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Tips for Keeping Children Safe Online
1. Get Involved. Be part of your children’s online world. Know what sites they are visiting and who they are chatting with. Educate your children regarding the online dangers. Below you’ll find a list of abbreviations that are commonly used in online chat to help you “translate.”
2. Talk to your children regarding their surfing habits. Invite an open dialogue between you and your children regarding their surfing habits. The more comfortable they feel talking to you, the better chance they will come to you when issues arise.
3. Let the computer help you. Consider using parental control software to limit the websites your child can access. This is especially helpful for younger children who can accidentally access inappropriate content.
4. Keep the computer in a centralized location. A location such as the family room, living room, or den helps foster family discussion about what’s on the Internet. It will also provide easy access so you can make sure your children aren’t viewing anything inappropriate.
5. Set time limits for online access. Sure it’s fun to chat, play games, or shop online. However, it can also consume all of your children’s free time. You can help your children remember that there is a real world offline. Have your children get involved with after-school or extra curricular activities. Take them to the pool or skating rink. Create a family board game night.
6. Allow your children to use approved instant messengers and chat rooms. It’s okay to allow your children to chat online, but set boundaries. Configure instant messengers (IM) not to accept messages from strangers. Approve your children’s IM buddy list. Know at all times who your children are chatting with. Use web filtering software to block unauthorized chat rooms.
7. Apply safety rules to online and offline worlds. Many children believe they are safe just because they are behind a monitor. That is simply a false sense of security. Just as you educate your children about talking to strangers in person, you’ll want to teach them about talking to strangers online. It’s important to provide guidelines on giving out personally identifiable information and whom to contact when they feel threatened.
8. Talk to other parents. Talk to your coworkers, friends, etc. Find out what they are doing to keep their children safe while online.
9. Utilize online resources. Sites such as Netsmartz.org, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Onguardonline.gov provide excellent online safety information.
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Charter Security Suite™
Rated as the "Most Secure" antivirus programs by AV-test.org†, the Charter Security Suite™ includes a comprehensive set of parental control features to help keep your children safe while surfing online. The web filtering feature allows you to customize what websites your children can visit. It also allows you to track what websites have been visited. The time lock feature allows you to customize what times your children can access the Internet and the password protection feature protects against unauthorized changes to the security suite.
Along with the parental control features, the Charter Security Suite™ also includes: antivirus, anti-spam, firewall, rootkit and pop-up protection. Best of all, the Charter Security Suite™ is easy to use and included with your Charter Internet™ Plus or Ultra service.‡ You even have the ability to install it on multiple computers within your home!
For more information and to download the Charter Security Suite™, click here.
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†Defined as fastest response times to new threats and overall detection rates. Source: AVTest.org, World renowned 3rd party testing company.
†Charter Security Suite is available at no additional cost for Charter Internet Plus and Ultra customers. Charter does not guarantee data will be secure.
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