To encourage safety online, please talk with your child about family rules and expectations for Internet use. Below are some guidelines and common sense tips to ensure children have a positive online experience.

• Set Rules and Instill Values. Until children are taught how to use the Internet properly, it would be best if their computer sessions were supervised by a responsible adult and/or limited to approved web pages for children.
• Instruct. Proper Internet use instruction should include the following: how to conduct a search, how to know the difference between an Internet pal and an unsavory stranger, and how to protect private information.
  
• Protect Personal Privacy. Children should be taught to avoid giving personal information, such as name and address, to strangers online as well as off. Face-to-face meetings with someone they meet online should be forbidden without a parent or guardian present. Teach your children to value privacy—theirs and yours.
• Select Age-Appropriate Content. Teach your children values and guidelines to use in selecting what they read and view. Not every web site is right for every child, anymore than every book in the library is suitable for every person. It is up to you to let your children know what subjects and web sites are off-limits and to explain why.
• Ask For Help. Encourage your child to ask the librarian for help when seeking information on the Internet.

For further Internet safety support visit the following web sites:

http://www.cyberbullying.org/

http://www.chatdanger.com/

http://www.getnetwise.org/

http://www.safekids.com/

http://www.webawareness.org/english/index.cfm

Association for Library Service to Children - Great Websites for Kids