harm.

Call in law enforcement when cybercrime occurs

When a parent does discover that his or her child has been victimized on the Internet, where should he or she turn?

“If [the crime] is bullying and involves an identifiable person, you should contact the schools,” says Kush. “But don’t expect much action. Unless the messages are coming from school computers, the schools at best can be watching for something happening on school grounds.”

According to Saito, the FBI often gets involved after a local law enforcement agency has contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Hershey says that local law enforcement is becoming better at handling Internet issues as police become better versed in new technologies.

“We want to hear if there is someone harassing, acting as a predator, or committing other crimes online, same as on the street,” he says.

Online safety begins with communication at home

How well do you know what your kids are doing online? More importantly, have you talked to them about it? Kush, Saito, and Hershey all emphasize the preventative benefits of open communication, and counsel a common-sense approach to children’s Internet safety: Don’t frighten your kids, but share with them the potential for harm.

“It really comes down to parents and how they relate with their kids,” says Saito. “You need to know what they are doing and who they are doing it with. You need to be a part of their lives.”

Kush agrees.

“Take the time to sit down at the computer with your child,” he says. “Ask them to show you things you might not know about the online world. Take an interest in their world.”
At its worst, the Internet can be a scary place. But at its best, it’s an essential and invaluable communication channel for kids today. Schools require students to use it as a research tool to complete assignments, and for most people, it is a primary source of information.

Hershey notes that as more people enter the digital world, crime stats begin to mirror real-world numbers.

“Our statistics tell us that the odds of being a victim of an Internet crime are about the same as on the street, about ten percent,” he observes. “Let your kids hang around long enough on a street corner alone and something will happen. Same with being online.” ■

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